fbpx

Why Extracurriculars Matter

Group of high school students in debate club sitting in a circle talking and smiling

Table of Contents

Share This Post

College admissions are increasingly competitive, especially at top schools, with the number of applicants growing each admissions cycle. As the number of applicants increases, each must work even harder to stand out from the crowd, and to be noticed in the deluge of applications.

Extracurriculars, how you spend your time outside the classroom, are the best way to set your application apart from your peers. High grades are very important for college admissions, but stellar academic performance on its own is insufficient. In this article, we’ll explore why extracurriculars matter, how colleges evaluate them, and how you can impress colleges with your own endeavors. Let’s get started!

What is an Extracurricular Anyway?

Extracurriculars are anything you do outside of classroom academics, whether or not the activities are school-sponsored.

This is an incredibly broad description, so we’ll give you some examples of common extracurricular activities:

  • Sports. Either teams hosted by your school, regional leagues, or gym-based competitive sports. While these are an incredibly common activity, that does not make them any less valuable. See our admissions guide for athletes for more information.
  • Work. Many students work part time, to get a bit of spending money or to help out their families. These jobs count as extracurriculars, and can show your maturity. Both formal and informal jobs count, from waiting tables to babysitting.
  • Volunteering. This can be a valuable activity, as it shows your desire to better your community, and give back to those around you.
  • Clubs. There are myriad clubs at high schools, from social to academic, and everything in between. You should note that the number of clubs you join matters less than your level of involvement. A deep involvement in a single organization is more impressive than a passive commitment to several.
  • Arts. Be it music, dance, or theater, the arts are a great way to express yourself and participate in an activity. See our admissions guide for artists for more info.
  • Internships. Whether these are paid or unpaid, these can teach you valuable skills, and provide experience to help you explore various disciplines.
  • Family obligations. While helping with the occasional chore does not count, caring for a sick family member, providing child care for siblings, or assuming major obligations in your household.

This is not an exhaustive list, but we hope it gives you some idea of what your options are for extracurricular involvement. Generally, however, any activity you participate in outside of classes, that you devote significant time and effort to, counts as an extracurricular activity.

What Colleges look for in Extracurriculars

Colleges want to understand who you are, and they use extracurriculars as a lens to understand you; your motivations, accomplishments, and character.

Thus what colleges look for when they examine your extracurriculars are the following things:

  • Commitment. College is a four year commitment, and admissions officers want to be sure that the students they admit now will go on to graduate. Thus demonstrating your ability to commit to an activity through your extracurricular involvement lets colleges know you follow through on what you begin.
  • Passion. Colleges want to admit students who care about things, who have big ideas, and who want to change the world. This is especially the case at top colleges. What you care about is less important than that you care about something strongly.
  • Maturity. College is a major transition from the end of high school, and universities want students who are able to handle it. 
  • Leadership. This is one of the ways you can demonstrate your maturity; what responsibilities you have assumed, and how you have handled situations when you were in a position of authority. Note that leadership can be displayed through both assigned responsibilities, and when you assumed responsibilities in a more unofficial capacity.
  • Intellectual Vitality. Schools want students who are genuinely interested in learning, and who are naturally curious.

Schools want students who will contribute to the communities they are building on campus, and who will contribute unique talents, skills, points of view, and experiences. Thus, in your extracurriculars, they want to see what you have devoted yourself to, and what you have achieved through your efforts.

Thus there are no “right” activities to participate in or awards to win which will assure your college admission. Indeed, almost any activity you participate in can bring you acclaim and bolster your application, if your involvement in it displayed your maturity, passion, and ability to contribute to a university. 

We recommend specializing in one or two activities. While it is tempting to fill your schedule with as many different options as you can, this actually doesn’t help your application. By spreading your resources between many activities, you are able to devote less time and effort. By focusing on a few, you are able to heighten your involvement and accomplish more impressive things.

Further, a student who spends the bulk of their time on a single activity or passion stands out more to admissions officers.

