Extracurricular activities, whether they are done in the summer or during the school year, or during vacation weeks, are critically important on applications for highly competitive colleges. Choose activities that can be used to prove your passion. Also, choose activities that truly interest you and that support other activities that you have engaged in during your journey through high school, or prove your willingness to dedicate time to meaningful self-improvement.
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You know the expressions that begin with “If I had a dollar for every time I…”? Well, here’s another one. If I had a dollar for every time a parent asked me which contest a student should enter, or which summer program a student should enroll in, or whether to take a summer class at Harvard, or BU, or Stanford, or if we should try to find an internship somewhere, then I would have enough money to buy caps and gowns for the entire national graduating class of 2021. Don’t bother trying to do the math. I just mean that I get asked these questions multiple times on a daily basis. There’s a good reason why these questions come up. Extracurricular activities, whether they are done in the summer or during the school year, or during vacation weeks, are critically important on applications for highly competitive colleges.
In order to answer this question, I will begin by saying that there are no bad activities that a student can choose. This is especially true if the student actually enjoys participating in that activity, or can learn, grow or boost confidence as a result of partaking in the activity. However, as it relates to college admission, the selection of activities is highly strategic. For example, taking an Introduction to Economics Class at Harvard is not going to move the needle very much for an anticipated art, music, or English major. Similarly, taking a summer class through Stanford Humanities won’t help very much if you plan to apply as an engineering major. And, it’s far more complicated than this. Activities that come across as phony, or just intended to boost an application, can actually have a detrimental effect. You may think you are beating the system, but the system has been around far longer than you and it understands the games people play to try to game the system.
The simple and logical answer to any question related to extracurricular activities is that they should enhance a student’s strengths or shore up a student’s weaknesses. Furthermore, they should provide proof of passion, or a commitment to self-improvement. They should also be considered the best possible use of time and resources that a student can find. In order to advise my clients on the subject of extracurricular activities, class levels, or tests, I must take a holistic look at all the characteristics that make that student unique. Then, I must determine the appropriate pathway to get to our destination, whether that destination is an Ivy League college, a small liberal arts school, a music school, an art school, a D-1 university, or an engineering school. Every student provides a unique set of data points that must be considered, before an appropriate decision can be made on extracurricular activities.
And while extracurricular activities are quite important, there are other factors that should not be overlooked. One of these is recommendations. Unfortunately, recommendations are typically earned the year before admission, which may be too late for students who begin thinking about college in their senior year. College admission is not as simple as choosing answers on a true/false test. It is also not as simple as turning the key and driving a car down the road. Answers are often nuanced, and decisions about when to turn the wheel should be based on looking as far down the road as possible as opposed to waiting until the car has already reached an intersection. Metaphors aside, the college admission process requires some strategic thinking and some planning. So please don’t think that just because you have attended a pre-college program at Brown University that you are a lock for admission. It simply doesn’t work that way. Choose your extracurricular activities wisely, so that they enhance your application rather than introducing a brand-new element. Choose activities that can be used to prove your passion. Above all, choose activities that truly interest you and that support other activities that you have engaged in during your journey through high school, or prove your willingness to dedicate time to meaningful self-improvement.