WHY???
i have terrible EC and i feel my chances are ruined by those people.
yeah stop whining
<p>okay? if you dont want to do ECs then dont. Why should you have to change your personality and lifestyle just to appease some college admissions officer, only to have them send you a letter saying "Good job, you're in, now send us $xx,000 so we can throw work at you"</p>
<p>If they dont like who you are, is it really the place to be going?
As far as I'm concerned, most "extracurriculars" are just school-sponsored groups meant to make the kids (and in turn, parents) think that they have some say in how things are run in the world, when they really dont. If you have a few substantive things, like a job or internship, or have done anything similar, it qualifies. </p>
<p>To repeat what has been said countless times - ad-coms want to see that you didnt spend your time sitting on your ass playing video games (not that there is anything wrong with this (it's pretty much all I do when not working, sleeping, or at school)). Do things you want to do, and if they dont like it, tough.</p>
<p>I have close to 0 EC's, at my school, no one has EC's like that, I mean I can't do newspaper or yearbook becuase of lacrosse (9th and 10th grade) and work (11th grade). No one has ever done research. I just hope and hope colleges understand how some people are given a lot more oppurtunities than others</p>
<p>Isn't it obvious that those people who has tons of ECs are doing them for the sake of "looking good"?
or maybe i am just cynical........</p>
<p>Yes, it is obvious. That's why the amount of space in which you can write in EC's on the Common App is limited and colleges frown on sending in attached resume. Colleges would prefer to see a few EC's that reflect something that the applicant is really interested in, rather than 20 EC's that the person doesn't care about and just did to help his chances.</p>
<p>Why is it bad to attach a resume and fill out the slots the app has as well?</p>
<p>Why not give more description?</p>
<p>I love debate, science, and Spanish. I have awards/EC's in each. Why not mention them in a resume if I can't fit them all in the slots they gve me?</p>
<p>My most important EC is checking college confidential.</p>
<p>well there are those people who participate in a lot of stuff and do well in them...though it may be party because of college reasons, it still shows accomplishment.</p>
<p>"My most important EC is checking college confidential."... that's slowly becoming true for me :)</p>
<p>i say if u are involved in a lot of ECs, then just attach a resume...ur making it sound as if its a bad idea to let them know u do a lot more stuff...of course if those are crappy ECs then dont list them, but if theyre good then go for it.</p>
<p>of course if ur applying to an elite school grades are still a lot more important than EC...but theyre still important</p>
<p>The only strange thing I notice is ppl put NHS and like as an EC, when they don't do anything to be in NHS except get a certain gpa or SAT. dd's school doesn't have nhs, I don't think, so I don't know anything about it except it seems to target certain scores and above and ask for membership $ and I get the idea you are 'invited' by having checked a box on your psat or ssat, then join by paying a fee.</p>
<p>I think long lists of club memberships are useless. It is more relevant if you have very long and focused interest in a smaller amount of clubs. Schools want to see depth of interest and leadership, so they know that if you belong to 10 clubs, you are not serious about any of them because of time committments. I think they get that you can only really have a limited amount of EC's while in a challenging program.</p>
<p>at least for my school, you need to do community service to stay in NHS.</p>
<p>Same with my school, and there is no fee...</p>
<p>about the resumes....I would not attach a list of 50 ec's you've done since 5th grade; that's never a good idea and colleges do frown upon it...but there is nothing wrong (and the great deal right) with sending a page that goes into some more depth in explaining a few ec's and experiences. If it doesn't come through in the essay, go ahead and attach the extra sheet.</p>
<p>Sorry then if I am ignorant on NHS, thanks for correcting me and I'll not comment in future. It is not done at dd's school, which is a college prep boarding school on the west coast.</p>
<p>First off, you need to realize the calibur of students who post on this board. For some reason, 95% of them have ivy league potential. Don't compare yourself, because these people are far above average. The only ECs I guess I could say that I have are community service (160+ hrs/yr, but this is for my Service Learning class) and two minor club involvements.</p>
<p>We have to maintain our GPA and participate in at least a certain number of volunteer activities inside NHS and outside. So, I would could that an EC.</p>
<p>My friend put it this way for me... tons of people put NHS and WHO's WHO and stuff like that on their applications, and others think it's useless. However, when a college admissions counselor sees 5 students with it in a row and then one without it, they might wonder why you didn't make it. Therefore, I would put it, but lower on the list, as it lacks the importance of more involving clubs.</p>
<p>now, "who's who" is crap. a moneysucker, for all it's worth.</p>
<p>haha too true. i got it 4 (or 5) times fresh-junior (still a junior) for some reason. even though i had two B's when everyone else around me has straight a's, they didnt even get this award. sure, maybe 1-2 times is good enough,but every semester they keep sending me this crap!</p>