i have a question.
im the leader of a youth group in church.
and im totally passionate and luv it.
i am sure i can write a lot about it.
but the thing is that, does this count as ec?
is it ok to write an essay about this “activity”?
^ Absolutely.
it is wonderful idea to write an essay about EC, but does that mean i have to write 2 essays (1 for the colleges’ “essay questions”, and 1 for EC) for the application?
I read on a collegeboard pamphlet that colleges, overall, put very little emphasis on ECs (I think they were one of the last on the list on "Most Important Admission Factors). This data was collected from college officials by NACAC. Does this reflect upper-level schools too? Are ECs as important as people make them out to be? Are average ECs going to hold an otherwise qualified candidate back from being admitted at upper-level schools?
hey hows it going everyone…
well for me my passion is doing medical research (want to be a doctor when I get out of college)
this summer i did unpaid internship at a medical center close to my home and it was a great experience… if i wrote about that and also my other experiences with research do you all think that would be good?
im using this to write for my common application essay #1…
- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
it counts as experience right?
thanx a lot
Many private schools “force” the students to play 2 sports, even if you hardly play so that wouldn’t really count unless you were captain, etc. There are also private/Catholic schools that make the students do so many hours of community service in and out of the school. You have to log the hours and get them signed so they know…I think the colleges realize that and it’s when you go over and beyond that, it makes an impact.
My babysitter told me she was having trouble with the question…her life was too boring! She really didn’t have a significant experience (rarely traveled because of money)no one died or had to move to a new area, didn’t take any real risks and her only ethical dilemma had been not hanging out with kids that cheated and did drugs but that wasn’t a big issue. She would rather spend time alone some days than conform. I told her she probably had a nice essay there, she would just need some help forming it.
The top colleges (USNEWS Rank >#40 Generally) place very strong emphasis on ECs. Having weak ECs will hold you back from top schools if you have strong grades/rank/scores. At 99% of schools in the country though, they dont give a damn, because they just want to get as strong academically a student body as possible. Top schools want things like SG President, etc.
I’ve read about top students going to schools like Haverford, etc. with somewhat weak EC’s but they brought diversity in race, geographic region or or other area. It’s just that those schools get inundated with apps that all look the same, if you can stand out some way great, but admissions is never clear cut.
Doesn’t the common application have a section for you to pick one EC and talk about it in 150 words? Isn’t everyone going to do that?..I mean it’s required. Do i still have to pick an EC and tlak about it in my essay?
You can talk about whatever you want in your essay, one of their topics or “pick your own”.
Not that essay. There’s an 150 word short answer that requires you to pick one of your EC and talk about it. If I’m going to explain my interest in that short answer as every else. Is it worth it to write about my ec in the main essay?
It’s up to you, if you can expound more on it, fine, but you don’t want to be reduntant. My son decided not too, because his tutoring was explained well in his EC essay and he did one on a character in a book he loved and his life.
You can try different things and see what works best for you.
Hi there,
I’m not quite sure what exactly are qualified as ECs so maybe some of you could help me out.
I’ve organised AIDS Awareness Week at my school for two years running. The week included fundraising, advertising, and guest speakers. In the description section of the CommApp I’ve simply put “Also volunteered at local AIDS Centre, hospital, and TB Clinic” as I figured the title “HIV/AIDS Week Campaign Organiser” under leadership positions was enough explanation for the awareness week. Is this a wise choice for a description?
Also, I was made vice-president of the student body and a prefect. This has taken up a lot of my time in grade 11 and 12. However, are these positions ECs?
Lastly, when the form asks if you will be ‘participating in college’ what should I say for church activities? As I would obviously get invloved once I find a church nearby whichever college I get accepted at, but the activity itself has very little, if not anything to do with the college itself?
Thanks for your help:)
An extracurricular activity is any activity that you do outside of school. All the things you mentioned, then, are extracurricular activities. Since you think you will get involved in a church when you get into college, you should mark that you are planning to participate in the activity in college.
Hi, I’m Mai Anh from Vietnam.
