Extracurriculars are important, now more than ever. With every passing year, the academic landscape becomes increasingly competitive. Students with high GPAs, SAT scores, and otherwise stellar academic performance, keep raising the bar. Schools need a way to distinguish between the myriad of flawlessly written essays and letters of recommendation received during application season. One of the ways they do this, is by looking through the student’s extracurricular portfolio, to glean what separates them from the rest.
Let’s find out what they look for and how we can reduce college tuition by getting involved in our school, as well as our local and global community!
To be quite honest, there are so many good and note-worthy activities that a high school student could be involved in. Here are a few of the common extracurricular activities that admissions officials look for and consider:
- Athletics or Sports Teams (in-school or club teams)
- Student Government/Leadership
- Student Newspaper
- Band or playing an instrument
- High School clubs (debate, math, chess, etc.)
- Theater
- Work/Entrepreneurship (mowing lawns, baby sitting, etc.)
Admissions officials value extracurricular activities because they provide a more detailed profile of the student and add valuable color to their submission documents. In particular officials look for clearly defined experiences of passion, commitment, leadership and impact.
They especially look for instances where students excel at a particular activity, as a result of drive, focus and determination. Participating in competitions and winning medals for talent or innovation are fantastic ways of showcasing the qualities that officials are looking for.
In addition to impressing admissions officials, participating in extracurricular activities can also have an direct impact on college fees. For one thing, an after-school or summer job can help earn extra money that can be used to pay for school tuition, fees, books, laptops, or other ancillary costs.
Also, participating and excelling in sports can lead to athletic scholarships. Many college students have been able to attend college due to scholarships awarded to them as a result of their hard work and exceptional performance participating in their high school sports programs. According to Scholarship Owl, the NCAA awards more than $2.9 billion in athletic scholarships annually to more than 150,000 student-athletes – with an average award of about $16,000 per student. This just tells me that while it is tough to receive an athletic scholarship, it’s certain not out of the realm of possibility – many receive them, and the statistics point to it being a good enough reason to participate and give it your all.
Extracurricular activities don’t just help with athletic scholarships – they help with scholarships in general. There are NUMEROUS scholarships out there for students that participate in all types of activities. The best place to start is by looking online for scholarships related to the activities that you participate in – no activity is too silly, just try it and see what turns up.