Haystacker

My dad and I cut down trees, mill the rough cut lumber which I make into mission style furniture and cabinets. To date I have sold about $3000 of solid oak and cherry coffee and end tables. I probably spend a couple hundred hours a year in this hobby. I even designed and built a mission end table with a built in whole house air filtration system ( particulate, charcoal, hepa filters).....my dad warns me to love my hobby, just don't ruin it by making it my profession . I've been thinking of listing this in my EC's. I wish I could include some pictures of my work so a college could understand the mix of skill and design functionality. But then again if I go for bio or bio-chem who cares?

ParthivNaresh

Do you think playing ridiculous amounts of ping pong after school with me, my sister, or my friends could be considered a personal EC?

rspence

@ParthivNaresh yes.

One of my "hidden EC's" is a NASPA-sanctioned Scrabble club I've been a part of since 7th grade. It's not part of a school or anything.

HSClass2013

Does anyone else think 95% of this thread is crazy?

Reading - I promise you, everyone else applying to college can also read.
Video games - Go actually do something.
Fantasy sports - See video games.
Anything online - See fantasy sports.

Ask yourselves if literally anyone could easily do your "Hidden" Extracurricular, and that will tell you if you should put it on your app. Just enough of these are creative and unique that I've convinced myself (barely) that you all aren't being sarcastic.

Here's my list (copy pasted from my resume) -
Going to the bathroom: I spend up to 30 minutes every day in the bathroom, it has become a very enjoyable EC for me and I like to read Agatha Christie novels while participating in this EC.
Read every Agatha Christie novel: I am literate. While enjoying a different EC of mine I like to read Agatha Christie novels for up to 30 minutes every day.
Cooking: In my pursuit to read every Agatha Christie novel I needed to spend more time doing EC #1. I am quite the chef when it comes to PB&J sandwiches.
Runescape: Now that I am done with all of Agatha Christie's novels, I needed something to do while I go to the bathroom. Thankfully, my loving parents installed a toilet where my desk chair was so I am able to train my level 5409 Mage WHILE producing excrement. This has brought my participation time in EC #1 up to a whole new level.

ParthivNaresh

@ HSClass2013 - I hope you aren't referring to ping pong as a "fantasy sport". It is in the Olympics after all.

jdindigocrab26

@HSClass2013: Obviously most of these activities aren't prestigious, but they're not supposed to be! Simply listing activities like cooking or reading Agatha Christie give insight to the applicant's personality and makes them appear more interesting than a list of GPAs and SAT scores. The activities alone aren't meant to help an applicant achieve admission, it's the collection of these hobbies that lets the admission officers know that the applicants have passions and are unique.

logicx24

What about something like starcraft 2? I know it's a video game, but it's more like virtual chess requiring split second decisions than a normal game.

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