<p>It is more important that you are committed and have passion for your ec.</p>
<p>I am very worried about my extracurriculars because i feel they are not on par with other american applicants since i will be regarded as one during the admission process (im a US citizen). The fact that i am a female living in Saudi Arabia has seriously hindered my chances of doing activities out of school since most aren’t offered to students (but if they are, males will be given the upper hand - discrimination,i know but what can i do?).Plus i go to a british school so therefore we don’t have that many clubs to choose from as american schools seem to have A LOT!!! </p>
<p>Will universities take this all into consideration when looking at my applications? </p>
<p>My extracurriculars are as follow(The clubs at my school such as MUN, art club, charity club etc don’t have vice presidents/presidents etc. If you want a leadership role their are certain positions you can apply for such as prefect, head girl etc) </p>
<p> 3-4 year Basketball
3 Years Senior prefect (Highest leadership role offered to students in grade 9-11)
MUN (1-2 Years) Went to conference in Greece
Head Girl/Deputy Head Girl - highest leadership role offered in the entire school (only 12th graders can apply though)
150+ Volunteering doing administrative work at a disabled centre as well as doing activities with the kids such as cooking/horse riding, volunteering at my school library
Work Experience (IDB a bank) since I plan to major in finance
Head of house - grammar school (major leadership role)
Co-founder of charity club
Jeddonian- my school year book (Editor )
Art Competition (5th Place regional competition)</p>
<p>The colleges i am interested in are georgetown (EA), duke, upenn (wharton), umichigan, uva & george washington university </p>
<p>Do you guys think my extracurricular activities will suffice for these universities?</p>
<p>I’m skeptical about how important EC’s are. I did quite well with college admissions, and my EC’s were nothing like what I see on this forum. I did marching band for 3 years, but it wasn’t a passion of mine whatsoever, and not one essay mentioned it. I did ASB for only one year and that is what I did my commonapp EC essay on, but once again, absolutely nothing special. Besides those, the only other substantial EC I did was self-study AP Psychology, but even that is still very academics-based. I didn’t have a single hour of community service to show, no volunteer work, no internship, no part-time job. Everything I listed was all I did in terms of EC’s.</p>
<p>My essays weren’t about any of my EC’s, they were about topics that I find myself thinking about on a daily basis. I don’t think putting down “400 hours of free-thinking” counts as an EC with a reference or anything, but that is what I wrote about, and I did absolutely fine with college admissions.</p>
<p>I agree…too much emphasis is placed on ECs in these forums. My daughter had concluded that, despite top grades and scores at a well-regarded high school, she stood little chance of being accepted by top colleges because her ECs could not compare to those she saw listed here, or what her classmates were doing.</p>
<p>I’m happy to report she was wrong, despite those relatively weak ECs, Harvard still deemed her worthy enough to offer her a place in the class of 2018. :)</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that ECs are not important. This is just a single data point to show that they are not equally important for all applicants. My suspicion - the stronger a student is academically, and the more they stand out from fellow applicants in other ways, the smaller the role ECs play.</p>
<p>Congrats @BldrDad!! Your daughter is very lucky 
I agree with what you said about ECs; they can also counterbalance average grades because what you do outside the classroom tells a lot about a person’s character and his/her interests.</p>
<p>Oh, and someone please chance me for a few UC’s? I posted a recent thread with my stats. I’ll chance back!!</p>
<p>Uhm. I’ve never been a national anything or world-renowned student. I just got into Stanford so get this right. IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO. It’s about how you did it, and why you did it. If you cured cancer because you wanted to go to an Ivy league, it aint happening. If you did it because you have a passion for biomedical research and you can’t get enough of it, then duhh you’re gonna go wherever you want. I am a sunday school teacher at my church for the past 5 years. I haven’t built a new building or planned an organization helping other Ethiopian children. All I did was put my heart into those kids and explained it to Stanford. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It’s why you did it.</p>
<p>My ECs r seriously nothing cuz in India u really neva get time to concentrate on ec … Studies r too much … M really stressed… I wanna apply to stanford and dey r not need blind (gotta get finance aid as well) . M really tensed but seriously wanna go to stanford… Jus a couple of participation certificates in debates and yeah luckily m the president of my schools interact club which is in relation wid rotary international … I seriosuly dont know outta those 50,000 applications , y would dey choose me in those 1500-2000 lucky students …! Tensed and stressed !! Pls help</p>
