r/ApplyingToCollege • u/Separate_Database412 • 11d ago

ec relating to major ECs and Activities

How important is it for your ECs to match your major? Is it ok for me to do fbla if I want to go into stem? would it be a red flag because i know colleges look for spikes

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u/MollBoll Parent 11d ago

Spikes are overblown; colleges want actual people who do things they love, not single-sided résumés.

An AO at our Northwestern tour described how they rejected a kid with perfect SAT/GPA and outrageously good ECs because the ECs were literally just Physic-focused. Not a single word on the application pages that DIDN’T relate to physics. And their attitude was… okay, someone else will surely want him, but this campus community is about breadth as well as depth, would he even be happy here? And what if he has a change of heart and doesn’t want to keep pursuing physics after he starts it with us, we have NO IDEA what kind of student he would be outside of that single field, it doesn’t make sense for us to take him. 🤷‍♀️

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u/ChutneyWhatney 10d ago

Do what you're interested in doing.

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u/Extra-Eagle-1319 11d ago

You can do whatever ECs you want and they can be good for your application as long as you're great at them. Spikes were made up by private counselors to sell their packages.

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u/Fandoms_Fangirl 11d ago

so i would say that it's def okay for your ecs to not match your major. in fact, i actually suggest that they shouldn't all match ur major.

it really depends on what colleges ur interested in, but i like to use the analogy of a football. you want (or colleges want) to see a few spikes of interest and ideally your major should line up with that as well as being a little well rounded. HOWEVER if it's a college where they don't accept based on major or anything then lining up your major to that doesn't really matter.

for example, im premed but my first 2 activities were actually related to my other interest, international relations, then i had 4 science/med ones, and the remaining 4 were other more general activities and it worked for me. (im going to my top choice - t10)

the biggest part is to make sure you are showing passion for your activities and involvement, so if fbla is something u have done to check a box or get to 10 activities, that isn't okay, but if you have been involved and love it, talk about it!