UcMichigan

hey guys
I have an optional essay to write about what I might want to tell about myself..

would it be better to write about..

-my working at a japanese restaurant as a busboy and dishwasher (both at the same time) for minimum wage... and continue even though I don't need money (to support family or college). work about 10 hours a week during school and about 30 hours a week during the summer (but only for 11th grade summer and during 12th now). sucky job but I'm in a prestigious private school.. in this essay, i'll discuss a typical day.

-my being a taekwondo student for 4 years and how diligently I work (reading books about taekwondo and trying to be the best..and what not).. being a black belt at 12 grade for 3 hours a week. in the essay, I'll probably make it fun to read by writing about one sparring match.

OH, does it matter that both of these they will see on my transcipt?

Thanks!
(please excuse my grammar, I'm in a rush lol)

kjcastillo1990

Well, which will provide a better, more insightful/vivid/interesting story for you? You can try writing out both essays and see which one is better.

I'm planning on writing my 150-word Common-App EC smidge about my love for creating ridiculously large electronic devices out of cardboard at my favorite after-school art studio, New Urban Arts. Is that a bit far-fetched?

calebsmom

My son is a senior & is applying for various scholarships. Here's my question. Due to the fact that we were moving the summer before his 9th grade year, he worked really hard to finish up his eagle scout requirements before our move so that he could get have his eagle scout ceremony with his scout troop from that city. So he actually became an eagle scout before high school. Now he tells me that he can't even put that he is an eagle scout on many scholarship apps because they only ask about what he has done in high school. My feeling is that he should just include it under his high school activities since anyone who knows about scouting will recognize the merit of the eagle and probably not be concerned with the fact that he was only entering 9th grade. Any advice?

tw14

calebsmom - There are two ways you can handle this. First, you can list it as an activity or honor as you suggest. Second, you can have his guidance counselor include his early accomplishment in a letter of recommendation. If it were my son, I would probably do both since it demonstrates determination to earn an honor that few earn, and at an earlier age.

Good luck!

helenrez

I'm with you classprezcj! the way I see it, we have so many opportunities to tell the ADCOMS about ourselves--the personal statement, the extracurricular short answer, the supplement, etc. It seems redundant to focus on one EC for all of those. I want the ADCOM to see me as multidemensional, if you have several interests, why not share as many as you can?

marlnobor

yeah, got the point

serenaxcheelam

thanks for the great post~
i have a question---
i wrote two essays for the UC (university of california) apps, one about a trip to beijing in which i met orphans and how they were able to change me, and another about how i love volunteering for the red cross even though i hated it when i first started.
i am worried that these essays, like stated in the first post, dont really show another side of me but rather lists my ecs. should i be worried?
also~
for the personal essay for the private colleges, would it be good to write about that trip (personally, i think it is not something every student does)? or should i go for something more different and unique? my friend wrote about his erasers and how they represented him in many ways. i thought his essay was great and creative, but when reading mine, i didnt really see anything creative~ should i be worried about this also?
thank you !!!!
OH.. can anyone read one of my UC essays, the one about the orphans?
thanks again you all!

sanfrancisco333

i was aware that i needed some type of inspiration in my essays. i joined a pre-engineering program to achieve this but after it was complete i wasn't enlightened. should i just make up some crap that admissions committee will like or something more safe

pats1237

The University of Maryland application asks you to, "Provide a resume or statement describing your community, arts, leadership, athletic, and family involvement; work experience; and other extracurricular activities and hobbies in the order of interest to you. Describe these activities in a way that tells us what they are and more importantly, what they mean to you."

Should I attach a personal resume of all my activities and then elaborate further on one that has had the most impact on me?

QuixoticRick

I would attach my resume and elaborate on how I got into all of them or a select few that stand out for me.

stiffcelery

But what if we have a better topic to write about in our essay? About personal experiences, those that may not be related to our extracurriculars? Just because I don't write about it in my essay doesn't mean that I'm not passionate and dedicated to my extracurricular activities. I don't think that being "passionate" (this is so trite anyway) about an extracurricular can make or break you. It's all about the entire package.

If an applicant isn't amazing an adcom with his/her activities, there are probably other amazing qualities to fall back on.

CorruptedMorals

"Case # 1) This kid named Jill has her list of ec activities and talks about how she is very versatile and yada yada.... She also relists most of his ec activities in an essay of its own.

Case #2) This kid named Jenny has the same list of ec activities. Instead of listing all the activities over again in another essay, she picks one activity that she felt the most passionate about. Jenny than goes very in depth and talks about her feelings and experiences about that one activity. She even talks about how it has helped her be a slightly different person in life. How it has helped her to look at things in a different and more optimistic perspective and than Jenny backs this up by listing the specific events in that one activity that really impacted her.

To me, Jenny shows much more of his personality than Jill. I really didn't need Jill to re-list all her ec's and I feel that Jill is trying to FORCE IT. She's trying too hard to get the admission's admiration and that is just pathetic. Goodbye Jill."

Did they have a sex change mid-way through writing their essays or something?

Great thread!

Optimization

ECs:
Charity I started - 3 hrs/45 wks - sending books to foreign countries
Science Club pres - 6/40
research - 8/35 (never entered in any competitions)
service club i am pres of - 3/40
aquarium volunteer - 3/50

work:
engineering work - 10
volunteer church teacher - 7


It totals to about 40 hrs a week of just meetings, activities, lab work, etc. excluding any outside research or planning I just do on my own.

I've noticed that my involvement in some clubs (like the service club) has dwindled to just 3 years. Should I just take it out completely?

The same goes for the charity I started. It took A LOT of work when I first started them, but once I got them going, they sort of run themselves.

Should I just take it out of my EC list if I spend under 5 hours a week working on it (because it means it is not a "principal" EC even if it does mean a lot to me)?

soccerdavid23

hey optimization,

i think you should definitely put in EVERYTHING when it comes to your extracurriculars. colleges are trying to get a picture of who you are as a person through asking about you EC, and so it would be unwise to exclude something thats really important to you although it doesnt take up every waking moment of your day. Like you, I led several community projects that dont actually require much work today, although they did back when they were first started. However, I still wrote about them on my application and I think thats what really helped me to get into the university of pennsylvania (my test scores and grades were good, really werent all that).

boho_girl

I don't know if anyone has already asked it, so forgive me if I am repeating the same question (it's a long thread, you know!)

I am confused about listing EC's. I don't know how much I should list since everyone seems to be telling different things. Should I just limit myself on max listing 7 activities (as limited on Common app EC section) or should I attach additional sheet of paper and list more (or just name some smaller but significant activities in Additional info section)?
I have several "big" activities that I'm involved in since freshman year or even elementary that I will definitely name. But I don't know if I should name some other smaller activities.
Also, I attend an European high school, and in here, most EC's start before the drama comp or academics subject competitions in February so I am mostly doing stuff outside school. The activities that I do at school are some activities that are intense for few days and then we're free. Should I even name some volunteer work that I've done for 4 straight days in a week?

Thanks in advance