<p>Compared to like a liberal arts major, etc.</p>
<p>ECs matter less dependent on the college to which you apply. THe vast majority of US schools (~85%??) don’t care a bit about ECs. Only the tippy top schools, which field thousands of applicants more than their allotted spots – use ECs to some measure to differentiate the students.</p>
<p>To which schools are you applying?</p>
<p>Well I know I’ll get into Minnesota and Madison. But, I’m also applying to Northwestern, Washington U in St. Louis, and Johns Hopkins(BME). I have pretty weak EC’s so I don’t think I’ll get into these schools. I would prefer Northwestern, but I 'll probably end up at Madison and Minnesota which are still really good in engineering, but are way too big. So for Northwestern, for example, do engineers who get in usually have less impressive EC’s.</p>
<p>I’m applying to JHU BME as well, and I must say, the program is VERY selective. ECs are what you’ll need to stand out at these top programs, unfortunately.</p>
<p>My Engineering son says ECs matter, but do ECs that matter to you.Trying to do things just because they will look good on a college resume is a waste of your time and in all likelihood won’t really make you stand out on a resume. Find something you’re passionate about, even if it seems unrelated to your major or unimportant.</p>
<p>Fauxmaven, I think Twins127 is a senior. </p>
<p>The EC ship has sailed. ECs matter for schools which have enough applicants to use ECs to differentiate students. I agree with a previous poster that Johns Hopkins BME is really really competitive. Northwestern is a bit less selective. WashU is totally unpredictable because they waitlist so many. Looking at a previous post of yours, your stats are terrific. By all means apply to all of them. Nothing should be off the table for you. </p>
<p>If you think Minnesota and Wisconsin are too big, why not add Case Western as another, smaller safety with top shelf engineering. You’ll probably get serious merit money there too.</p>