Would a lack of ECs hurt me terribly?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I posted this at the Rice forums with another question specifically targeted at the Rice's application, but I hope it's all right for me to post here also. =)</p>

<p>I did not join any extracurricular activities at all during 9th and 10th grade due to family circumstances. I have 3 little brothers and sister and a young cousin, and I had to come home right after school because they were too young to be left home alone (they were all in elementary school) and my parents don't come home from work until late in the afternoon/night. Only this past year, my junior year, was one of my brothers deemed 'old enough' (he just entered middle school) to take care of 3 elementary kids for a few hours before I get home.</p>

<p>Also, because of this, I had to drop marching band upon entering high school, because that would also require staying after.</p>

<p>Would this be counted heavily against me if I can explain my circumstance to the admissions officer somehow? I did join 3 clubs this past year, but would not having any ECs my freshmen and sophomore years look really bad to an admissions officer? I do have a decent amount of volunteer works (not as much as many other distinguished applicants, but enough, I suppose), but I'm not sure that would help assuage my lack of ECs.</p>

<p>And how should I explain my situation to an admissions officer?</p>

<p>Thank you for any and all advice! They would be much, much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Explain the situation just like you did here. You gave up your extracurricular time to help out your family. That was a mature, responsible thing to do.</p>

3

<p>Colleges are impressed when students have significant family responsibilities such as the responsibilities that you had in caring for younger sibs. Colleges also know that doing such things requires a great deal of organizational skills, maturity and responsibility. They certainly won't penalize you for doing that and not being able to do ECs. In fact, they may be far more impressed by what you did than by what students did who had more official ECs that lacked that level of responsibility.</p>

<p>What you learned by babysitting your sibs also could be an excellent topic for your essays.</p>