A strong academic background is crucial to getting into top colleges and universities, but it’s not the only factor that determines admission. Admission committees also review extracurricular activities that students report on their applications.
Extracurricular activities reflect the applicant’s unique interests and tell a story of personal growth. They are a key part of a student’s offensive strategy. Colleges no longer accept solely high GPAs and test scores; they want students to show the capacity for individual thinking and creative leadership.
Keep reading to learn why colleges value extracurriculars and what that means for applicants.
Role of ECs in College Selection and Ivy League Admissions
Colleges love to see extracurriculars that highlight an applicant’s intellectual curiosity, show clear community impact, demonstrate collaboration over competition, and display exceptional talent. Through extracurriculars, admissions officers gain insight into each student’s personal interests and passions, a crucial determining factor that colleges use to create classes of diverse students with varying strengths and interests.
Most universities also use a holistic review process to determine which students fit in with their community. This means that applicants should include activities that not only show who they are but also demonstrate how and why they’re the type of student colleges want to have on campus.
However, it’s important to remember that there isn’t one type of activity that’s superior to another. Long-term commitment to a local organization that helps feed the unhoused can be just as impressive as winning a math competition. What makes sense for an individual student will depend on what that student can follow through on and grow into. Not every student will have “founder of an NGO” on their application (in fact, for some colleges, that’s a negative–nine times out of ten “founder of an NGO” just means “dad gave me a lot of money and talked to some lawyers to set up a 501c3”–colleges can see right through those maneuvers). Most of the time, small and meaningful activities that show consistent and growing dedication over time will have the most impact.
This is especially true at the Ivy League: admissions officers at those colleges will certainly expect to see that students have gotten national-level awards in science fairs, math competitions, or writing contests. But the former Ivy League admissions officers on Zenith staff also emphasize that top colleges want to see extracurricular activities that show a student’s ability to collaborate with peers and identify creative ways to make a difference in their local community. If a student just dumps all of their time into grinding practice tests for a competition, they might not seem sufficiently collaborative and community minded for top schools.
Benefits of Participating in Extracurricular Activities
To understand why extracurriculars are key to successful college admission, it’s important to examine how these activities shape students with the potential that colleges seek. Here are some of the benefits:
Fosters Leadership
Extracurriculars provide opportunities to hold leadership roles at school, such as DECA president, student council officer, or robotics programming lead. Outside school, student leadership roles might include tutoring a neighbor or organizing a Ramadan Night at a mosque. These roles teach students responsibility and teamwork, which prepare them for college and beyond.
Promotes Social Skills
Students who engage in sports, clubs, and other group activities interact with their peers and work with others toward a common goal. In these activities, students develop crucial social skills and build confidence by engaging with others, finding common ground, and problem-solving. With these important skills, students are more likely to excel in college.
Cultivates a Winning Mindset
Mindsets are powerful enough to determine life’s outcomes. Extracurricular activities teach students how to set and achieve goals through hard work and strategizing. Students can develop a winning mindset that shows anything is possible with effort. Also–just as important–when things don’t go well, these activities teach students how to pick up the pieces and take the next right step forward. These activities create resilience.
Encourages Self-Discovery
Connecting with others through extracurriculars allows students to learn new things about themselves. These activities provide a foundation for self-discovery, where students can reflect on their abilities, limitations, and dreams through challenges, rewards, and social dynamics. Students don’t just do activities that reflect their pre-existing strengths: these activities change who a student is.
Demonstrates Commitment
Embracing additional responsibilities outside of schoolwork nurtures commitment. Retaining that position for an extended period also demonstrates passion, strength of character, and maturity. Colleges want students who display these qualities, as they show drive and responsibility.
Improves Time Management Skills
Since extracurricular activities require juggling school work with these extra roles, students learn to manage their time and build achievements on multiple fronts. Colleges know that students who can successfully manage numerous commitments in high school can likely handle intense college coursework and still participate in other campus activities.
Types of Extracurricular Activities that Impact Admissions
Extracurricular activities vary widely, from work and internship experiences to school-sponsored activities and community engagement. Considering that top colleges are notoriously challenging to get into, students should select activities they enjoy doing or want to do rather than look for specific outcomes or results. The most impressive results are always built out of those things that students can follow through over the long term.
