Padding the CV – quality over quantity
I see a lot of high school students under the impression that the number of extracurricular activities is the most important. These students inevitably join 10 clubs, maybe even start their own, but do it for the college application. This defeats the purpose of the extracurriculars, and it is readily identifiable to the admissions counselors. If you’re in 10 clubs during your senior year, that means each club gets a very small percentage of your free time. This presumes that the college admissions counselors are looking for a quantity of extracurriculars, instead of a quality. Their goal is not to pick students who are doing the most things, but to find students who are passionate, involved, and excited. This could be about a few activities, or about one. Admissions staff can spot students who start clubs specifically to put “President and founder” on their CV, and that will get you little credit. If you want extracurricular activities that really count, that really add to your application, then you need to actually do something, have an effect.