I have learnt playing the piano for 10 years and have learnt a course for 14 months in the National Conservatory of Music and just got a certificate. Besides, I write articles for school’s newspaper, the leader of the my club visiting the orphanage, translate newspaper as a working experience, join the exchange program in one hospital and join the " Youth’s safer sex propaganda" club. All of them I have joined for 2 years, some 3 years. I got some certificates for those EC but most of them state the time involved in months. For example: 24 months, 36 months but not in hours. Should I ask them to give me other certificates state time involved in hours. I am now still participating in these activities so time involved may be around 200-300 per each; for piano is so much more.
Can you tell me how to make use of these EC or just simply list them in the common application form? I intend write an ec essay about playing the piano and already recorded some pieces of music to send to the Admission office.
Thanks so much:D
dchow08: I appreciate your speedy reply but it’s sparked another question:
You said that “An extracurricular activity is any activity that you do outside of school” but the student body Vice-president and prefectship that I mentioned are school based. I’m also involved in school drama and choirs - but do these thing classify as ECs if they are not done “outside of school”. Thanks for your input:)
Outside of your academic curriculum might be a more applicable description
I am a mature student. How do I get into a top university when I am competing against 18 year olds with 4.0 grade point average and very exciting hobbies?
Ok so I’m filling in the CommApp and I read my list of ECs to my mom as I wasn’t really sure of what order to put them in, if my descriptions of them made sense, and if I should merge two of them or not.
So I’d like your opinions…
EC 1: Cultural: Honours etc: International Peace Camp delegate, Founder of school People To People International chapter. Description: Involves local and international cultural understanding and community outreach activities. Grades 11/12, 4hrs/42 weeks
EC 2: Student Gov’t: Honours etc: Head Girl, Prefect, Vice-President of Student body, Mentor, Student rep. in school Governing Body. Description: Worked closely with staff and students, managing school events, public relations, and discipline. Grades 10-12, 35hrs/40 weeks
EC 3: Religious: Honours etc: Youth leader, Sunday school teacher, Camp counsellor. Description: Involved in Christian children/youth ministry and music ministry at church. Grades 9-12, 11hrs/52 weeks
<strong><em>should I merge EC 3 and 4?</em></strong>
EC 4: Religious: Honours etc: Founder and President of on-going school Christian group. Description: Organise group social and fundraising events, weekly meetings, established weekly newsletter. Grades 9-12, 4hrs/40 weeks
EC 5: Community Service: Honours etc: HIV/AIDS Week Campaign Organiser Description: Helped organise annual AIDS week at school. Volunteered at local AIDS Centre, hospital and TB Clinic. Grades 10-12, 3hrs/24 weeks
EC 6: Music:Vocal: Honours etc: Member of selective school choir, 1st and 3rd in regional and school competions, school merit. Description: Vocal training, Member of school classical, jazz and gospel choirs, as well as church band. Grades 9-12, 6hrs/50 weeks
EC 7: Theatre/ Drama: Honours etc: Lead in plays, School Merits, Prop Designer. Description: Plays include a musical as well as non-musicals. All plays were school extracurricular activities. Grades 9-12, 5hrs/30 weeks
My mom says that the Adcoms won’t believe me because it sounds “too good to be true” ??? (What???) and she says it looks like I’m too unbalanced as almost everything is connected to school and it looks like I have no life outside school!! She suggested that I add “Arts and crafts” it’s something I do on the sidelines when I have time - which in the past year i haven’t really had. And in grade 9 I made some money off it but I’ve never been too serious about it - What do you think??
- Do my descritions make sense?
- Does this order seem logical?
- Should I merge 3 and 4?
- Does it seem unbalnced?
Thanks a lot in advance!!
dayle_kaltenborn: That’s what everybody wants to know! There’s absolutely no guarantee that you will get into a top university. You should try to show in your application a bit of who you are, your academic background, etc., and then see what happens. But generally if you do have high grades, you’re more likely to get in. A lot of people have similar grades and test scores, but they’re all different and the admissions people have to sort that out and make a decision about who would do best there.
mvogel: Based on all the things you do, it doesn’t sound to me like you have no life outside of school! But it is weird that when you add up all the hours/week, you get over 60 hours a week. I mean, that sounds a little hard to believe. If arts and crafts isn’t a significant thing you do, then why put it there? You should put the activities from most important to least important. I don’t think it’s unbalanced. Your descriptions are fine. Main point: Convey what you do in the most truthful way you can.