Extracurriculars in SOP

[JohnMcClane]

ha ha ... you guys may be correct ... this reminds of this PhD admission story I read last year (in Math?) ... it was actually the prof on the adcom telling the story ... he was like "there was this applicant ... his profile was impressive but nothing spectucular ... but he had apparently swam across the english channel and there was an article on it with the rest of his application, I was like ... I needed to see this guy ... so we admitted him to the program!" I am not lying.

[JohnMcClane]

Don't forget ... adcoms are humans too.

[tm_guru]

Well that's pretty cool, and I suppose climbing Everest is cool too. But you really can only bring it into play if it relates somehow to the strength of your application.

[BUSPHD]

A lot of people have trouble with their first pararaph and you can use extra currics to form a solid intro to who you are and why you are want to study Econ.

Pepople reference hardships, diversity, unique qualities, etc and neat extra currics can also be good. So if you can relate creating the Econ Summit or teaching to your desire to be an academic go for it, same for the person who climbed everest. Or just start it off in a general manner which can also work. I do not think either approach will get you in but if you are proud of it do what makes you happy. I have heard statement of purpose counts for very little.