Feb 19 (edited) • 🎓 Strategy Posts
1️⃣ Extracurriculars 101: What Colleges Look For!
💡 "Do I need to do everything to impress colleges?" Nope. Colleges don’t want a list of random activities—they want to understand YOU.
When admissions officers review applications, they’re asking:
❓ Who are you? → What excites you? What do you care about?
❓ Who will you be on campus? → How will you contribute to their community?
Your extracurriculars are one of the best ways to answer these questions. They show how you’ve spent your time outside the classroom and what kind of energy, ideas, and leadership you’ll bring to college.
📌 What Colleges Look for in Extracurriculars
Colleges don’t evaluate activities based on numbers—they look for patterns, depth, and impact. Here’s what makes extracurriculars stand out:
🔹 Depth Over Breadth
✔ Focus on 2–3 core areas of meaningful involvement rather than spreading yourself thin.
✔ Within these areas, you can have multiple activities (up to 10 on the Common App), but they should fit into a cohesive story.
✔ It’s better to have 5 deeply impactful activities than 10 scattered ones.
💡 Example: A student passionate about environmental science could have research, summer programs, science club, and community projects rather than unrelated clubs.
🔹 Balance: Academic vs. Non-Academic Activities
✔ 1-2 academic-related (research, STEM projects, writing, competitions, tutoring) – these will later correspond to your indicated major & minor in your applications.
✔ 1–2 personal passions (sports, music, activism, entrepreneurship, content creation).
🔹 Leadership & Initiative
✔ Leadership isn’t just a title—it’s about taking action.
✔ Did you start something? Mentor others? Solve a problem?
🔹 Measurable Impact
✔ How did your involvement create change or make a difference?
✔ Numbers help: raised $3K for charity, taught 20 students, increased club membership by 50%.
🔹 Consistency & Growth Over Time
✔ Colleges love progression. Did you start as a participant and grow into a leader?
✔ Long-term commitment (2+ years) is better than jumping between activities.
💡 Key Takeaway: Colleges don’t just want to see what you’ve done—they want to see how you’ve grown. A strong activity list shows passion, leadership, impact, and long-term commitment.
👉 Next post: Now that you know what makes a strong extracurricular profile, we’ll break down how to evaluate and strengthen your own.
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1️⃣ Extracurriculars 101: What Colleges Look For!
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