How to Write About Extracurriculars on College Applications

Submitting college applications is a crucial phase that everyone goes through. Choosing the right colleges to finally submit your application requires time and effort. Nowadays, colleges want more than just grades; they want to see what you genuinely care about, who you are as a person, your interests, and other extracurriculars you do. All of these factors define you as a person and help the colleges understand you better. Here are some ways you can add extracurriculars to college applications.

Choose What Matters Most

The most essential part is honesty and originality. You don’t need to list every club or event. Pick two to three activities that meant the most to you or where you had leadership roles. Add those activities you genuinely enjoyed being a part of or that truly impacted you in some ways. Always remember that quality matters over quantity.

Show Your Growth

Admissions officers love to see progress. Always try to portray your personal growth through your college applications. Enlist the extracurriculars that changed you as a person for the better. Did you start out shy and then become debate captain? Talk about how the activity helped you grow.

Be Specific

Avoid vague statements like “I enjoy helping people.” Instead, I used proper and honest statements like  “As a volunteer tutor, I helped three 6th graders improve their reading scores by one grade level.” Be specific in your applications but also portray the influence that you created even if it seems minor to you.

Link Your Goals

Try to connect your extracurriculars to your future. The extracurricular activities you do always reflect your personality and interests so try to show how that links to your career plans. If you’re applying for engineering, mention your robotics club. If you want to study medicine, talk about volunteering at a clinic. It is good to see activities that lead you to our fixed goals.

Reflections

Don’t just add or enlist what you did to explain what it meant to you and how it shaped you as a person. Colleges want to know what you learned from your experiences. Whether it was a good experience or a bad one, try to reflect and mention the takeaways that can help you in the future.