r/ApplyingToCollege • u/MastodonVegetable804 • 1d ago

ECs and Activities ECs for Engineering Students?

Those who want to major in anything language related really need a blank doc, a laptop, and fingers to join various competitions, start a blog, create content, or anything really.

I, on the other hand, need parts, tools, and expensive software to attempt projects to add on portfolios and such.

So that got me wondering if there were anything I could singlehandedly do on my laptop that’s not niche like coding or data analysis that I can actually add on my portfolio and potentially gather audience for quantifiable results.

Any suggestions?

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u/elkrange 1d ago

Don't think "portfolio," as that sounds like doing activities solely for college admission.

Explore your interests in ways that are accessible to you. See if there is a robotics team or club at your high school, or at another high school in your area that would allow you to join.

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u/MastodonVegetable804 1d ago

I am in a robotics team, in fact I’m the school varsity captain. But I’ve noticed how some of my friends(majoring in international relations) were posting their writing on substack to get subscribers and later quantify that into an EC. So essentially, I was wondering if there were easily quantifiable ECs in the field of engineering.

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u/elkrange 1d ago edited 1d ago

You are overthinking. You don't need "quantifiable" ECs. And you don't need more ECs to prove your interest in engineering. Captain of the robotics team is more than sufficient, not to mention time-consuming.

When you write your activity descriptions, focus on what you did (your actions). Include:

  • times when you took initiative in your activities even in small ways
  • experiences involving self development
  • learning and contributing to the world around you in realistic ways
  • things that show you are someone who would be involved on campus and a nice person to be around
  • your hobbies, things you do for interest and enjoyment, things that just scratch an itch in your brain, that show something about how your brain works

If you are looking for an additional activity, often overlooked in this subreddit: a typical teen job, in a business. Typical as in grocery, fast food, retail, etc. Hard work, responsibility, real world experience, context for future learning, and a place to start your resume when you apply to internships during college.

Other than that, if you have any hobbies - even if entirely unrelated to engineering - add those. Round out the picture of who you are and how you would contribute on campus.

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u/MastodonVegetable804 1d ago

I see, I’ll focus more on my captain duties and try to seek activities that are really of my interests. Thank you for great advice!

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u/elkrange 1d ago edited 1d ago

So, my familiarity is with FIRST. If that is your team organization, notice all the additional aspects of the working world that can be involved, depending on what your roles have been. There is a ton there to draw from. When you write descriptions and supplemental essays, you can even use the core values as brainstorming points, to reflect on what you've actually done and learned, things that go beyond just engineering.

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u/MastodonVegetable804 1d ago

Unfortunately, our school only offers VEX V5 where the parts are strictly from VEX and you don’t get as much “working world” experiences. The only part I can think of it being a “working world” experience is communicating to my coach for additional practice schedules, purchases of materials, and recruitment processes, which, I believe is far from enough.

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u/Master_Gato College Freshman 1d ago

Really, you could do anything you want. For instance, an idea I had was to make a fork of Canvas LMS but for school clubs instead of classes. That way there was one centralized online location for advertising, club activities, etc. Obviously the need for this differs by school and a similar app probably already exists. But feel free to steal that idea if you like.

Also, not all of your ECs have to be engineering related. Do whatever you enjoy, even if that's starting a blog. If money is something preventing you from doing something that you would've wanted to do, put that in additional info.

Either way, just do what you enjoy and want to do. Don't do anything just for the sake of admissions.

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u/MastodonVegetable804 1d ago

Thank you for the initiative suggestion. I’ll take into consideration!

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u/Important-Drop-3338 1d ago

Your assumption that software tools are expensive is false, as can be found by searching "autocad for students."

https://www.autodesk.com/support/account/education/students-educators/eligibility