Extra-curricular Activities that Strengthen a College Application (Part I)

(Trigger Warning: Your Child is Special, but not THAT Special)

Ouch! This is going to hurt, but I will say it. Yes, your child is special, but he/she is also not so special.

(I am a mother myself, and much as I think my kids are pretty good at some things, I know I need to have my head closer to the ground than up in the troposphere.)

A large proportion of the parents I worked with came to me enthusing about how some of extra-curricular activities that their children are involved with must put them in specially favorable positions in the admission consideration process. Marching band, Gangnam style dancing, youth orchestra, Christmas recitals, self-published, 1-week in a village in China teaching English etc. etc.

The NY Times best-selling author, Mark Manson, has a quote that I find very applicable for breaking the “my child is excellent” bubble that these parents are in, albeit in a different context than what he used the saying for:

“Being special isn’t so special.”

So, in the grand scheme of things, I’d encourage my own kids and students to pursue what they really want, but if they hope their activities can boost their college applications, here are some pointers.

Extra-curricular Activities are Indispensable

Extra-curricular activities are a pre-requisite for any student to be considered for admission to top colleges these days; being good at academics alone is simply not going to make the cut. So, what makes for “special” in one’s activity list? There is no clear definition, and if someone, especially any admissions consulting company staff member tells you there is, it should raise a red flag about their worth. But there are certain patterns that can be identified, and I’ll discuss some notable pointers.

A few years ago, there’s a buzz word in the college admissions consulting world regarding extra-curricular activities: Passion. The true meaning behind this word is often elusive. Loosely put, it can mean something you like very much and have done it for a long time, i.e. you persisted. But, you have to also be good in it, which brings me to the new buzz word I hear quite a bit lately: Codification. To put it simply, it means to have some official recognition or endorsement of the activities you engage in.

Here’s a simple way of explaining passion and codification. You can’t simply put “singing in the shower” in your activity list (even though you might have done it since you were in 1st grade) and hope that will get you into a top-tier school. Of course, if you go on to the finals of “America’s Got Talent,” it’s a different story.

Which types of extra-curricular activities boost a college application?

There is no “should” or “should-nots” when it comes to this question. There is no clear-cut list of what to do to show that you are not just a student who studies hard and has good grades. But, there are some patterns that I have seen in my students and other students’ success stories.

Personally, when I discuss with parents about what extra-curricular pursuits their children should do outside of academics, I like to use the example of one very excellent past student, J. What he achieved would count as the epitome of passion, codification and a clear “persona” that left a good impression on admission committees. (“Good” is an understatement because he was offered admissions to every Ivy that he applied to, plus other similarly-tiered colleges.)

Case Study: J.

Colleges Admitted to: 5 out of 5 Ivies applied to + a few similarly-tiered colleges

Did NOT do: A myriad of volunteering work, such as setting up a refugee aid center in a remote African village, or held the position of “President” of some high-profile club at school (or the likes of such “trendy” records that college consultants like to encourage). No “National ________ Society” type of memberships either.

Did do:

(1) Musical pursuits: He studied the piano at a small private music school located on the same street as his parents’ residence. He loved music, and so he also learned the cello and played with a school string chamber ensemble at whatever performances the school arranged for.

(2) Writing/Journalism-related: He was a managing editor of the one of the publication clubs at school. Of course, he was a great writer.

(3) Research: He loved STEM subjects, but exceled in every subject; yes, he aced his honors and AP classes/exams and during his time, SAT subject tests. To pursue his curiosity in biology, he did 2 years of research internships with a lab at a top-tier college in the town he happened to live in.

(4) Special traits: In terms of academics, this student’s academic performance was probably matched by thousands of other candidates in the year he applied to college. What made him stand out for so many top colleges’ admission committees?

For one, I believe he’s the type of student that every teacher would secretly wish to be approached to write a recommendation letter for. He’s just overall a very likeable, confident and reliable young man who is exceptionally smart and diligent.

(5) Special Achivements: Now, for the cherries on top of all that he had…

(1) He won one of the top three prizes in a major, NATIONAL, piano competition.

(2) He published a paper with the professor he interned with, in a PEER-REVIEWED journal paper (not just any journal).

These two “cherries” are what I would call legit endorsement of his excellence, and they are achievable only with true interest and perseverance. Just imagine: how many hours, over so many days and years, would he have to practice on the piano as he was growing up? (Note that none of his parents, or aunts or uncles are musicians, in case you wonder.) And, a tenured full professor at an Ivy was willing to publish a paper with him!

So, to the parent who thought your son deserved a place at Stanford because he played solo with the school marching band, I’m sorry. There are more than 22,000 high schools in the US, and hundreds of them have marching bands with solo items. To the parent who thought your daughter was discriminated because of reason-X or excuse-Y, and Yale should have admitted her because she was in a youth orchestra outside of school, I’m sorry but no, simply being a passive member of an orchestra does not put her on top of a pile of 40,000+ applications.

Now that I have given an example that feels like an unattainable gold standard, I want to stress that not everyone who gets admitted to top-tier colleges necessarily have won in a national competition and published a paper in some prestigious journal. Given that there are so many possible activities under the great big sky that one can get involved in, I’d not venture to give a list. My students who have been admitted to top-tier colleges have interests as wide-ranging as an Etsy shop to a YouTube channel to a non-profit organization that helps immigrants with translation.

There simply isn’t a division of “good” or “should do” type of extra-curricular activities or “should not” type of activities. In my discussion of J., 2 characteristics stood out: His pursuits were given "official” endorsement in the form of a competition win and published paper. Dedication and evidence of diligence that have brought recognition by agencies that are trusted. He also has a “rounded” profile, in that he has “soft” skills like music and writing/editorial work besides excellent research work in a “hard” science subject. These are what I would suggest as the identifiable “patterns” that will strength a college applicant’s chances.

To conclude, let me go back to the two important issues I brought up at the very start of this discussion: (1) From the case-study I discussed today, I hope the message about “passion” and “codification” is clear. That leaves us with (2) what’s not so special about some activities. (1) and (2) are actually inter-related and I will elaborate on it in my next post.

For now, I’ll end with a word of caution for parents and students. If any counselor tells you there are certain activities that will make your college application a stronger one, re-think where you put your trust. I have actually read an article that praises certain extra-curricular activities as being superior than others in raising one’s chances of college admission, with marching band being on top of the list. Alas.