Here are the activity lists of two students, which stands out to you more:

  • Student A participated on a robotics team, did several coding camps, and volunteered to teach coding to Girl Scouts.
  • Student B played the violin, ran track, did crew, tutored middle school students in math, and had a part time job at a bookstore.

Both of these students have great accomplishments, but a clear narrative arises from the first student, while the second appears more unfocused. This does not mean the second student is doomed, merely that they will have to work harder to show off their talents.

Teacher At Performing Arts School Talking To Students Sitting On Floor In Rehearsal Studio

How it Worked for a Former Ivy Scholars Student

To show you what this approach looks like, we’ll discuss how one of our Candidacy Building students approached their extracurriculars, and how they managed to accomplish greater things than they ever anticipated. As we do, we’ll give you tips for your own endeavors.

Our student was interested in programming initially, and even as a freshman wanted to make a positive impact, but had no idea how to start. They’d been programming since the age of seven with their dad but were still looking for a way to apply their skills.

During their freshman year, they began building websites, first for themself, and later for friends. They did this for free and used the experience to teach themselves the basics of web design. They continued this experience in sophomore year when they created a website meant to share memes, and it spread through their school. While the website didn’t become the next Reddit, this did give the student experience in making and marketing a website, and in making their user interface accessible and easy to use.

They also began helping their family do taxes and realized that the process was fairly simple math, combined with a lot of busy work. There should be a way to automate the process, and this would help a lot of people. 

The student was interested in helping disadvantaged children especially, due to their family’s connection to an orphanage in India. While they couldn’t adopt all the children, perhaps the student could use their knowledge of coding and new skill with finances to help organizations that did care for children.

The student coded a bookkeeping app that automated many functions, and which allowed hours of work to be done in minutes. The next challenge was finding a way to implement it. They reached out to numerous organizations and were rejected a dozen times before one IT manager saw the promise in their app. 

Working with the IT director, the student was able to tailor their app to the organization’s needs, creating a scalable billing and payment app for the organization’s internal processes, helping them save hundreds of hours of labor. 

If you just start at the last step, this seems like an impossible task for a high school student, but what makes a step a giant leap is all the steps before. By starting small and continually building upon and deepening their involvement, the student was able to achieve great things, and make a real difference. We were glad to be able to help them along the way and give them the tools they needed to succeed.

Final Thoughts

We know high school can be a stressful time just from classes and homework, and adding extracurriculars to that can make students feel overwhelmed. You should try to find extracurriculars you truly care about, that gives you a chance to unwind from the challenges of school, while still allowing you to accomplish great things.

If you aren’t sure what your passions are, or are unsure of where to begin your exploration, schedule a free consultation to learn about our Candidacy Building service, and how we can help you pursue your dreams.

Need help with college admissions?

Download our "Guide to Everything," a 90-page PDF that covers everything you need to know about the college admission process.

More To Explore

Pencil and eraser on answer sheets or Standardized test form with answers bubbled. multiple choice answer sheet
Uncategorized

What’s on the Math Section of the SAT?

Math is a very important subject, and many different fields rely upon math to function, directly or indirectly. This doesn’t necessarily make math a popular

5/5
Wendy Y.
Parent
Below is my son's review. He was accepted to his dream Ivy League school!

From an admitted student's perspective, I am incredibly grateful to have met Sasha - he has been instrumental in helping me achieve my educational dreams (Ivy League), all while being an absolute joy (he's a walking encyclopedia, only funnier!) to work with.

Many people are dissuaded from seeking a college counselor because they think they can get into their desired college(s) either way. Honestly, going that route is a bit short-sighted and can jeopardize your odds of acceptances after years of hard work. The sad truth is, the American education system (even if you attend a fancy private school and ESPECIALLY if you go to a public school) doesn't really tell students how to write a compelling and authentic application. Going into the admissions process alone, without speaking with an advisor, is like going to court without a lawyer - you put yourself at a significant disadvantage because you don't have all the facts in front of you, or the help you need to negotiate the system.

