#extracurriculars

🎓 24 Extracurricular Profiles for a Successful Ivy League App

extra-cuˈrricular adj. outside the normal curriculum

If you’re not on an athletic team, or in the band, or in student government, or involved with any school-organized clubs, chances are you still have extracurricular activities.

All “extracurricular” means is “outside the normal curriculum.” That means anything you do on a regular or semi-regular basis outside of school and homework.

Do you take care of your siblings?

Do you help out your grandparents?

Do you volunteer at a church or non-profit organization?

Do you hike, code, or practice yoga? Do you play chess, board games, or even video games?

If the answer to any of these (or any other activities you imagine) is “yes,” then you have some extracurricular activities under your belt already.

Extracurricular activities lists are a chance to demonstrate your engagement with the world beyond school. Extracurriculars are what you do when you’re not working for a grade. They’re the space for you to be creative and to carve out an identity outside of school.

If you eat up all your spare time with escapist activities, such as playing video games just for fun instead of, say, creating levels or coding, then shift gears—get critically and creatively engaged with your hobbies so that you can reflect on their meaning.

That’s the trick of college applications in general: translating your day-to-day activities into a meaningful account of who you are. Think about how your actions today could translate into a written application. What would be impressive? What would stand out?

And no, volunteering just one day last year at the county fair doesn’t count—extracurriculars must be activities with some degree of regularity (once a month, or even just three times a semester).

If you’re a sophomore or junior, you have time not just to craft and cultivate what you already know, do, and love, but also to take on new activities. Volunteer or work at a camp or nursing home this summer. Babysit. Learn how to code. Start learning a new language. Pick up an instrument. Find a hospital, museum, or business that would allow you to volunteer.

If you’re unsure of what to do, ask your classmates, teachers, counselors, and parents. Find out what opportunities are out there for you to not only improve your applications, but to learn something new and do something exciting and enriching.

Thanks to the powers of search engines, it has never been easier to find things to do, even from your own home.

Want to learn more about modern poetry? Sign up for this free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) out of the University of Pennsylvania. Interested in learning more about computer science? Choose from a number of these courses offered through MIT.

As universities across the US tout record application numbers and record-low admissions rates, college admissions seem to get more and more competitive. That means more and more is expected of high school students looking to gain admission to the nation’s most competitive universities.

With so many students earning GPAs well over 4.0 and SAT scores over 1500, it can be difficult for admissions officers and interviewers to distinguish between one elite candidate and another.

One of the primary ways candidates stand out among an elite pack is through their extracurricular activities lists. When building your activities list, keep in mind that “activities” means more than school clubs and organizations. Activities can include a job outside of school, a passion project you’ve been working on independently, or even a family obligation, such as taking care of your siblings.

Transcripts are records of your time spent in school; the activities list are records of your time spent outside of school. If you’ve done something meaningful outside of school hours—for your own personal development or for others—then you should consider including it in your activities list.

So, how do you build an activities list that will stand out?

⏳ TIME IS MONEY 💰

Admissions officers are not impressed that you spent three hours one week volunteering at a nearby nursing home. They are also not moved by the fact that you attended monthly one-hour meetings for your school’s video game club.  

Of course, you should volunteer, even if it does not demand a significant time commitment. And yes, attend those monthly meetings. Depending on how much you’ve done outside of school, you might want to include one-time volunteer work or minor engagement with a school organization, but neither of these should be at the top of your list.

Admissions officers are impressed with sustained engagement. Your activities list should communicate passion and commitment. What is most important is that you list activities that demand several hours of commitment each week, and that you have kept up with that commitment for the long haul—the longer, the better.  

Practiced the piano five hours a week since eighth grade? Get credit for all that work here. The time you spent in high school is the raw material for making a compelling case for why you belong at the school of your dreams. 

It is going to take commitment and passion to be a meaningful contributor to a university community. By demonstrating long-term commitment to activities you are passionate for, especially activities with social merit, you show admissions officers that you’re capable of bringing that energy to their university. 

TAKE THE LEAD

There is an art to being an effective follower, and most universities do, or at least should, value that kind of work. But most universities also put a premium on leadership. In addition to demonstrating that you are committed and passionate, you need to show that you are capable of leading a group and of bringing people together to accomplish an important task.

This means being president of a club or captain of a team. It can also means taking initiative by starting a club or group that wasn’t there before you arrived.

It is also worth noting that leadership is not limited to schools or outside organizations. If you take a leadership role at home—with your family business, or by taking care of your siblings—it is important that you gain recognition for this work, too. Make sure to include any meaningful task that has demanded your time.

BE “SPECIFIC AND STORIED”

As with recommendation letters, the best activities lists are “specific and storied.” That is, your activities list needs to be detailed, with strong action verbs. Your activities list needs to give narrative shape to you as an accomplished individual with a world of potential.

Who are you? That’s what admissions officers want to know. Your friends and family might know your essential self, independent of your actions today or yesterday. But admissions officers will only know you by how you’ve spent your time.

In order to be specific and storied, focus on describing your activities with strong action verbs.

Take these descriptions of the same activity. Which is better? 

President, Chess Club Held weekly meetings to discuss and practice chess. President, Chess ClubOversaw weekly meetings to develop strategies; coordinated practices of ten to fifteen members to hone skills.

The first tells it like it is, but the second shows us much more. Why is the second stronger? “Oversaw” implies action and direction, whereas “held” feels more passive. “Coordinated” reveals an act that the first one conceals: this student had to make announcements, recruit new club members, and follow up with the existing members, but all that work gets lost in the vague description of the first listing. “Hone skills” digs into the purpose of these meetings, whereas “discuss” fails to reveal that purpose.

💻📸 Looking for meaningful, impactful extracurricular activities to demonstrate your academic passion? Elite will be offering a wide range of LEAD Extracurricular programs this summer.