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How to Manage your Extracurricular Activities
First, Let's Define (and separate) Extracurricular and Volunteering."Extracurricular" generally means any activities not involved with academics, however for purposes of college admissions they have come to be a sub-category of extra-curricular. So, extracurricular refers to those non-academic activities that involve things like sports, the school paper, dance, theater, music, leadership, yearbook, student body offices and possibly part-time jobs.
This group includes working with seniors, volunteering at animal shelters, working with disabled, volunteering with children's groups, coaching children in sports programs, and other similar activities. A note about "Extracurricular", especially sports. Grades and test scores still represent the most important part of your college application. Three sports during a school year, for instance, is excessive, and will impact your grades and your test scores. In addition, one cannot imagine that the great thinkers of civilization grew up with no time to dream and reflect. An important part of maturation is achieving a balance in your life. Having no time to start your home work until after two sport practices a day, you get home after 8:00 P.M., eat, and start your homework. Unless you are good enough for college recruiting, one sport for fall, and one for spring, minimizing the overlap, and a consistent record of volunteering, with one or two long-term activities will fill your college requirements. In addition, join high school clubs and look for leadership positions. Music: All studies tell us that music is the single best activity for brain development. Band students have collectively the highest GPA of all high school groups. Don't neglect other aspects of your college preparation, such as a spring sport, and community or school volunteering.
Managing academics, extracurricular activities and volunteering(all at once):
Freshman Year:
Now that you are a high school freshman, life is a bit different. Grades count, extracurricular activities count, and success in high school will affect your choices of colleges. In your first year, get a handle on the academic part of your high school education, and begin to think about extracurricular and volunteer activities that might interest you. (Link to suggestions) You have more freedom in high school. Use it wisely. If, for instance, you allow yourself to be sucked into using drugs or alcohol, you may be compromising your possibilities for good grades and college choices. In addition, you may cause yourself physical, emotional, or academic damage that can take years to undo. Sound preachy? It is easier to keep it together, and maintain your best chances to have all the options available to you than to try to put your life together later with bad grades, psychological problems, and limited options. Sophomore/Junior Years:
Time to narrow down your extracurricular activities. Hopefully in ninth grade you got a chance to sample some of the many activities that your high school offers. Maybe you didn't stick with all of them, but at least you tried them out. In the meantime, check out community activities as well. Many communities offer year-round, or summer programs for children, and children usually love to work with high school students- who are, in their eyes, the coolest people around. Don't overlook activities involving seniors, disabled, and animals. By the time you're in the 10th Grade, it's a good idea to start thinking about how those extracurricular and volunteer activities are going to play a role in your college application, and to begin acquiring some continuity in your extracurricular/volunteering choices. So soon? Yes.
Check out Volunteering (A special category of Extracurricular activity)
You already know that colleges want students who are capable of doing college-level work. They also want students who are interesting and involved with their community and their school. To a large extent, a college's opinion of how you would fit with their school will be determined by what you do when you're not in class. Your extracurricular activities can play a big part in distinguishing you from other applicants and determining your chances for admission. I am not suggesting that you join or quit organizations simply because it will help or hurt you in college admissions. If you enjoy an activity, by all means keep doing it (as long as you're also able to get good grades!). On the other hand, as you evaluate which and how many activities you're going to pursue, you should understand the way that college admissions officers at selective and especially highly selective colleges will look at you.
Here are the facts:
1. Quantity is less important than quality and commitment Some students think that the way to impress an admissions officer is to sign up for every activity their school offers. No. This is not a good idea. Colleges are not impressed by students with one of everything on their applications. one year of cheerleading, one year of yearbook, and one year of soccer. You're much better off if you're deeply involved in just a few activities that you remain committed to year after year. Colleges want to see students who rise to leadership positions in interesting extracurricular activities. They want to see a student who is sports reporter for the school newspaper as a freshman, assistant sports editor as a sophomore, managing editor as a junior, and editor-in-chief as a senior. The way to impress an admissions officer is to demonstrate that you can stick with something long enough to excel and to demonstrate a commitment. You want to show that you can be a leader. This doesn't mean you can't become involved in lots of different activities. To the extent that it's possible, you should try lots of different activities in which you have a genuine interest. But by the end of sophomore year, you might consider narrowing your activities to the ones you truly want to pursue, and then give those activities a high priority for your last two years of high school. 2. All extracurricular activities are not equally impressive. Ultimately, you need to be involved in activities that you enjoy and that you are good at, but you do need to understand that college admissions officers tend to look favorably on students who are involved in any of the following activities:
What if I have to work?
Work can be an impressive activity, and you should think about your job in the same way we've told you to think about your other extracurricular activities. You can use your job to convey what a good college candidate you are. As with other extracurricular activities, the best after-school jobs are the ones you stick with for an extended period and ones in which you rise to positions of responsibility. Unusual or creative jobs are better than ordinary, after-school, minimum-wage drudgery. If you have the choice (and not everyone does), try to choose a job that gives you skills that are valuable and useful. Does it matter why I work? Consider choosing activities based on potential careers or majors If you are strongly interested in a particular career or major, then consider activities, jobs, or community service opportunities that allow you to explore that field. That way, if you later decide that you want to pursue the career or major, you'll have some background experience in it already. On the other hand, if the activity, job, or service project makes you realize you're not interested at all in that field, then it's a good lesson to learn while you're still in high school. Try to live life deliberately and consciously. Rather than picking a random summer job, why not pick one that allows you to build on your interests or explore a career? Top of Extracurricular page
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