52 Weeks to College: Week 7 - Extracurricular Activities

By this time in your Senior year, you can probably recite the "admissions standards" for your various schools. I don't need to tell you that your life beyond the classroom matters because you've seen it in their statements of admissions standards. That's true for all colleges - from the most selective to the least selective. Present yourself as a "must have" applicant by following these 5 tips.

Tip 1.  Organize and present with your application story in mind.

Remember way back to week 4 when you developed your application story? Pull that out as you are working on these parts of your application. Every extracurricular activity, hobby, or work experience you list should be developing that application story further.

• Example: One thread of your story is that you are a leader. Your experience as President of the Student Body and as a wilderness adventure team leader should be listed first and second on your list because they are the things that showcase your leadership ability. They would go above your participation in three varsity sports even though those take more time because you've never been the captain of a team.
• Example: One thread of your story is that you are interested in international affairs and want to serve in the Peace Corps. You've got tons of travel experience, done mission trips, and speak three languages. Rather than listing each thing individually, consolidate those into three items with depth, e.g.
  • Travel-have traveled to 14 countries on trips with family, friends, and groups. Longest trip was 4 weeks in South America where I got to stay in the home of a Venezuelan family who are ranchers.
  • Mission Trips - participated in annual mission trips with my church since I was in 7th grade. Trips are a week in length and include work projects as well as sightseeing. Trips have included: Honduras/Habitat for Humanity (3 years, built 3 houses); Mexico/Bread for the World Ministries (2 years, prepared and served meals to hungry street children).
  • Language - Speak 3 languages fluently: English, Spanish, Portuguese. Started the "Language Tables" at school. Students wanting to develop their language skills sit at the Language Table and speak that language for the whole of lunch hour. I host the Portuguese table every Tuesday and it regularly attracts 10 other students.

Tip 2.  Avoid the temptation to "oversell" what you've done or flat out lie.

You are 17. While there are child prodigies who have invented a new computer circuit, made their first million, or competed on the professional tennis circuit, they are truly rare. Therefore, admissions officers are skeptical of what seems to be something good reported as something extraordinary. Skepticism is NOT the emotion you are trying to elicit! 

• Example: Mary worked as an intern in a really high powered science lab. She got to observe experiments being performed and she had responsibility for washing the test tubes that the lab scientists used each day. This is a good experience for Mary to include in her activity list because she wants to be a scientist.
  • Here's the entry I would want to see on the list:  Intern, Abbott Research Laboratories. Summer 2009. Worked in a research lab with 10 senior scientists who conduct experiments on breakthrough therapies for Alzheimer's. Observed several different experimental protocols and washed 1000 test tubes.
  • Here's the entry that I would be skeptical about: Laboratory Technician. Abbott Research Laboratories. Responsible for critical equipment maintenance in laboratory of 10 senior scientists. Participated in experiments on breakthrough therapies for Alzheimer's.
• Example:  Joe really wanted to go to a top school.  He knew they wanted students who had a lot of extracurricular activities, so he took the liberty of adding a few that he thought would impress.  Like Key Club -- that was a good club, right? And he did go help out at a Key Club event last year, so he was a member, kind of.  And he went to a big high school, so lots of people did Key Club, so who would know, right?  And then there was the varsity letter he earned for being the manager of the team.  It wasn't really a lie if he put, "Basketball, Varsity Letter 11."  Let the admissions officer think he had a decent jump shot. 
  
  Oh poor Joe.  He had a college counselor who knew Joe wanted to go to a top school and she wanted to help him.  So, she went out of her way to write a detailed recommendation that included the following damning sentences:  "Joe is a 'behind the scenes' kind of student leader.  He just always helps out.  For example, Joe's never been a member of Key Club, but he helped out with one of their major events last year and Joe has been a great manager of our All-State Basketball team.  In fact, he was such a good manager that he received an honorary varsity letter."  Joe is now denied and reported for admissions fraud. 

Tip 3.  Edit your list.

You want to showcase those activities, hobbies, and work experiences that you have been involved with over time, developed skills in, received awards/distinctions/promotions in, and/or have been especially meaningful to you. It is not necessary or even good to list each and every thing you have done or are doing. Pick quality over quantity every time.

