Schools, through their application process, want to know everything about a candidate – life history and future plans, past academic performance, future academic potential, career progress, leadership skills, communication skills, what others think about the candidate, and finally– extracurricular activities. We, as an erudite nation, have only now come to accept the importance of extracurricular activities, mostly because we can now aspire to go abroad to great universities and it’s a basic requirement. But extracurricular activities add dimensions to our personality that aids our growth even if not for an academic adventure abroad.

Extracurricular activities are essential but don’t add everything to your laundry list. Put some thought into what captivates your heart and soul and work at it towards something meaningful, and how it shows depth in your application.

Admission committees don’t need your activities to be altruistic. Sometimes even a random passion, completely unrelated to your career goals or job, maybe a fascinating facet of your personality. We had a student who had the largest PENCIL COLLECTION in the world. It showed he had passion and commitment to his hobby and not just a passing fascination. They can be enchanted by the variety you bring to the school community with your out-of-the-box interests.

In other words, if you are able to show them a multi-dimensional facet of yourself, you have a fighting chance of impressing the admission committee into believing you are more than the books you read and school you are from.

The Perfect Extracurricular Activity Combination

For students who are unsure about what types of activities to pursue in high school, you can easily impress admissions officers by making sure that you have the following three kinds of activities on your list. They are:

• The Academic Activity
• The Community Service Activity
• The Personality Activity

This combination of activities allows you to show off your personality and talents while also showing an awareness of and concern for the larger world.

The Academic Activity

This activity is in some way associated to what you wish to study in college. A journalism aspirant can work for the school paper while an engineering aspirant may join a math or science club in school. It shows that you are interested and keen on your chosen field.

Colleges want to admit students who are hard-working, passionate, and who will potentially be innovators in that field in the future.

The Community Service Activity

It needs to be a cause that you are passionate about. From volunteering at an animal shelter to organising health camps and working for the betterment of the downtrodden, it needs to show that you wish to COMMIT and make the world a better place. Many of our students say that they experience personal development through community service and become more responsible and empathetic, as well as more rounded in their personality.

Community service brings out the leadership potential in you. By showing that you can take charge when you see an issue in your community, you’re showing initiative, dedication, and perseverance. These are all traits that will help you be a successful student in college and even after you graduate.

The Personality Activity

What is your passion? What makes you, you?

This activity shows the side of you that is special. You love doing something and it becomes a personality trait. It may not have anything to do with your academic goals. A robotics student may be an excellent basketball player! While a science major may be a lover of poetry and dabble in open mics! Colleges want students who are different than the stereotypes, to make campus life more vibrant! This shows that you are an interesting person.