Chance with ECs

hajwut17
Mon, 08 Oct 2012 00:02:47 +0000

Ok so this is specifically about my extracurriculars.

I feel like i’ve done plenty of ECs, but my problem is a) i don’t really have anything that I’ve done for all 4 years of high school other than community service and b) i have no leadership roles. None. Zip. Nada. And it’s not like I haven’t tried, I just wasn’t really popular/well known enough to be a leader in anything. Plus being an officer of my class or a club would require extra hours, which never worked for me because I always had transportation problems.
Another flaw is I have no work experience. Again, solely because of transportation problems and lack of time. My parents never allowed me to work during school. And in the summer, I couldn’t try to get a job because someone had to watch my brothers. So I like to tell myself that babysitting my siblings and relatives 24/7 counts as “work experience” haha. (Should I mention these reasons in my application? The part that says elaborate on certain circumstances or qualifications?)

So these are all the ECs i’m planning on including in my application (common app). Please let me know if i should add , take out, or switch the order of anything, because I’m so unsure of what could reflect me as a person. Also I would like to know if the hours a week/year mean anything, because some of them may seem low but those were really just a once a month thing.

1) National Honor Society: tutoring and community service
11-12th grade, school year, about 1 hr/wk 20 wks/yr
2) Played on school varsity tennis team and/or outside of school, earned 1 varsity letter
9-12th grade, school year & summer, about 10 hr/wk 10 wks/yr, intend to participate in college
3) French Club and tutoring in French Honor Society
10-12th grade, school year, about 1 hr/wk 30 wks/yr, intend to participate in college
4) Tutor in school Writing Center
11-12th grade, school year, about 2 hr/wk 10 wks/yr, intend to participate in college
5) Volunteered for the organization Maddie’s Blankets by making blankets for sheltered animals
11-12th grade, school year & summer, about 5 hr/wk 40 wks/yr
6) Staff member and editor of school literary/arts magazine, Syzygy
9-11th grade, school year, about 2 hr/wk 30 wk/yr
7) Mentored underclassmen in the Advanced Academics Mentoring Program
11-12th grade, school year, about 2 hr/wk 15 wk/yr
8) Writer for award-winning school yearbook, The Predator
12th grade, school year, about 5 hr/wk 30 wks/yr
9) Various volunteering around my community including cleaning up and distributing snacks to children
9-12th grade, school year & summer, about 2 hr/wk 20 wks/yr, intend to participate in college

Also, the one I chose to elaborate briefly on was the Writing Center (#4), because I loved that the most, but do you think I should talk about another one?
Wow this is a lot to ask but I really really need help! Thanks to anyone who replies!!

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