How to Choose the Right Extracurriculars for You

When it comes to your high school experience, academics and standardized testing are usually clearly mapped out for you. There are paths leading through course loads of varying difficulty; there are required standardized tests and well-known study tools to prepare for them; and your GPA is a clear indication of your success in your academic work. The academic side of things might be pretty clear, but the same can’t be said for extracurriculars. It’s hard to know exactly what role extracurricular activities should play in your high school experience, let alone on your college applications. Extracurriculars are a broad category to begin with — they seem to encompass everything from starting your own dog-walking business to participating in groundbreaking scientific research projects. So you might be wondering, what’s the deal? Are some extracurriculars more important than others? Which will be most heavily weighted on your college application? And how do you know which are worth pursuing? In this post, we’ll give an outline of how to choose extracurriculars that not only are personally fulfilling but also augment your profile as a college applicant. Read on for the five standards you should keep in mind when selecting an extracurricular activity. A little bit of insight can go a long way. Here at , we have a team of experts who have been in your shoes. Read through this guide on high school extracurriculars, and then check out our Near Peer Mentorship Program . You’ll have access to the insights of peer mentors who have been through this process and are ready to share with you all the ins and outs of choosing the right extracurricular activities. There is no simple answer to how important extracurriculars are on your college applications. There are definitely some schools to which you may apply that will admit you based off of your academic record and your essays and recommendations alone. Your extracurriculars might get little to no weight. More selective schools, though, tend to place a heavier weight on extracurriculars. Most of the students who apply to the most selective schools will be academically qualified. These students will have strong GPAs and great test scores. So what will set apart the elite 5-10% who ultimately get accepted to these schools? Many times extracurriculars mark the difference between a successful and unsuccessful application, so it’s worth knowing that they can play a big role in college admissions in some cases. The line between activities that you have participated in and activities that you can consider extracurriculars is somewhat blurry. In general, though, an extracurricular activity is one that you participate in regularly outside of your required academic work.