<p>What about someone who has tons of passions??</p>
<p>I do Science Bowl, High Five, Mock Trial, School Play, Robotics, Varsity Soccer, Girl Scouts, etc… and I love them all! I’m not willing to give any of them up for the sake of showing one or two passions…</p>
<p>Sishu7: I sympathize with you completely, and my son said much the same thing. Ufff!, did he ever resent the implication that he shouldn’t be doing everything that interested him. And unless you’re trying to get into one of the “top” 10-20 private colleges, don’t even give it a second thought, because the vast, vast majority of colleges will appreciate your well-roundedness and engagement.</p>
<p>The fact is, however, that you will NOT be able to continue to pursue all those different activities once you get to college. Life and increased academic demands are going to force you to choose one or two or three at most and to let the other ones slide. Eventually, you are going to decide what you care about most, which things you are willing to put the time into to do them really well, not just “really well for a high school student”. So the real question is when that happens: now, or a couple of years from now?</p>
<p>Sishu…don’t worry about a thing. One of my kids was just like you. She has had several passions her entire life and was committed to each one for years. She never wanted to give any of them up. She was the epitome of the “well rounded” person. Supposedly college admissions these days seems to lean toward those with one or two deep passions but she didn’t care. She would never change a thing about what she was doing just because of college admissions. In fact, she even wrote one of her main application essays around her attribute of her many sides, passions, and well roundedness because that defines who she is as a person. Why change for college admissions? Just so you know, she got into most of her colleges (6 acceptances, 1 waitlist, 1 deferral/denial) which included very selective colleges. She happens to attend an Ivy league school, not that that was her goal, however. So, she had many passions, though she organized these activities on her resume around general categories that happened to fit her particular activities (sports, performing arts and leadership). I have another daughter who used to be well rounded like her sister but around middle school, gave up some of her activities, such as all of her sports, to put her eggs into her main passion. However, even within her main passion (musical theater), she was deeply engaged in a variety of activities that were several “sub” passions but they all related to performing arts. So, her thing was one main passion with related passions. I don’t think one child or the other looked better. Both were committed. One had a very focused passion that also related to her intended major and career and the other had well rounded passions. </p>
<p>The one thing I agree with JHS about this is that once IN college, my well rounded D could not do ALL of her ECs that she used to do but she has been able to continue with many of them. So, it is a little different in college, but that is OK. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t change a thing about your activities unless you want to. But make sure your commitment to each activity and your contributions are significant and not “light”. If your involvement is very minor in many activities, that is not such a good thing. But if you are deeply involved in several pursuits, so be it.</p>
<p>Regarding EC’s, I’m more or less with JHS: my D dropped some, gave less time to others, and even picked up a new one. But the total amount of time available is less, so you have to budget and make choices. Usually. I still remember the Harvard tour guide with a Government concentration who spent more time in Shakespeare productions than anything else…he figured that even if he graduated last in his class, he would still be a Harvard grad.</p>
<p>But particularly if you’re at a top school looking for a top academic record for grad/professional school, the world is not your oyster and you can not have it all.</p>
<p>N.B., when students start pitching things overboard to free up time, often one of the first things to go is sleep. If that was your thought, hundreds of thousands per year have beaten you to it.</p>