Importance of school related ECs

[Transparent]

Deleted.......

[SharkLvr]

Originally Posted by Transparent

I've noticed that apart from attending classes, going to the library, student centre etc. I'm rarely doing anything on Campus mostly because I'm a commuter like the thousands of others at York.

As a result most of my ECs are conducted over the weekends and they aren't really linked with school. How important are ECs done in the school environment (Clubs, Executive Positions etc.) then ECs which you do on your own leisure time and which you found out about on your own? (Sports, Hospital volunteering, Hobbies etc.)?

The clubs I'm registered at school are insignificant compared to my personal ECs as they rarely hold any sort of events, only once a month. The clubs are made so people can pad up their resume and show off that they were an exec in this or a president of that..etc. Not to mention the fact they try to demand $5 out of you and term it as a membership fee. Lol, we should be the ones getting paid for joining.

Do schools discriminate based on the type of ECs a person has done?
I'm sure there are other ways to demonstrate your leadership and networking abilities than having to run a club at school. E.g. I could easily set up a fundraising event in my own community, and that would help me far more in the long run than running a useless club at school!

P.S. of course there are some pretty unique and interesting clubs. What I was referring to in my original post are clubs such as the premed club, Biology Society, random volunteer organizations etc.
Hope you guys understand what I'm trying to say.

Simple answer: No

I don't think it's a problem at all. Whatever you do (in school or out of school), adcoms look at your commitment and passion for that activity. All of us have been premeds, and can often easily tell the difference between things you actually cared about and the resume padders.

I was just like you (very few on-campus stuff). I don't think it hurt me one bit.