shuttlebird

a good EC, is one that you're actively involved in and that you've dedicated yourself to for a long time. i really don't believe that someone with 15 ECs will be better off than someone with 2 or 3 really good ones. I didn't have many ECs at all, and i got into Wellesley College.

Sheed30

People still post in this thread??????

Big_D

I say sometime out of the norm.

EVERYBODY does volunteering at the local library or hospital. i say find out what ur interests are and find out from there, volunteering or perhaps even interships. i used to be interested in marine bio so i volunteered at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. I also was a volunteer/assistant coach for the Special Olympics.

Stuff like Mission trips helps too. I also did a mission trip with my church to Mexico and Afganistan. think that helps ALOT

Also, starting some sort of organization in ur community looks great. for example: my friend, a former-Crip member, set up an organization in his community to help prevent the younger generation from joining gangs and turning to violence and that helped land him in Duke.....

just a few of the MANY things you can do......

silverchris9

I have a question:

What about ECs that very few people have heard of? For instance, Future Problem Solving competitions are big at my school, but not a whole lot of admissions committees are going to have any idea what that is (basically you sit down and write for an hour about problems that could happen in the future and figure out how to solve them).

If one excels in those, do you just hope the adcoms know what they are, or write about them in some extra material?

And also:

How do you show that you're pretty good at something instead of just doing it. How do you demonstrate that you're an exceptional football player rather than just an OK football player? How do you demonstrate that you're a really good actor rather than an OK actor? And for that matter, do colleges even really care about the difference?

fhimas88888888

If you think the activity is obscure, and even if you don't, always provide adcoms a little blurb about what it involved. In these cases, it can be helpful to ask adcoms to refer to a supplementary resume.

In terms of your second question, you'll know if you're really good if you've received awards (for the most part either state or national). And yes, they DO care about the difference. It's very easy to show up to Amnesty International meetings. It isn't, however, so very easy to draft petitions and make an otherwise unknowing student body passionate about human rights abuses around the world. You can demonstrate that you're a good/passionate actor by staying involved in your school's theater department, and community theater.

silverchris9

Cool, thanks. That was really, really helpful.

mayiplzgovertigo

There's a huge difference between doing something, and being GOOD at doing something, and colleges notice. For example:

my friend does art. He attends private art classes, and takes art classes at our school and is decent at it.

Not to toot my own horn, but i am GOOD at doing art. I also attend private art classes and take art classes at our school. However, I've also won numerous state competitions in art, often placing in gold medal. I've also won many national art competitions, most notably scoring very high on NFAA competition and also being chosen for a national art program that selects roughly 60 students nationwide each year. And finally, i even placed in the semifinalist round of an internationl art competition, which is open to ANY AGE range, including professional artists.

So when colleges see both me and my friend, they will be more inclined to choose me if our gpas and sats are comparable because while we both do art, I am the BETTER artist.

btw, my friend doesnt do art. he was just an example

mor99

What if you own ur own organization that helps the poor or something? It shows dedication and commitment to ur society, right? Would that be a major EC or does it have 2 b sports or other personal things?

Olive_Tree

Can anyone tell me how exactly do you start an organization, one outside of school?

Determind15

I see every one writing "do 2 or 3 ECs" "2 or 3 good ones" WHAT ARE THE GOOD ONES! ... its too vague a statement and that is why I believe many do thousands of Ecs. I have not even heard of some of the things you guys are referring to and the majority of them you have to pay to do, which sucks if those are the "good" ones you all are referring to.


Currently I'm doing 4 Ecs and planning to pick up 2 more : Soccer and the one we've heard so many times : reading to kids, however my other ECs revolve around science and English. I've been going crazy on whether or not to do a sport...its seems like one of those things you have to do...

Also does anyone know if partcipating in an after school program where you learn...like learning outside of school one day of the week and on Saturday is an EC

mmm.1033

I agree with the statement about an EC that is somewhat obscure. If you can demonstrate that you are passionate about something that is truly unique, then I think that makes you stand out. For example, I'm involved in an outdoor GPS treasure-hunting activity known as geocaching, and I've located over 100 caches to date. I'm thinking of writing my Common App essay about this, because it's a really unique activity. Granted, one can't win awards at it, but it is something that I truly enjoy and that I've given a great deal of time to.

Narcissa

USA__O is a good EC

hpg90

A "Good" ec is one that you actually have had a significant amount of involvement in. BTW, I don't know anyone who has actually started an organization outside of school. Lots of people say that they have, but I have yet to meet one and I go to a really competitive, ambitious school....

calibound

I have seen so many posts about Eagle Scout and like to say a few words here. I have myself seen some amazing Eagle Scout projects that deserve all the credit....and then some that were not worthy at all. I would not even let them qualify as a mere Service Project .... let alone an Eagle Project. It all depends upon the area demographics and the adult leaders and committee members who run the show. I strongly feel that BSA really needs to tighten their rules on ES approvals. I get the feeling that they get the weakest slip by as long as the basic requiremnts are met and it is not fair to ones who have really gone way above and beyond to get their ES rank. It is my take for what its worth that the BSA has fallen prey to the "fear" factor of getting a bad rap or getting slapped with lawsuit. Having said that I honestly feel that both the Scouting programs (for girls and boys) are very strong and opens a lot of doors of oppurtunities if they are administred properly. After all it is very "volunteer dependent" program and you dont always get good leaders who are capable of leading the young ones and be good role models themselves. I am a strong supporter of both the programs.

mmm.1033

I totally agree. I'm working on my Eagle project right now (developing an area behind my church for a garden with statues and such) and I know people in other councils who get through with some food collection drives or flag retiring. Totally unfair.