Will my EC's hurt me, and should I aim higher?

<p>I’m a white male from the Northwest. </p>

<p>My current first choice: Vassar. I am leaning towards applying ED there. Other colleges I intend to apply to: Claremont McKenna (reach), Colby, Bates, Whitman, Skidmore (safety). Also considering Middlebury, Swarthmore and Northwestern. </p>

<p>Academics: I take honors courses, have a 4.0 unweighted, 2140 SAT and 32 ACT on first attempts. So I feel that I’m in pretty good shape in this area. </p>

<p>However, I am nervous about my extracurriculars.</p>

<p>So, here’s what I have done: I have played basketball and soccer all three years and will continue to do so (however, I’ve been JV in the first three years). I have been in student government all four years as well, and am part of a program of student advisors for underclassmen. I just finished a summer internship. And I am a frequent writer for a popular sports website which I’ve been a part of for 2-3 years now. </p>

<p>What concerns me is this: I haven’t done any clubs. Mock trial, speech and debate, model UN, etc…I have never done any of this, whereas it seems like most of my friends (who, granted, aren’t as athletically involved as me) are involved in multiple. Clubs just never really appealed to me, but now I’m worried my lack of involvement in the many clubs offered will hurt me. </p>

<p>So, essentially, my question is this: How much emphasis do colleges put on club participation (are all EC’s created equal?), and is a short list (4-5) of EC’s that I have stuck with and attained leadership positions in equally/more impressive as participating in a bunch of clubs?</p>

<p>Also, this is a chances thread, so thoughts in that area are much appreciated. </p>

<p>My final question: am I aiming at a good group of schools? I don’t care much for prestige, but would I be a competitive enough applicant based on what you see here to apply to a school like Brown, Swarthmore or Cornell? </p>

<p>Thanks so much, any help is greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Any help is greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Bump, please help me out!</p>

<p>It is sort of hard to respond but I will try. I personally don’t consider your ECs all that great and lets face it when you are applying to schools that are super competitive you should do everything you can to stand out. The number of hours you put into your sports each week will effect things, the more the better and if you had a leadership position within the team such as captain that will also help. Student government fills the leadership part, but the biggest issue with your ECs is that you lack community service and have nothing so amazing to compensate for it.</p>

<p>Personally I say go for it, I am the opposite of you with stats, strong ECs (I think I will have 400+ community service hours) and not so great academic stats (3.85 GPA) but I am still applying to Swarthmore. Write good essays and if you truly love the schools go for it!</p>

<p>Sorry, I left my community service out. I have around 220 hours. Also, I was captain in soccer.</p>