One factor stands between you and the college of your dreams: admissions. Admission officers will read your application to determine whether you are a good fit for their college.
They will survey your listed
grades,
jobs, writing abilities, and among other things, your extracurricular activities. Extracurriculars show them that you can do more than get a good grade in the classroom.
Extracurricular Activities on College Applications
Choosing the right extracurriculars in high school can help you get into the university you want once you graduate. This article looks at extracurriculars that admissions will like seeing on your application, such as extracurriculars that match your major, have popularity, or seem niche.
What are Extracurriculars?
The ACT defines extracurriculars as “all the ongoing things you do outside your regular classes, including sports, clubs, community service, arts, and other activities that help you grow in different ways.”
Sarah Orozco is an associate director for transfer admissions at
Point Loma Nazarene University. In an email interview, she lists, “job experience, internships, and military involvement” as possible extracurriculars, recognizing that not all prospective students can pursue traditional types—like transfer students.
Extracurriculars That Link to Your Major
“[C]olleges want to build a well-rounded class made up of specialists,” instead of jacks of all trades, writes
Ivywise, a college consulting firm. To show a college you have the skills necessary to succeed in your ideal major/career,
pick extracurriculars that fit.
Do you want to get a marketing degree? Join a business club. Communications or political science? Join
speech and debate.
According to Orozco, doing so can show admission officers that you have “some understanding of the responsibilities that come with that career.” Also, it will help your application
communicate one unified message rather multiple disconnected ones.
Popular Extracurriculars
While picking experiences that link to your major, know that not all extracurriculars are created equal. Certain extracurriculars are inherently well-known and accepted while others are less popular. We have a list of ten of these “
Impressive Extracurriculars,” some of which include student government, debate, student newspaper, athletics, and volunteer work.
As a side note, whatever extracurriculars you pick, make sure you are actually participating in them. An
article by the ACT discourages signing up for a bunch of extracurriculars that you are not genuinely involved in.
Modern Extracurriculars: Are They Worth It?
What about some of the more up-and-coming (or even stigmatized) extracurriculars? This next section only looks at video game and AI extracurriculars, but the principles behind these can apply to other niche or unknown experiences that you want to stick on your application.
Video game extracurriculars—such as an esports club—are not as appreciated in the academic realm. Monikah Schuschu from
CollegeVine suggests this may be due to college leaders not being familiar with what gaming entails—so show them!
Share how the gaming extracurricular has benefitted you, whether in growing your skills or helping you reach your goals. As mentioned in a previous section, extracurriculars that link to your major will impress admission officers. The same can be said for gaming.
If and where you can on a
college application, “[s]how that gaming is harmonious with your priorities and interests.” Orozco says that video game extracurriculars “would be awesome for those wanting to pursue digital marketing, creative arts such as graphic design, and even computer science.”
Meanwhile, AI has become the technology of our time. It appears often in Google searches, and big companies, like Microsoft, are integrating it into their systems.
Currently, AI clubs are not well known, but as the technology improves and as more people appreciate AI and its uses, it may soon become invaluable, including to college admission officers. Orozco calls AI experience “beneficial for those wanting to pursue any fields such as engineering, mathematics, physics, and computer science.”
Other extracurriculars may fall into these two categories: niche and unknown or new and uncertain. If there is an extracurricular not listed here that you want to know more about, do a quick search and see what comes up!
Send an email to your prospective college’s admissions office. Do not shoot down your extracurricular until you know more about it. We all have talents and interests, and sometimes it takes a little push to let others see the value in them.
Finally, Orozco shares this one tip for students putting their extracurriculars on an application: “List them all! If you have the time to pursue extracurriculars outside of the classroom, we want to know about them.”
Concluding Thoughts on Application Extracurriculars
Extracurriculars on an application do not promise college acceptance, and they should not become an
excuse for poor grades. But that does not mean they are not important!
Find (and participate in) high school extracurriculars that matter to you and matter to admissions. That robotics club or tennis program might just nudge you into your dream campus.