Unique Extracurriculars vs. National Recognition?

lookingforward
Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:26:06 +0000

A lot of kids have the idea that you have to do something stellar, rarely done. It isn’t a competition to see who can dream up the most unique activity or do what few others can. What EC’s show is what sort of real person you are, beyond your stats. They want kids who can hack the academics, sure, and take steps to prepare for their own futures- but also fit and thrive on campus, join various activities and add to campus vibrance- all the things outside the classroom or the career. Your ECs hint at this.

It’s kind of silly to think you have to win national recognition. Leadership is about more than a big win or a title in a club. It’s how you do what you do. It can be starting a reading group at the library or committing to monthly visits to a soup kitchen and recruiting other kids. It can be the kid on the debate team who trains rookies. As for the 100k fundraiser: see, any adult knows how hard that is to accomplish. I highly doubt one hs girl was able to achieve it without parental support and $ contributions from family and adult friends. Adcoms are savvy.