Here are some different extracurriculars to consider:
School-Sponsored Clubs and Teams
College admissions officers want to see evidence that students can collaborate with peers in high school because that is the best way to see how those students might collaborate with peers in college. Some examples include:
- Organized team sports such as soccer, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, and track.
- Science, drama, and art clubs such as Science Olympiad, Thespians, ceramics clubs, and computer science clubs.
- School newspaper or yearbook staff.
- Music groups such as choir, orchestra, and marching band.
Community Initiatives
Colleges want to see students who have the capacity to seek engagement with the community around them, show compassion, and find unique opportunities. These activities help assure colleges that the student can go beyond their institutional home and make an impact. Some examples include:
- Community service activities, such as working with homeless shelters, Habitat for Humanity, and hurricane clean-ups.
- Cultural celebrations and festivals.
- Community gardens.
- Youth mentorship programs.
- Elderly tech training at libraries.
Work and Internships
Over 20% of teenagers aged 16 and 19 worked while attending school in 2020. Many work part-time to gain experience, while others work to support their families. Regardless of the reason, colleges view after-school employment as an extracurricular activity that indicates a strong work ethic. Participating in internships related to an applicant’s interests strengthens their profile, emphasizing passion and responsibility.
Note that not all internships are created equal. Parents and students sometimes think that the impressiveness of the company is what makes for a noteworthy internship. But that is not the case. A student whose uncle made some calls to business associates and got him an internship at Apple where he sits in a room and twiddles his thumbs will not be that impressive. But a student who built up his skills in computer programming from a young age, put together a portfolio of projects, and then used that portfolio to get an internship at a small startup where he was trusted with building out a crucial backend feature will absolutely be impressive. Internships can be great additions to a portfolio, but only if students have put in the foundational work that would allow them to contribute meaningfully to the company’s operations.
Passion Projects
Besides school activities and community service, admissions offices love to see passion projects that students create to express their interests and values. Passion projects vary widely, but the key is that they relate to a student’s specific interests. Here are impactful examples:
Creative and artistic pursuits:
- A student who combines their love of history, art, and social justice, curating their own gallery with work from peers and community members focusing on different representations of the American Dream.
- A student who combines a love for research and acting as a lead voice actor in a learning app that uses AI to create personalized lessons in a comforting voice.
- A student whose passion for biology and illustration leads them to create and publish a children’s book about the different kinds of mushrooms that grow in the woods around their house.
Humanitarian pursuits:
- A student with a family history of mental illnesses making the mental health brochures at their local free health clinic.
- A student, inspired by their experience working with the unhoused, hosting linen drives in their community to gather supplies and raise money.
- A student who recruits and trains tutors to work at a bilingual math tutoring center for students who are struggling academically and have limited support at school.
Strategies for Students and Parents to Navigate Extracurriculars
As colleges focus on a holistic approach to admissions, parents, and students should plan for extracurricular involvement. Here are strategies to make the most of extracurriculars:
- Start early: Students should start exploring activities to identify those that interest them as early as elementary school. Parents should discuss these activities and help children navigate their interests by researching programs and encouraging independent exploration.
- Narrow the focus: Parents should work with their children to narrow their activities because too many can be burdensome and affect the balance between academics and extracurriculars. Additionally, many colleges prefer long-term commitment where the student shows growth and commitment. A grab bag of random activities that are started and stopped can look unfocused and scattered.
- Find motivation: An admissions officer can easily tell if an applicant has pursued a specific activity out of genuine interest or just to add lines to their resume. Parents should encourage their children to select activities they love because passion fuels motivation, which will appear on a college application.
- Explore additional resources: Selecting activities that match interest and striking the perfect balance to ensure excellence in and outside the classroom can be tricky. As a parent, consider utilizing professional resources to maximize your child’s college profile.
Prepare for College Admissions With Zenith Prep Academy
Parents and students must understand that more students are applying to the top colleges and universities than there is space available. Now, students need more than just good grades and test scores to get accepted.
Extracurriculars are an essential part of Zenith Prep Academy’s strategy to support students in understanding and utilizing their strengths in and outside the classroom. As the nation’s top college consulting and education company on the Inc. 5000 list, Zenith Prep Academy has strategies that have led to a strong track record and award-winning outcomes. To learn more about Zenith Prep Academy and its offerings, book a free consultation today!
