1. CONTENT OF WHAT YOU DO
When it comes to extracurricular involvements, it doesn’t really matter what the content is. Anything from a major research project on DNA to fishing is legitimate for future application grids. No matter the activity, colleges look for the quality of your involvement rather than quantity of activities listed. In other words, it is better to be consistently involved in two, three, or four activities and/or sports over a number of years, than superficially involved in eight, ten or twelve for shorter periods of time. Simply said, laundry lists of activities do not impress admissions officers. You can maximize the time you spend in extracurricular activities by carefully thinking about what you do, and planning for how your activities, academic interests, talents and skills all come together and make sense to you.
Extracurricular activities are the major way that students can demonstrate how unique they are, and, perhaps, more interesting and better than other student applicants.
Questions Admissions Officers Ask When They Look At Activities Lists
As they peruse college applications, the following are some questions college admissions people are likely to ask about your extracurricular activities:
A. Has the time spent on an involvement been productive? Have you:
• Made a difference (e.g., doubled the number of students involved in a community
service activity)?
• Completed or contributed to a worthwhile end-product (e.g., created a new website
for your school, organized a speaking series around issues of women and leadership)?
• Learned something or developed a skill or talent (e.g., become an expert about
fireflies, or gained fluency in Russian, or become a first-rate improviser)?
• Reached a goal (e.g., become an Eagle Scout, or after four years of hard work,
finally made the Varsity team of a sport)?
