What Make “Good” Extracurricular Activities?
What Make “Good” Extracurricular Activities?
We hear this question often from students starting out the process. But having a firm sense of which activities impress admissions officers can help current seniors order their activity list and prioritize their time this semester as well. Wherever you are in your process, we’re sure you’ve thought about this.
There’s just one little catch: no activity is inherently better than another. YOU ascribe value to your activities by how you engage in them and how well you write about them. With that said, what makes an activity likely to be beneficial to your application? Make sure it falls into one of the four categories below.
You Do Them Very Well
When you think about all the ways you spend your time outside of the classroom, do you feel particularly skilled at any of your activities?
Perhaps you’re a starter on a varsity team, first or second chair of your instrument in the orchestra, or a consistent top finisher at debate tournaments. Maybe you turned a weekend business into a money-making machine or designed an app that has gaining traction in the App store.
If you’ve been able to develop a talent or interest to the level of mastery, then it will serve you well in the application process.
Most students aim to fill every box of the activities section of their application. They’ll list some club they’ve joined, volunteer experience they’ve had, or sport they’ve played. But each of these activities is not evaluated equally—neither by the student nor the admissions officer who reads the application.
In this case, quality always trumps quantity. Work on developing your ability within the activities that you love the most, to the point where you become an expert at them relative to your peers.
You’ve Done Them for a Long Time
Consistency is valuable in college admissions, especially when it comes to the time you’ve dedicated to your extracurriculars. Seasoned application readers know how to spot trends in your performance and gauge how you’ve grown over your high school career.
For rising 9th and 10th graders, spend some time over the summer thinking about the activities you might want to explore. Are there clubs or teams or passion projects that excite you? Have you been curious to try something new?
As you move into junior year, shift your focus to identifying the interests that you want to cultivate more deeply and areas where you would like to take on leadership positions.
Being a section editor of the newspaper may require you to forego the chess club, for example. Training to be a starter on your varsity water polo team might mean there’s no time in your schedule for a cappella. That’s okay.
By the time you’re a senior, your focus should be on finding ways to leave a positive legacy through your vision and leadership. Don’t just captain the team, inspire them to greater excellence.
You need to devote serious time to making the most of your highest priority activities, all while focusing on creating successful applications and doing well on the SAT or ACT.
It’s OK to make tough choices. It’s also OK to not fill every line of the activities section. Instead, work to develop a track record of consistent participation and regular growth within a few activities that are meaningful to you.
You’ve Made Them Unique
Even small liberal arts colleges that only enroll several hundred students a year receive thousands of applications annually. You can imagine how many applications schools the size of UCLA receives.
You can also imagine how common certain activities must begin to seem to the admissions officers reading each of those applications.
Sports, theater, service, music, student government, and journalism are all wonderful pursuits. But being involved in them isn’t enough to help you stand out just on face value. Look for ways to use your passion to impact others in unique and meaningful ways.
Can you use your love of basketball, for example, to teach others or benefit a part of your community that needs help?
In addition to raising money for a charity through bake sales, can you organize an activity that fosters real empathy and understanding among your peers for the people they are serving?
Can you turn your love of science fiction from a personal hobby to a compelling research project?
Within each of you are unique talents and interests. Push yourself to step outside of the mold and use those talents in a way that you can own.
They Feel Good to You
Above all, the activities that matter to admissions officers are the activities that matter to you.
You should love what you do. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go without saying, but joining clubs or participating in service activities because “it looks good on a resume ” does not produce the results that many students think of.
To the contrary, this is a recipe for burnout. And you will miss opportunities to discover true passions. Your time in high school is precious. Don’t waste it chasing the appearance of doing the right things. Do what’s right for you.
What makes your activities powerful is your ability to talk about them—how you’ve grown, what you’ve learned, what impact you’ve made on your community. You will have a much easier time convincing a savvy admissions officer that your activities were meaningful to you if they actually were.
The expert admissions consultants at Wise World Prep have helped hundreds of students maximize their potential of being admitted to their top choice colleges and universities. Over 20 years, we have successfully guided students through each stage of the application process – from choosing competitive high school courses to building an appropriate college list to drafting winning essays to writing persuasive update and appeals letters. We would be happy to answer your questions and partner with you to create a successful admissions roadmap.
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