Exploring Extracurricular Activities and Their Impact on College Admissions

Webinar Transcription

2024-02-06 – Exploring Extracurricular Activities and Their Impact on College Admissions

Hello, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisors webinar, “Exploring Extracurricular Activities and Their Impact on College Admissions.” To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’re first going to begin with a presentation, and then we’ll have an opportunity to answer your questions in a live Q& A. Before we get started with our presentation, let’s first meet our questions.

Panelists. Hi, everyone. My name is Anna Vande Velde. I’m really excited to be here with you tonight or this afternoon or whatever time it is wherever you are in the world. I’m a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor. I’ve been here a couple of years now. bit about my background. I did my undergrad at Carnegie Mellon, studied psychology there, ended up at Harvard law school where I graduated in 2021.

So I am now working in Pittsburgh as a nonprofit attorney. In addition to my work with CollegeAdvisor. Nice. Nice. Thank you so much for sharing more about your background. Um, and with that, we would like to get a sense of what grade you are in. So if you can click on the polls tab right on the right hand side and let us know what grade you’re in.

It allows us to find opportunities to speak directly to our audience that are with us live.

I’m going to give it a few more seconds.

Okay, cool. Okay. So Anna, as for right now, our audience is 50 percent are in the 11th grade. Followed by that, we have about 30 percent that are in the 9th grade and a good, actually, sorry, the numbers just shifted. We have 44 percent that are in the 11th grade, 36 percent that are in the 9th grade, and 9 percent that are in the 10th grade.

So 9th through 11th grade, students are represented live in our webinar. So with that, I will turn it over to you, Anna, to provide us some context into our presentation. Great, thank you, Lonnie, and thanks for sharing your grade with us. That is helpful as I think about how I frame some of this. Um, so taking a step back from extracurriculars, Um, some of you may know this, some of you may not.

A lot of the colleges you’re going to apply to, you’re going to submit all of your information on the same platform. Uh, most colleges except Common App, there’s others out there. Um, I just went with Common App, they’re all about the same. Uh, so on the Common App, there are seven main sections. That you will fill out all the information you put in these sections will go to all of the schools you’re applying to on the common app.

This saves you a lot of time. So you’re not having to enter things like your demographics, your parents information. 12 times if you’re applying in 12 different schools, you just, um, enter it on the common app. It goes to all the schools. So those sections, the first one is a profile section, which, you know, has your contact info, basic demographics.

They’ll ask about your family, um, so your parent or guardian occupation, their education level. They’re gonna ask you to just input your high school’s name, some info about where you go to school. There’s a section for testing, so S-A-T-A-C-T. Any language testing you might need to do. Um, check with the colleges you’re applying to.

A lot of schools switch to test optional, um, at the start of the pandemic, and a lot of them are. Still test optional. So just make sure you check into that. There’s also a section for writing, which is where your essays will go. Um, you’ll then self report your, the courses you’ve taken in school and the grades you’ve gotten.

Um, they are going to ask you to back that up with a real transcript at some point. So keep that in mind. And then there’s the activity section. That’s the section that we’re here to talk about tonight. So that’s where we’re going to focus. Most of our energy going forward. But I just wanted to put it in the context of how much information you’re sending to these schools.

I also wanted to take a moment to mention that schools, colleges are absolutely looking at your application in a holistic way. Um, so they’re, they’re considering everything you send them. They’re not looking at your activities more than your essays and, um, when surveyed, uh, admissions officers say that the 1 thing that is really important.

is grades. So they are going to look at, you know, what classes you’ve taken and how you’ve done in those classes because they want to set you up for success. They want to make sure that you are prepared for the academic rigor at their college. So we’re going to talk a lot about the importance of extracurriculars and getting involved.

And I want all the students I work with and everyone here to remember that, you know, how, how you are as a student. is also important. So I wouldn’t want you to dive into too many extracurriculars if it’s going to bring your grades down.

Okay. So to give you a sense of what the colleges are going to see about your extracurriculars, I pulled this straight from the common app. I screenshotted, copied and pasted it in. So you are allowed to enter up to 10 You do not have to enter all 10. Um, we recommend, you know, at least entering five or six.

Um, and this is information you’re going to give them for each. So the first is activity type. I’m going to get into that a little bit more. Um, on the next slide, then your position. Um, if you have a leadership role, like president or co host, something like that, I would put that in here. Then the organization name.

That’s self explanatory. And then a description of the activity. This is a very short space, you’re limited to 150 characters. So think resume lines. You do not need to use full sentences here. action words, organized, coordinated, be as specific as you can. Um, so the one on the screen here I think could be more specific.

It says organized and coordinated events for whole high school. Okay, well, if I was editing this, I might say how many events and how many people came, that sort of thing, the more specific you can be, the more you can highlight your involvement. This box is also a really good place to mention if you’ve won any awards, um, or received any recognition for your efforts, I would put that in there.

They’re also going to ask when you participated in these events. And each activity, please notice that they’re only asking about high school. So 9 through 12. And then just some questions about, you know, how, basically how big of a commitment it was. So was it during the school break, during the school year, all year long?

