Extracurricular Activities

By Katherine Cohen, Ph.D., Founder and President
IvyWise

Good grades and high test scores alone will not gain you entrance into the most selective colleges. College admission directors are looking for candidates who will enrich their college communities. Therefore, colleges want to know how you spend your time outside of the classroom, and specifically how you have made an impact or significant contribution to both your high school community and the community in which you live. They will look at your resume, or your "brag" sheet, to see exactly which extracurricular activities you are engaged in over time. Extracurricular activities count! But they have to be of a certain nature.

Colleges are not looking for the "Jack of All Trades Master of None." They are not particularly interested in the student who dabbles in many activities, but is not known for any one in particular. They are also not looking for what I like to call "Serial Joiners," students who join different clubs year after year and who then drop out of those clubs year after year. Colleges are specifically looking for consistency, commitment, responsibility, and leadership in your extracurricular activities. Instead of "well rounded" students, colleges seek angular students, or specialists. So that means you only need to pursue a few areas of interest-those in which you are talented in and that you love, throughout high school. If you are interested in sports (e.g. football) and writing (e.g. poetry), perhaps all of your extracurricular time is spent on these two endeavours. You might be the quarterback of your school's football team, write for the sports section of the school newspaper, organize fundraisers to pay for new school athletic equipment; you may also write poetry and publish it in the school's literary magazine or start the school's literary magazine.

Make sure that you are spending significant amounts of time on each activity. One hour per week clubs are considered superficial. Find extra hours in the week to plan something new for the club. Also, make sure you are participating in these activities you enjoy during all four years of high school. A college admissions director often does not look favourably on a student who starts community service in 12th grade!

Also, summers count! You do not want to spend your 12 weeks of summer working.on your tan. Think of long programs you can do (8-10 weeks) of summer school, travel/study abroad, employment or an internship in a field you are interested in, or a unique program that matches your interests.

Whatever you do with your extracurricular time, you want to always keep in mind how you are making an impact on your community. In other words, if we were to pluck you out of your school setting tomorrow, what would be missing? So you need to ask yourself what am I good at? What do I love to do? How can I help my school/community/peers use these unique skills and talents that I possess? Some schools do not offer much in the way of clubs and community service, so I say if you can't find it, found it! Being a pioneer—especially one who thinks outside the box—is very attractive to the most selective colleges. Extra curriculum is a great vehicle for demonstrating initiative, leadership and good citizenship.

So go out there and make an impact!