Extracurricular Activities
College admissions rely heavily on an applicant’s extracurricular activities, which gives them a more comprehensive picture of the applicant than grades alone. At Elevate College Prep and Consulting, counselors provide ideas and assistance in extracurricular activities according to a student’s personal strengths and interests. Because each student is unique, we focus on encouraging students to pursue what they are truly interested in. Along the way, we try to cover a specific subset of activities within the student’s interests.
Personal Interests
Does a student love chess, even though it won’t likely lead to a career? Do they enjoy playing the cello but want to major in biology? These extracurriculars may not seem helpful at first sight, but they actually are incredibly important. Not only do they provide potential opportunities for service and leadership, but they also show that these students are real people who pursue real interests. Whether or not an activity seems “useful” in a quantifiable way, genuine interest adds color and detail to the picture of who a student is.
Services
Colleges tend to want “global citizens,” aka people who will give back to their communities in and after college. One way to appeal to this is to volunteer for community service in high school. We recommend finding a few programs or activities to focus on, to demonstrate dedication to a cause.
Academic Extracurriculars
The pursuit of academic subjects outside of high school classes shows a student’s curiosity, drive, and investment in a subject. Examples of academic extracurriculars include research, internships, summer classes, and various other activities within a student’s academic field of interest.
Leadership
Within other categories of activities, there are a wide variety of opportunities for leadership. Whether this means becoming drum major or club president, unofficially mentoring underclassmen, or leading a project that involves other people, taking on leadership responsibilities shows colleges that a student takes initiative and is active as a guiding force in their communities.
