{"id":2494,"date":"2014-08-11t09:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-08-11t16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2021-01-06t14:22:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06t22:22:52","slug":"how-to-win-at-extracurriculars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/how-to-win-at-extracurriculars\/","title":{"rendered":"how to win at extracurriculars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cthis\u2019ll look good on my college app!”<\/p>\n

ah, the mantra of high school upperclassmen. if you\u2019re around any over-achieving high schoolers, you\u2019ll probably be hearing this a lot. in an age of extreme college entrance competitiveness, it\u2019s easy to fall into the \u201cextracurricular trap\u201d: piling on a bunch of extracurricular activities just because it\u2019ll boost your college app.<\/p>\n

but here\u2019s the thing: it probably won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

college admissions officers are seasoned professionals. they will be able to differentiate a student whose extracurriculars are shallow, scattered endeavors and a student with true passions. and the latter will certainly be more impressive. it\u2019ll also be more meaningful to you, the student.<\/p>\n

take a look at the following scenario. you are a college admissions officer, and you have to admit one of the two students. which one do you choose?<\/p>\n

 
\n

\"chart\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

jacklyn has only two extracurriculars, but she still sounds a lot more interesting and passionate than alex. alex sounds like she\u2019s trying everything just to add them to her application; she\u2019s tried a lot of different activities, but these things are hardly focused. she hasn\u2019t really committed a lot of time to any one extracurricular. though some of her activities sound interesting and have potential, she hasn\u2019t taken any of them a step further.<\/p>\n

jacklyn, on the other hand, has only listed two extracurriculars, but they\u2019re interesting, more major endeavors, and she commits a lot of time to them. having a handful of focused activities is far more ideal than a bunch of scattered ones. <\/strong><\/p>\n

here\u2019s something i didn\u2019t realize before i actually registered for a common app account: there are ten spaces for \u201cextracurriculars.\u201d you don\u2019t have to fill all of them out! <\/em>colleges themselves have confirmed that filling everything out will not lend you any special advantage.<\/p>\n

there are tons of students who open up the application, and start freaking out because they don\u2019t have ten different activities to fill in.<\/p>\n

there are tons more who fill in these blanks with meaningless activities, every club they ever attended a single meeting for. there are even people who fill out their application with things like \u201cpersonal reading\u201d as an extracurricular, which, according to kenyon college dean of admissions, jennifer delahunty, \u201clooks decidedly like a filler.\u201d<\/p>\n

really! don\u2019t do this! you\u2019re not getting points for the amount of stuff that you do. you\u2019re being judged by how passionate you are for what you do, and what you\u2019ve done with this passion. you\u2019re being judged for your character, your drive, and what you could bring to a college campus.<\/p>\n

please don\u2019t confuse one thing, though: all this talk about focus does not mean you should limit yourself! yes, passion is good. focus is good. but if you have a lot of passions, then by all means, explore them! <\/strong>if you\u2019re naturally well-rounded, kudos to you!<\/p>\n

the trend which i\u2019m attacking is like extracurricular-speed-dating.<\/p>\n

you do an activity because it looks good, but not because it means something to you. you never really explore the activity that deeply or take things further. then, the activity has to cry alone in its room because you only dated it for its body and not for its laugh, its flaws, its quirky personality\u2026<\/p>\n

\"please<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

wow, you\u2019re such a jerk.<\/p>\n

anyways, as jeff brenzel, dean of undergraduate admissions at yale says it: \u201ci’m often asked, \u2018are people looking for one thing you’ve done extremely well or sort-of a broad and well-rounded, you know, kind of extracurricular profile?\u2019 the answer to the question, of course, is: yes. either can be an interesting take on the high school experience. my usual advice in this area is simply do things that you truly enjoy in high school, rather than trying to outguess an admissions committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

so, in the end, what do i recommend? just find things that you enjoy, and commit yourself to them.<\/p>\n

don\u2019t force yourself into trying out for orchestra if you hate playing your instrument. don\u2019t force yourself into trying \u201cunique\u201d and \u201crare\u201d activities just because it\u2019ll make you stand out, either (unless you actually enjoy it!). there\u2019s no point in starting activities you\u2019re uncomfortable with because you likely won\u2019t become passionate about them. you won\u2019t take them a step further. most of all, you won\u2019t be enjoying yourself!<\/p>\n

if you do find activities you\u2019re passionate about, you can truly explore them. a love for architectural design can blossom into an internship; a passion for volunteering can result in your own charity event. depth over breadth <\/strong>is key. or, if you\u2019re just a natural renaissance man or woman, both depth and breadth!<\/p>\n

for all my fellow seniors, good luck on your college applications! and for everyone else…enjoy your life while you still have one!<\/p>\n

\"crying<\/a><\/center>
\n <\/p>\n

photo credit: 1<\/a> \/ 2 <\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cthis\u2019ll look good on my college app!” ah, the mantra of high school upperclassmen. if you\u2019re around any over-achieving high schoolers, you\u2019ll probably be hearing this a lot. in an age of extreme college entrance competitiveness, it\u2019s easy to fall into the \u201cextracurricular trap\u201d: piling on a bunch of extracurricular activities just because it\u2019ll boost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24894],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow to win at extracurriculars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"don't participate in extracurricular activities just to look good on your college applications. colleges prefer to see that you participate out of interest and passion - so learn how to win at extracurriculars that you actually enjoy!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/how-to-win-at-extracurriculars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"how to win at extracurriculars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"don't participate in extracurricular activities just to look good on your college applications. colleges prefer to see that you participate out of interest and passion - 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