While academics are often the star of the show for students during their high school career, admissions offices also use the activities section to separate students who simply look good in the classroom from students who can turn theory into practice outside of it.
Whether on the court, in the lab, or behind the mic, as seniors are putting together their activities section it’s important to understand exactly what admission offices are looking for as students try to describe their high school activities in just 150 short characters.
Galin’s Guide to The Activities Section:
Who:
When starting to describe the activities that any student has focused on during their high school career, they should always remember that anyone reading their list does not know their story and therefore will need crystal clear descriptions. Those descriptions start with who you did your activity for; was it the National Honors Society, the Anime Club, the Varsity Lacrosse Team? Whether the organization who you served is widely known or just exists at your high school, students need to make sure that the description of their club and the role they played in their club is crystal clear & reflects the impact they made.
What:
In order to accurately reflect the impact you’ve made in each of your roles you need to make sure that your descriptions of what you’ve done are accurate, concise, and the impact you’ve had is easily identifiable. Remember, now is not the time to be modest. If you raised the most money in school history during the annual bake sale, now is the time to say it and list exactly what that amount was. If you significantly contributed to cutting edge research in your local college’s lab and will be listed on a coming publication, now is the time to be clear about just how magnificent you are.
When:
Finally, be clear on just how long you’ve been engaged in all of your activities. Colleges and universities want to know that you’ve spent the last 3 years working hard to go from a junior varsity, to varsity, and finally to the role of Captain. You’ve worked hard and the admissions offices want to know about it. But, colleges only want to know about your high school activities – middle school does not count and will not positively affect the quality of your activities list.
By following these simple, yet effective, three guidelines any senior will be well on their way to crafting a clear, concise, and impressive activities list. And for our underclassmen, remember that impressive activities don’t appear out of thin air during your senior year. The non profits you could start, the research labs you could join, and the businesses you could form all begin years before you have the chance to brag about them in your application.
This is why it’s important to gain guidance and support in crafting an impressive activities list far in advance of senior year. And Galin Education’s team of college counselors are the perfect support system to identify the ways to take your activities from mundane to stand out.
