Extracurricular Activities

Given how high stakes the race for admission to top schools feels nowadays, with a surfeit of qualified applicants often selected on the unique attributes they’ll bring to a university’s student body, high schoolers are always looking for ways that can help them stand out from the crowd.  This is where independent projects come in! There has been an explosion of interest these past few years in pursuing a project of a student’s own accord outside of school, demonstrating both their passion for a topic and their commitment to advancing their own learning.

We know that in the college admissions process, there can be a big emphasis placed on extracurriculars. When an applicant meets the academic expectations of a university, the admissions officers then turn to the student’s list of clubs and activities to learn more about them and understand the impact they’ve made on their communities. In fact, it’s often the extracurriculars that set applicants apart.

The Metaverse is coming! Facebook recently rebranded and changed its mission to create the digital world of the future—all on the blockchain. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are growing in popularity, and collecting digital art has become a favorite pastime of many crypto enthusiasts.

Chances are that if you are reading this, you, or someone you know, would like to improve their writing. Indeed, writing competently is a key strength, and mastering it will certainly pay dividends. The effort invested in this skill offers a whole host of rewards, both in the short, medium, and long term.

What do Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg have in common? Aside from their remarkable commitment to their causes, both started to work to build the society they want to live in before they turned 20. And they have a lot of inspiring company among young changemakers!

Summer can be a time for sleeping in, seeing friends and family, and almost forgetting you were a student for a bit. But it’s also an opportunity to work on projects you didn’t have time for during the school year. The real question is how to balance the summer with relaxing and being both personally and academically productive.

Most US colleges and universities use a holistic review method when reviewing applicants for admission, considering various aspects of a student’s academic and personal record. This includes the tangibles, like a student’s four-year transcript, test scores, recommendation letters, and essays. But it also includes the intangibles, like a student’s passions, interests, and motivations.

Passion. People die for it, poets write about it, colleges look for it. Yet, it’s so easy for passion to get lost in the flurry of assignments and deadlines.

We all know that grades and test scores are key factors in college admissions, but activities outside of the classroom are also very important. Schools are looking to build a class of specialists, so it's important to hone in on a few interests you're really passionate about and develop them. One activity that allows you to learn, document your experience and demonstrate knowledge of a particular field or interest is blogging.

One of the best ways for students to explore their interests is through involvement in extracurricular activities. However, simply joining a club or activity isn’t where students should stop with their ambitions. Going the extra mile in clubs and activities can not only help students better identify and focus their interests, but it can also help them stand out when applying to college.

It’s a new year, a new semester, and the perfect time for students to reevaluate their extracurricular activities and whether or not those activities are really helping them better explore their interests. Students often overlook community service as a way to explore their interests because they tend to have a one-dimensional view of what community service entails. If they’re not collecting cans at a food drive or serving dinner at a local homeless shelter, what other community service is there?

It is widely acknowledged that demonstrating interests through extracurricular activities is a critical element of a robust college application, but students and parents are often unsure which process to follow. I encourage students to identify an interest and use it to build an extracurricular project plan. Projects should be selected based on fit, have a mix of milestones ranging from easy to difficult, show a clear link to each other, and incrementally increase in independence & difficulty.

Summer will be here before you know it, and with time off of school, students should pursue activities and programs that align with their interests instead of coasting through their school break. A productive summer break can help students stand out in the admissions process – while also helping them to explore their interests and gain a better understanding of what they want to do with their college education. The key to a productive summer break is to plan ahead!

Junior year is probably the most important college prep year, and students need to ensure they’re on track in order to be prepared for the college admissions process next fall. The college admission process is about self-discovery and it is important to start by setting clear goals each year of high school – especially junior year! Junior year is critical.

So, you've begun developing your college list. Hopefully, you've established your priorities and started your research. Looking over your preliminary list, you can't pinpoint why several of those schools are even on your list in the first place.

When applying to college, the goal of most students is to “stand out.” They want to know what they can do to differentiate themselves from the thousands of other applicants they are competing against to win a spot at their top-choice college. Some students think a stellar essay will separate them from the pack.

By IvyWise MBA Admissions Counselors There are a number of resources out there that provide tips for applying to graduate school, but what about graduates who are years removed from academia? For many people, the MBA path isn’t apparent until after they have been in the workforce a few years, and, actually, the ideal time for most people to think about attending business school is with a few years of professional experience under their belts. Many working professionals don’t prepare ahead of time for the rigorous application process that exists at most top-tier business schools.

The earlier that you start the college admissions process, the better, and there’s a lot that high school students can do now to stay on track for the college admissions process and tackle their winter college prep goals. All four years of high school count in the college admissions process, not just the last two. Things like grades, courses, activities, summer experiences, and more can be planned and executed starting freshman and sophomore year in order to better prepare students for the actual application process come senior year.

By IvyWise Graduate Admissions Counselors You made it to college! You’re attending the school of your dreams and enjoying all that college life has to offer. For most undergraduate students, graduate school is a possibility, but many aren’t sure until closer to application time.

Is the study of history – history? In recent years, only about 1% of college students graduate with a degree in history. In fact, between 2008 and 2017, the latest year with available data, the number of history majors has plummeted by nearly 30%.

With all of the stress, pressure and confusion surrounding the college admissions process, it's no wonder that people start to develop their own theories on how it all works. You've likely heard a "secret" admissions rumor from a friend of a friend that has made you panic. But what is the truth?