emr1994

^ No, I have had no leadership positions or awards. I'm just an average band member.

warlands719

Hey guys,

So I don't have much strong ec's, and I'm approaching my junior year. I'm planning to enter the medical field in college, so what would be the best thing to do? Any advice? Is volunteering at hospital too general cause everyone does it? Or is it good

Zelda Fitzgerald

Could you do EMT training? Science Olympiad? Write about health/lifestyle issues for your school's newspaper/blog? Set up a health awareness organization/club through school? Work as a physical trainer for your school's sport teams? Etc, etc, etc.

smdporfavor

Hey everyone, I just had a quick question. If I started a non-profit organization in eighth grade and raised several thousand dollars for impoverished families in Kenya, spent a great deal of time on it, then went to Africa the summer before my freshman year, can I include this somehow? All the essays I've written about it seem pretty generic, but it sounds impressive when I tell people about my experience. I wasn't able to continue the project in high school. Is it essentially useless for college application purposes?

iATEaSEAmonster

Hey, I'm a freshie. Please let me know if I'm on the right track. Right now my ECs are:
Marching Band (very demanding, there's tons of practicing and rehearsing)
Science Bowl
Robotics (programming sub-team)
and I might join another club, but there's a lot of clubs that conflict with the above ECs. I'm also going to volunteer at a science magnet elementary school and tutor peers.

TheMan51

Would Japanese School every single Saturday almost all day for 13 years (when I graduate) be a pretty strong EC? And if I reinforce that by being a president or vice president on its student board?

biganthony

EC's are completely over-rated, in my view EC's has turned into resume padding. I was accepted into Wash U, Emory, Wesleyan this past year with about 4 EC's. Football, track, mock trial, little volunteering. I see kids (and my class mates) attaching another page to the common app dedicated for their EC's in the end none of them got into their "ivy league dream school" of HYP (not to say thats the case for everybody but im making an observation based on my classmates)

biganthony

im not saying EC's are worthless; but the fact that i see some people joining every club they can trying to get more EC's for college apps pointless

saffysparkles

How impressive would completing a 22 x4.6 ft mural at your school be?

warlands719

Do you guys think that being an ambassador in a few other countries would be good EC?

mmmgirl

@biganthony: I think a lot of people stiol think that if you have a whole bunch of ECs (like yearbook, student govt, sports, some volunteering) you are automatically a shoo-in at colleges. Colleges today want quality over quantity, they'd rather see fewer activities done at a higher level, or fewer activities but more prestigious ones (like writing editorials for a local paper vs. writing for the school paper), or fewer activities but with a clear focus (like all science related). The length of the list of clubs is not impressive by itself. Although if you can do quality and quantity that's probably best.

Who was it who was interested in medicine? Find a local professor or firm who is doing interesting medical research and ask if you can intern. Volunteer at a local hospital or with the Red Cross. Join or start a medical club at school. Take summer medical courses or do a medical internship/research over the summer.

Does anyone know of good politics related ECs? I will apply to Girls State, already interning for a campaign and part of school political club.

rainbowtime

what if you and your friends have started an organization but havent launched it?

barbieprincess94

Extracurricular activities have to be viewed in context of your school and community. Believe it or not, some schools actually don't have clubs (or have an administration unreceptive to them). Research isn't an opportunity for students who don't live in close proximity to an academic institution. Internships are difficult to come by, and often are doled out to college students, then to well-connected high schoolers. (And quite frankly, most professors are unwilling to include unconnected high school students in research.) The standards for students in large cities and from affluent families are very high. For those in rural, impoverished areas, sometimes just getting stellar grades along with some modest participation shows equal initiative.

Niiiii

Would being a fairly high achiever in Chess count as a decent/good/weak/strong EC?

waitingforivy

About the unconnected research thing - I've been doing research with someone who is not a family friend or a relative for the past couple summers. So yes, its hard, but it happens.