Why You Should Care About Extracurriculars.

As a teacher and also as a consultant for university admissions (US, UK), I often encounter students who are very strong academically, but don’t succeed in the college admissions process or face additional difficulties in adapting to a life outside academics and the IGCSE.

Extracurricular activities play a crucial role in the college application process for high school students.

Extracurricular activities allow you to…

1. Demonstrate Passion and Commitment: Colleges want to see that students have interests outside of their academic work and that they are committed to those interests. By participating in an extracurricular activity over an extended period of time, students can demonstrate their passion and dedication.
2. Showcase Leadership Skills: Extracurricular activities often provide opportunities for students to take on leadership roles. Colleges value leadership because it shows initiative, responsibility, and the ability to motivate others.
3. Develop Transferable Skills: Extracurricular activities can help students develop skills that are valuable in college and beyond. These can include teamwork, time management, problem-solving, and communication skills.
4. Diversify Your Profile: Having a diverse range of interests and experiences can help students stand out from the crowd. This can be particularly important at competitive colleges, where many applicants have strong academic records.
   
   At the end of the day, selective universities care not just about students who can do the academic work at the school – there are often many more applicants that can do the work relative to the class size or capacity of these universities; having strong extracurriculars in your profile can form a strong basis or investment thesis for a university that is looking to recruit the best students worldwide.
5. Explore Interests and Potential Majors: Extracurricular activities can also provide a way for students to explore potential areas of interest or college majors. For example, participating in a robotics club might spark an interest in engineering, or volunteering at a hospital might confirm a student’s interest in pre-med.
6. Community Engagement: Many extracurricular activities involve some level of community service or engagement. This can show colleges that a student is committed to making a positive impact on their community, which is a quality many institutions value.
7. Provide Material for Essays and Interviews:
   
   The experiences and reflections that come from extracurricular activities can provide valuable material for college application essays and interviews. They can also provide talking points for conversations with college representatives or for college fairs, which in turn leads to a higher probability of admission to selective universities, and also to a higher probability of receiving scholarships.

But that said, not everyone knows exactly what to do or how to proceed. Below, I provide a small list of suggestions.

What kinds of extracurriculars should I do?

Here are some examples of extracurricular activities that high school students often participate in:

1. Sports: Football, basketball, soccer, swimming, track and field, tennis, etc.
   
   This is good to start early and to get training for – the earlier you start, the more opportunities to get involved in sports and to build your proficiency. If you get to a high level, it’s usually great for your profile.
   
   To start, you can try to see if there are opportunities within your school, and then also seek out local teams that are playing specific the sports you’re interested in as well for tryouts.
2. Clubs and Organizations:
   
   Debate club, Model United Nations, Robotics Club, Chess Club, STEM club, Drama Club, etc…
   
   Getting involved in a club and taking part in different activities is a great way to get involved in things that you are interested in and also to take initiative to organize activities that can benefit your community and that resonate with your interest, indicating that you are maximizing your school experience and taking initiative in order to improve the experiences of others around you.
3. Arts and Music:
   
   School band, orchestra, choir, drama/theater, art clubs, dance teams, and many other organizations offer the unique opportunity to express yourself through art and provide an indication that you not only have a high level of skill in a particular art form but also that you are able to collaborate well with others.
4. Volunteering and Community Service:
   
   Hospital volunteering, tutoring, community clean-ups, food drives, etc.
   
   Having a cause that you volunteer for provides an indication that you care about a particular thing and are willing to dedicate time to it because it matters to you, and to take time out of your busy schedule in order to do so.
5. Leadership Roles:
   
   Student government, club officers, team captains, etc. Leadership not only offers you the opportunity to demonstrate that you have the ability to manage the time, expectations, and the direction of a group of people, but it also demonstrates that you may also become able to lead others forward at a later point in the future, boding well for your potential in college and the workforce beyond it.
6. Work Experience:
   
   Part-time jobs, internships, research, or entrepreneurship (like running an online business), or perhaps even shadowing a doctor, lawyer, or an employee in a business that you are interested in.
7. Academic Competitions:
   
   Math, Physics, Chemistry Olympiads and competitions (IMONST, Kangaroo Math, APMO), Science Fairs (ISEF?), etc. For the Olympiad-savvy, amiso.my may be a good chance to connect with members of the Olympiad alumni from Malaysia.
   
   It’s worthwhile to note that Olympiads offer an opportunity to students who are advanced and also have the willpower and inclination to pursue certain subjects to a significantly higher level than what is on offer in the course of their school curricula.
8. Cultural Clubs:
   
   Language clubs, International Relations Club, cultural awareness groups, etc. Learning a language can be a great opportunity to develop yourself in this area, and so can taking part in exchange programs.

Moreover, extracurriculars are relevant to anyone who is interested in succeeding in situations of selection.

Let’s think about the relevance of extracurriculars to the question of selection from three different perspectives:


1. From a college’s perspective…

If I choose this student (as a merit scholarship/financial aid recipient or as an admitted student), will they be more successful or will they contribute more to the environment that I’ve set up in the school relative to any other candidate?

2. From a scholarship body’s perspective:

If I choose this student as a scholarship recipient and potentially commit hundreds of thousands to upwards of a million ringgit for their education, will they be able to represent me, the country, or my organization well? Will they speak well, act well, direct the actions of others well, and will they be able to contribute towards the development of the next generation well?


3. From a prospective employer’s perspective.

If I choose this person as an employee, will they be able to benefit the workforce, generate productive partnerships and revenue for our company, and potentially form the leadership of our organization?

Extracurriculars matter because excellence in extracurriculars demonstrates that a person is able to allocate their time well, has the interest to pursue certain things well, and many other things. A student’s choice of extracurriculars, moreover, reflects upon their attitude towards life and the way that they choose to productively undertake things that can benefit people – either themselves, in the hallowed halls of academic competition and the empowerment of their knowledge beyond school, or perhaps others as well, by representing their nations, schools, and families in a journey forward to demonstrate their talents.


On a final note…

Remember that quality matters more than quantity. It’s better to be deeply involved in a few activities than superficially involved in many.

Colleges and companies alike are looking for depth of commitment and real engagement, not just a long list of activities – and they are looking for the ability to express one’s decisions and commitments over the course of time, to seek out indications of a student’s future potential.

At the end of the day, success in life is not merely about academics, and a person can both be academically successful and develop a life that is accomplished in other ways.

Hope you enjoyed this piece!
Victor Tan, Founder of Ascendant Academy