Average hours of extracurriculars

[walkhome071590]

Just wondering, what would you guys consider to be the max and/or average amount of hours per WEEK spent on extracurriculars (anything outside of school work, i.e. volunteer, work, clubs, sports, etc.). I'm right now sitting at ~4.5 hours/week, but depending on a part-time job i'm applying for it could shoot up to 10.5 and I'm definitely worried if I can handle that much.

[ArchEnemy]

Just wondering, what would you guys consider to be the max and/or average amount of hours per WEEK spent on extracurriculars (anything outside of school work, i.e. volunteer, work, clubs, sports, etc.). I'm right now sitting at ~4.5 hours/week, but depending on a part-time job i'm applying for it could shoot up to 10.5 and I'm definitely worried if I can handle that much.

 

Everyone has their own threshold of workload they can handle. Personally, I have 6hrs of volunteering and 12hrs of research a week..

[walkhome071590]

Oh wow, you manage that much as an undergrad? That's really impressive!

[ArchEnemy]

Oh wow, you manage that much as an undergrad? That's really impressive!

 

Yup I didn't think I could manage this much too. But if you enjoy your activities, it kinda becomes your leisure time

[vanillabear]

Around 8-10 hours for research, 4 on volunteering, 5-6 on clubs and a couple on basketball.

 

It is quite a bit to handle though... hopefully I can keep it up for the year :S

[osteon]

20 hours of work and 10 hours of research per week as undergrad.

 

80+ hours research/research-related stuff per week as grad student.

 

Enjoy undergrad while you have it.

[Asta]

I used to work 20+ hours/week, volunteer 4 h/week and still run and knit while full time. This year I don't have to work, so I am spending about 5 h/week on student council, 6 h/week on research, running lots and now I have time to go hiking on the weekend. Yay weekend!

[wall.flower]

Does it lessen my chances of getting in if I have very minimal EC. Ie. maybe a couple of things here and there in the summer, and totaly comitted to studying throughout the year?

[equus]

I have an executive position on a campus organization, I volunteer at a local kitchen, and I'm a member of a dance group.

 

Exec position - 15-20 hrs/week

Kitchen - 3 hrs/week

Dance - 2 hrs/week

 

It's pretty crazy, but I somehow manage balancing all this with school. If you love what you do, it's not hard to fit it all in.

[Asta]

Does it lessen my chances of getting in if I have very minimal EC. Ie. maybe a couple of things here and there in the summer, and totaly comitted to studying throughout the year?

 

Different schools weigh ECs differently. But schools are counting ECs as more and more valuable. For example, 50% of the preinterview score at UBC is from non-academic activities. At U of C, 60% preinterview score is from nonacademic components.

 

But a bad GPA is really tough to fix. Insufficient ECs just take some time to build up.

 

So to answer your question - yes it does. However, "GPA is king."

[wall.flower]

Different schools weigh ECs differently. But schools are counting ECs as more and more valuable. For example, 50% of the preinterview score at UBC is from non-academic activities. At U of C, 60% preinterview score is from nonacademic components.

 

But a bad GPA is really tough to fix. Insufficient ECs just take some time to build up.

 

So to answer your question - yes it does. However, "GPA is king."

 

Would anyone happen to know about the way Ontario schools look at Ecs?

[ArchEnemy]

Would anyone happen to know about the way Ontario schools look at Ecs?

 

I believe that Ontario schools also take ECs into account, however they don't have a clear % score assigned to it, unlike UBC or UCal.