<p>This thread is the bomb</p>
<p>ya it’s gone on for a few years…</p>
<p>I play three sports and have been on varsity for all four years. My GPA is about a 3.6. I am also in one club. Does the sports and club help. Will i get into good school even though my GPA isnt amazin?</p>
<p>I need help establishing leadership positions in clubs and organizations. Does anyone have any tips on how to become a leader of an orginization or club? Tips on speaking to large crowds?</p>
<p>What would you guys say about the following ECs:
Red cross volunteer
Founder of red cross school club and president
Certified EMT
Volunteer 3 hours at local hospital
Volunteer 3 hours at local nursing home
Volunteer 3 hours at local medical practice (basically I shadow the doctor)
Tae kwon do instructor (will be black belt by the time i graduate)
Interact club (probably will have leadership spot next year)
FBLA
Student Council (might have leadership spot next year)
SFERE (might have leadership spot)
Debate (varsity next year)
Deborah Heart challenge this year
math team </p>
<p>Any tips or advice would be amazing im a sophomore! </p>
<p>@Alpha101 if you want leadership positions and don’t know if u can get one at the school clubs already existing, make your own! </p>
<p>@sanjcollege I am actually trying to start a science club in school already as well trying to start a internet class for senior citizens at my library too.
Also, a kid in my school made a new World Affairs club, and I’m trying to run for vice president, but there are like 15 running for 3 positions, got to speak in front of the club 2 weeks from now to try to run.
Wish me luck! </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1610008-trying-to-get-into-uc-s-help.html?new=1”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1610008-trying-to-get-into-uc-s-help.html?new=1</a></p>
<p>oh wow, good luck! i hope you get it! keep me posted @alpha101</p>
<p>Hey I don’t have very many ECs (about two clubs, some volunteering, and art), and I was wondering if including any freelance work I did would help? It’s only been one serious job and I’m not actually getting paid much, but if all goes well my cover will be on a book :3 Also, any other things I should try doing? I like computer programming, art, and neuroscience.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought that people try to do a bunch of meaningless EC’s to “pump up” their college apps. IF anything, do something really meaningful to YOU. Colleges want to see you have passion for something, and it would be doubly beneficial if whatever it is relates to your intended major.</p>
<p>If anyone’s still reading this, the point of having ECs aren’t for college. That’s what we need to get. We don’t aim for President of NHS to get into Harvard; we don’t take swimming lessons at age three to be the captain of the varsity swim team. We do it because we love it, because we have a passion for it, and because we /want/ to. There’s no college or admission involved. And that’s what colleges want. They want genuineness. They want to see what you got out of your EC, not what you got from shrewd planning or from forcing yourself to be the president of your newspaper club.
They want to know that your EC is consistent with what you enjoy, what you’re passionate about, and ultimately, what you’d want to pursue later on. Not even that–ECs can simply be about something you enjoy but won’t major in. But whatever it is, ECs (and essays) are what makes your 2-D profile from test scores pop up to a 3-D profile–a /person/. If you think that being the president of NHS or founding three clubs in your school that went on to be international organizations will guarantee you into a good college, that’s not the right mindset. The reason these people were acknowledged for these “achievements” was not its title–though granted, they are pretty impressive–it’s what they got out of it.
It’s almost an illusion; we think that having “phenomenal ECs” will get us into better colleges, but really it’s you who makes the difference. Whether you’re the president of your school’s photography club or you’ve gotten accepted into a selective summer program, it’s all about what you’ve learned and what you’re willing to continue and push forward in college. They want to see your drive and your passion.
In that way, writing your essay is important, as well–you need to make sure that they know what you’ve learned, who you are, and why you have the passion and dedication to be an HYP student. You need to make yourself pop out and stand out as a 3-D, tangible /person/ rather than a bunch of impressive ECs with a monotonous essay about your experience helping out at a nursing home.
Having an impressive EC doesn’t guarantee you into Harvard–it’s only because people who got up there had the passion to do it. If you have the passion to do something, big or small, it is just as important, because in the end, it’s about you, not the colleges.</p>