• Example: leave off marching band from 9th grade, unless you are showcasing music and you want to show that you have been involved in ensemble performance in one way or another every year (did marching band in 9th, concert band in 10th-11th, and orchestra in 12th).
• Example: you're a joiner and you've been in every club in the school, but there are only 3 clubs that you've actually done something in - in one you led a project, one you got an award from, and one you are an officer of. Those are the 3 clubs that should show up; everything else is just info for the scrapbook.
• Example: you go to a school where there is a community service requirement and so you did a stint at a local nursing home - it was pretty much the worst experience of your life, but you were responsible and completed the requirement. You think you should show that activity because otherwise you don't have any community service extracurricular activities. Right? Wrong. If it was something you did because you had to and it wasn't meaningful to you, leave it off! No particular extracurricular activity is required.

Tip 4.  Expand upon the grid if the grid format doesn't suit what you want to showcase.

The Common Application and lots of school specific applications ask you to present your life beyond the classroom in a grid format. But you may need to expand beyond the grid to really showcase what is special about you.

• Example: You've devoted yourself to your part-time job at Dunkin Donuts. You work 20 hours a week during the school year and 40 hours a week during the summer. You started at the bottom of the ladder and have worked hard and been steadily promoted and are now the night manager responsible for close on Friday and Saturdays. As a manager, you have responsibility for making a bank deposit and hiring/firing workers. You've gotten extra training. You've built up a substantial savings account for college. You've been named employee of the month three times. If you simply list your work experience in the three lines allowed for it on the Common Application or in a grid, none of that important extra information will come out.
  
  Best way to get this information in the application: include a resume that details all of this information as a supplement.
• Example: You are a budding poet. You write poetry all the time and publish it on the web. You've also been published in a literary magazine. You participate in monthly teen poetry slams. Again, the grid does you no favors because likely most of this information would be omitted.
  
  Best way to get this information in the application: write about your poetry activity in the short essay or include it on a supplemental activity resume that you include as additional information with the application.
  
  Some of you will be tempted to send the literary magazine with your poetry or 8 samples of your poetry. Don't. It is just distracting. The admissions officer is not trying to evaluate your skill as a poet; the admissions officer is evaluating your commitment, initiative and accomplishments beyond the classroom. Your recitation of what you do is better than samples for those purposes.

Tip 5.  Explain activities, awards, and accomplishments as necessary.

Even though admissions officers work hard to educate themselves about the myriad of clubs, activities, awards, and opportunities there are for high school students, they can't and won't know about everything. A short explanation is always welcome.

• Example: You have won the Pollyanna award. You list that on your honors section: Winner, Pollyanna Award, Spring 2009. What? The Pollyanna award? No idea. But I do have an idea if you list: Winner, Pollyanna Award, Spring 2009. The Pollyanna award is a scholarship of $5000 made annually to the high school student who has contributed the most to Grafton County, NH. Nominations are collected from local community leaders and principals. I was nominated by the local Boys and Girls Club because I have volunteered in an after-school program for first graders, since I was in 6th grade. I was chosen as a finalist based on the nomination submitted by the Club and then as the winner after interview by a selection committee comprised of a county judge, the CEO of the largest business in the county and a selectman from a town in the county.
• Example: You are President of the Star Club at your high school. You list that in your activities grid: Star Council, 11-12. 4 hrs per week. Again, Star Council? What's that? No idea. And why is it a big deal? But I do have an idea and do understand if you list: Star Council, 11-12. 4 hrs per week. The Star Council is a council of junior and senior academic "stars" as chosen by the faculty. Only 5 students from each grade (there are 500 students per grade at my school) are chosen. The Star Council is responsible for organizing the Academic Bowl each year. The Academic Bowl involves more than 1200 students in a "quiz bowl" fundraising effort. Each team gets sponsors and proceeds from the teams are donated to the student tutoring program at school. In my first year on the Council, we raised more than $10,000.

Comments or Questions? 

Having trouble deciding what is a positive spin vs. oversell/fraud?  Want to know which activities you should list and which you should ditch?  Overwhelmed about how to proceed?  Post a comment! 

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.