That said, you need a good lawyer just like you need a good college counselor. And that's where Sasha distinguishes himself from the crowd of people claiming they'll get you into Harvard. I came to Sasha worried about and frankly dumbfounded by the college admissions process. I was unsure what to write about and how to go about drafting the essay that perfectly captured my passion, interests, and self. And I was highly skeptical that anyone could really help me. But, damn, did Sasha prove me wrong. From the beginning, Sasha amazed me with his understanding of the process, and ability to lend clarity and direction to me when I desperate needed it. After interviewing me about my background, experiences, activities, outlook, and vision, he helped me see qualities about myself I had not previously considered 'unique' or 'stand-out.' This process of understanding myself was so incredibly important in laying the groundwork for the essays I eventually wrote, and I'm certain I would've drafted boring, inauthentic essays without it.

Looking back, Sasha's talent is that he can see where your strengths lie, even when you don't see them. The truth is, although we don't always realize it, everyone has a unique story to tell. Sasha helped me see mine, and with his big-picture insight I was able to write the application that truly encapsulated my life and vision. He inspired me to dig deeper and write better, challenging me to revise and revise until my essays were the most passionate and authentic work I had ever written. As clichéd as that sounds, that's really what universities are looking for. In retrospect, it makes sense - in the real world passionate (not simply intelligent) individuals are the ones who make a difference in the world, and those are the individuals colleges would like to have associated with their brand.

In the end, I was accepted to the college of my dreams, a feat I could not have achieved without the direction Sasha lent to me. Essays (and the personal narrative you develop through your application) matter so much, and can literally make or break your application. I have seen so many of my 'qualified' friends receive rejections because they wrote contrived essays that didn't truly represent who they were; conversely, I have also seen so many friends with shorter resumes accepted because they were able to articulate their story in a genuinely passionate and authentic way - I fall into the latter category.

As a former admissions officer at Johns Hopkins, Sasha knows what types of essays jibe well with universities, an invaluable asset to have in the admissions process. He is responsive, flexible, creative, positive, and witty. For anyone who is serious about going into the college admissions process informed and prepared, I highly recommend Sasha.
5/5
Arda E.
Student
I used Ivy Scholars to mainly help me with college applications. Within weeks of using this service, Sasha was able to simplify the already complex process. When it came to writing the Common App essay, Sasha didn’t just help with grammar and syntax, he brought my essays to life. Sasha also worked tirelessly to help solidify my extracurricular activities, including research and internship opportunities. Without his help, I would have never had an impressive resume.

Sasha is not only an extremely knowledgeable tutor, but also a genuine brother figure. His guidance, throughout my last two years of high school, was everything I needed to get me an acceptance letter from my dream schools (UC Berkeley, Tufts, Emory).

When it came to testing, Ivy Scholars worked like a charm. Sasha offered a very comprehensive plan when it came to completely acing my standardized tests. Without his test taking strategies I would have never gotten straight 5s on my AP tests and a 35 on the ACT.

Working with Sasha, I didn’t just become a good student, I became a genuine scholar.
5/5
Samson S.
Parent
We worked with Ivy Scholars during my son's senior year. I was concerned that we may be too late to take advantage of college advising but the Ivy Scholars team quickly and confidently directed us through the steps to ensure no deadlines were missed. Sasha's knowledge about schools, what they looked for in candidates, and how to maneuver the application process was invaluable. Mateo and Ryan worked with my son to help him create an essay that would get noticed and I am so appreciative he had their guidance.

Prior to securing Ivy Scholars, we tried using a less-expensive online service which was a terrible experience. As a parent, Ivy Scholars brought peace of mind to an area that was frankly overwhelming. This service was invaluable in the knowledge that we gained throughout the process. He has also met with my freshman daughter to provide guidance for her high school courses, career paths, extracurricular activities, and more.

Prior to signing with Ivy Scholars, I tried a less expensive online service and was very disappointed.

As a result of our work with Ivy Scholars, I am pleased to say that my son will be attending Stern Business School at New York University this fall! I highly recommend Ivy Scholars. Highly recommend!