Your Complete List of Extracurricular Activities: 900+ Ideas
Most colleges, especially competitive ones, are looking for a “well-rounded” student. This means that, in addition to having grades and test scores that meet their requirements, you must also display other talents and interests in your application. A strong extracurricular profile can help you make a good impression on admissions officers. You’d be surprised how many activities are out there! Extracurriculars are anything you do outside of academics. These can include sports, music, community service activities, jobs/internships, clubs, and more. Extracurriculars help colleges get to know you as a person: what do you care about? How committed are you? It’s important to note that not all hobbies count as extracurriculars. For example, things like watching movies or playing video games would not be counted. Basically, recreational activities that you do for your own enjoyment don’t make the cut because extracurriculars need to involve some concerted effort and contribute to your personal development. If you started an after-school movie club where you and other members watched and then analyzed movies, or decided to develop video games on your own time, then you could list those as extracurriculars. While most schools are interested in extracurricular activities to some extent, they are especially important to the top 250 colleges and universities. These 250 schools get too many students who are academically-qualified, so extracurriculars help you stand out. The less competitive schools, like large public schools or state universities, receive so many applications that they narrow their focus. Typically, extracurriculars fall to the wayside here as more emphasis is placed on quantitative data, like GPA and test scores, because these require less time on the part of the admissions committee. That being said, having extracurriculars on your resume, no matter where you apply to, helps you present a robust application that helps the admissions officers gain an overall deeper understanding of the type of person you are. This can make or break their decision to accept you into their university. A well-rounded profile demonstrates that you are passionate and dedicated to the things you care about, both of which are qualities that would make you a valuable addition to their student body. In addition to showing off your many interests, extracurriculars can also help establish your commitment and interest in your prospective major. This can be especially true for pre-med students; you have to show interest in the field, so having a medical club or hospital volunteering opportunity on your resume would show initiative in that direction. Other examples are video game clubs or coding competitions for a computer science major, or heading a psychology club for an intended psychology major. At CollegeVine, we’ve divided extracurricular activities into 4 tiers. Tier 1: Rare activities that show exceptional achievement or leadership. They include national awards or other prestigious achievements. Tier 2: A little more common than Tier 1, but these activities still showcase high levels of achievement and leadership. They include leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations, winning regional competitions, or sports/music distinctions. Tier 3: Lack the distinction of Tier 1 and 2, but still highlight student’s interests. They include minor leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations and smaller athletic/musical distinctions. Tier 4: Most common and most often seen by admissions committees. They include general club/sports/musical membership and general volunteering. Strong applications tend to have between 8 and 10 extracurricular activities. This sounds like a lot, but many activities are seasonal, so it’s possible to fit, for example, three to four sports into one year. That being said, the most important thing to keep in mind is quality over quantity. It’s usually better to try and achieve depth in one to two fields than to do a bunch of things on a surface level. You can certainly start by trying a bunch of things freshman year, but really stick with what you love and are good at. This way, you show a real passion, dedication and progression in the things you care about. If you want to find out how your extracurriculars stack up, our free chancing engine can help you understand how your activities impact your chances. You can also see more in-depth tiers; the 4-tier system is slightly simplified and our chancing engine runs from Tier A-I. What’s Covered:
What are Extracurricular Activities?
Why Are Extracurriculars Important?
How Do Colleges Evaluate Extracurriculars?
How Many Extracurriculars Should You Do?
Complete List of Extracurricular Activities
Affinity Groups
Community Service
Drama
Employment
Hobbies (some of these may double as other categories)
Honor Societies
Interest Clubs
Music
Non-Art Competitions
Own Initiative
Politics
Research
Software
Sports
Student Government
Summer Programs
Visual Arts
Writing
