Killer ExtraCurricular Activity Samples for Your College App
Thinking of changing your college or directly expecting to take an admission to a college, Indian NRI Students always remember one thing, apart from your application, you also need to have a strong set of extracurricular activities. Extra-Curricula’s are considered to be one of the best great ways to participate in an activity you enjoy and meet new people.
The below articles lists out a brief description about extracurricular activities and their usefulness; What do colleges look out for through your extracurricular activities; Some examples of extracurricular activities and their breakdown.
Benefits of Extracurricular Activities and their Usefulness.
Any activity you participate in outside of class, ranging from a sports activity, community activity or maybe something different. They’re useful because:
- They Let You Do Something You Enjoy – Doing what you love not only makes you happier but can also give you a break from schoolwork
- They Introduce You to New Friends – Often helps make new friends of same likings.
- They Are Important for College Applications – Activities you choose to do are included in your college applications to show your interests and talents.
Why Are Extracurriculars Important for College Applications?
Most of the application that are received have the usual numbers like the GPA Score, SAT Score, ACT Score, etc. Now there could be students with similar scores or maybe very close to each other on the list, what makes them stand out are the extracurricular activities.
Colleges review extracurricular activities to understand more about the students apart from their grades. They alway check if the set of extracurricular activities that you mentioned portray the below characteristics of yours:
Leadership
It means that of all the activities you listed, at any given point where you responsible for leading a project or guiding, instructing or motivating others. For example; leading a team or helping to or organize an event or mentoring younger members or developing a fundraiser.
Passion
Here they want to check if the activity that you have participated in, are you truly interested in it or are you just doing it for the sake of it. Admission officers always try to pick people based on how serious they are about the activity they chose. Whether the student wishes to bring in any change.
Impact
Basically colleges want to look at how the activity is influenced by you and how you are influenced by activity. The best examples of extracurricular activities clearly show that you have changed and improved as a result of participating in the activity and you have also had a lasting impact on the activity as well.
Samples of Extracurricular Activities:
Indian NRI students below are three fictional examples of great extracurricular activities. Try to condense your explanation on extracurricular activities as the space provided on application is very less. Each example also includes a breakdown of what makes it a great extracurricular.
Example 1: Simran the Ballerina
I took my first ballet class when I was five years old, and ever since then I have known that I want to be a ballerina. During the school year, I would take ballet classes five days a week, and beginning in middle school I spent summers at intensive ballet camps. When I was 15, I was accepted into the Joffrey Ballet’s pre-professional program, one of the most competitive youth ballet troupes in the country. I have now spent two years in the pre-professional program, which involves practicing and performing roughly 30 hours a week. I have also auditioned and been selected for roles in 7 company productions that are seen by hundreds of audience members each night. I have loved ballet nearly my entire life, and I plan to continue working as a ballerina and mentoring children and teenagers who are interested in ballet.
Breakdown:
One thing clearly comes out is the passion and dedication for Ballet. This helps this activity to stand out for Simran. Simran has also included specific number like (30 hours a week, 7 company production) this helps admission officers to know what impact the activity has on her and vice versa. Finally, she also mentioned about training and mentoring others on Ballet, this shows here leadership quality and her rigor to pass on her learning to others.
Example 2: Indrapratap the Volunteer Leader
I have been a member of my high school’s volunteer club since my freshman year. During my first year, I enjoyed tutoring elementary students and painting houses with the club, but I thought students should have more options for volunteering. As a sophomore, I spoke to club leaders and proposed five new locations where students could volunteer including a hospital, animal shelter, and homeless shelter. After getting my suggestions approved, I contacted the organizations and arranged for them to form volunteer partnerships with the school. This included developing activities volunteers could do, getting the organizations approved by the school, and arranging volunteer times and transportation. Other students in the volunteer club were excited about having a bigger impact, so I continued to look for new opportunities for volunteers. I am currently president of the volunteer club and in charge of developing new volunteer activities. Under my direction, the volunteer club has grown from 30 to over 100 members and quadrupled the number of places where students can volunteer. I’m proud that our club is continuing to grow and help more people each year.
Breakdown
This activity clearly shows that Indrapratap is a leader. He knows how to take initiative and get things done. Through his involvement in clubs functioning, he has brought in change by suggesting ideas to club leaders about working with organizations to establish volunteer programs. He gives concrete numbers to show his impact.
Example 3: Jessica the Scientist
When I was 15 years old, I decided to get a part-time job to help pay for college and have some spending money. Because I was already part of my school’s Science Olympiad team and plan on majoring in microbiology, I applied to be a lab technician at a local science lab. My work primarily consisted of preparing chemicals and cleaning equipment, but after speaking to my supervisor about my interest in microbiology, I was able to begin conducting some simple experiments for the lab. This past summer I became a full-time intern at the lab and took on additional responsibilities. I asked to work with a team doing a microbiology project that studies self-assembly properties of polypeptides. During my internship, I ran different chemical tests and analyzed data results for potential use in cancer research, and I have continued that work into the school year.
Breakdown
From the above example it is clear seen that Jessica is passionate about science. And she chose it to a do a part-time job related to it. Her major work there was most of the times cleaning lab equipments but through this she grew and applied for a scholarship. Now she contributes to a cancer research. That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for a high school student. With her initiative to building a scholarship out of her activity show’s that it has meaningful impact on her and gives her useful experience for her future.
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