How many hours per week? How many weeks per year? I’ve had some students get a little stressed at this point. Um, especially, you know, if you’re a junior and you’ve been in a club for three years now, you may not have been tracking your hours. That is okay. It’s okay to estimate these. Just be reasonable in your estimates.

Um, and be honest. Yeah, just be honest. Um, so that’s what you’ll fill out about your activities in the activities section. I said I was going to say more about the types of extracurriculars you can put on this list. This, if you notice on the last slide, um, the first question activity type, that’s a drop down menu.

This is the list of things that come up in that drop down. It is long and it’s pretty exhaustive. So the real answer for what extracurriculars can you put on this list or talk about in your essays? Anything. It can be on or off your school campus, no type of activities more favored than others. Here they really are taking a holistic approach.

They just want to see that you are involved in your community, that you’re doing things that are meaningful to you. Um, That’s the key. If you’re joining a club, which I will admit I did, I joined every club of my school because I thought that’s what colleges wanted to see. Please don’t do that. Join the clubs that matter to you, where you’re interested, where you’re engaged.

Please also note that things There’s things on here that I think students don’t think about. So family responsibilities, if you are helping raise siblings or care for an elderly family member or, uh, a differently abled family member, you can put that on here. If you have a job, you can put that on here.

If you’re engaged in a religious community that can fit on here. I think the clearest way I can explain it is to say, Is anything you are doing that is additive, that is adding substance to your life, that’s not required of you by your school, can count. So I really encourage students to go very thoughtfully through how they spend their days.

and identify this. Oh, this is a requirement by my school. This isn’t, but I do it. So how could I maybe include it as an extracurricular?

Okay. So why is this list an important part of your application? Um, It gives a quick snapshot of, you know, your activities over the past four years by the time you get to the application stage, um, of who you are, of what your interests are outside of the classroom. It also gives colleges an idea of how you might come to their campus and contribute To the activities there, uh, because at the end of the day, what they’re really looking for when they’re reading through these applications is.

Are you someone they want on their campus? Are you someone who’s going to add to their culture, to their student body, um, in a meaningful way? It can also be a good way to show interest in your intended major, if you have an intended major. Not everyone does that. It’s okay. Um, but if you, if you’re pretty sure, you know what you want to study, highly recommend, um, that you join some clubs or find some sort of extracurricular activity where you can learn more about it and then demonstrate that interest.

So how do you choose what activities to participate in? I get this question a lot from students. And my first response will always be, what do you want to do? Like genuinely, what interests you? Whatever it is, follow that. If you are joining clubs thinking about how do I impress this college? How do I make myself look good?

You’re, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities to learn. Colleges are looking for students, for learners, for explorers. So go out, explore your interests, uh, be engaged in your community, and then that’s going to show through. In your application and particularly your activities list. As I said earlier, definitely if you know what major you want to study, I would get involved somehow.

And if you’re applying undecided, just show curiosity and exploration. Show that you are genuine about wanting to learn and figure out what you want to do. Also, honor your limits. Right, so we all have a bunch of things on our plate. Um, I don’t think it’s ever advisable for a student to sign up for more than they can reasonably handle.

Keeping in mind what I said earlier about the importance of grades.

Okay, thank you, Anna. So with that, we are going to take a short pause so that we can do our second poll for our webinar. So we would like to know, where are you currently in the college application process? So we know that our, um, participants currently are 9th through 11th grade, but believe it or not.

You know, the college application process starts sooner than the 12th grade year. Um, so let us know where you are at. Perhaps you haven’t started. Maybe you are researching your schools. Um, maybe you’re getting early to start on your essays or starting to think about what you want to write about. Um, let us know.

Okay. Alrighty. So I see the responses that are in. So we have about 18 percent that haven’t started yet. We have 75 percent that are currently in the research phase. So that’s the right, um, moment to be at is in the research phase. And then we have 8 percent that are Almost done. Um, and then we have another 7 percent that are working on their essays.

So with that, Anna, I’ll turn it back over to you. Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. Um, so next I want to talk about some tips for describing your extracurriculars in the best light possible. Um, I, I touched on this a bit earlier, but in the activity section, in that small box where you get 150 characters, um, you do not need to use full sentences.

Lead with action words like you would on a resume, so organized, led, hosted, uh, highlight any leadership that you’ve done, even if you don’t have a leadership title. So, you know, maybe in the box where it says, what was your role? You can’t list president, maybe you’re a general member, but have you led a committee?

Have you been instrumental in getting some event or some activity of that group off the ground? If yes, highlight that. Like I said earlier, be specific. So instead of saying I’ve hosted events, say I hosted weekly events or biannual events, whatever it is, be specific. And then I think the, maybe the hardest part based on what I’ve seen students do is to focus on what you’ve done, not what the club is or what the club is about.

So you do not need, You’re wasting an opportunity if you Use that, that little box to describe what Glee Club is or chess club. Um, they know what they want to see here is what you’ve done as a part of that club. Of course, there’s always clubs where it’s really not clear from the name. You might have to do a little bit of explaining if that’s the case, but as much as you can focus on what you’ve done, and don’t use a lot of that space to describe what the club does.

In your essays, in contrast, if you’re talking about an extracurricular activity in an essay,

put us in your shoes. Tell a story. Um, so maybe you’re telling the story of one day at, at glee club. What happened that day? Why was it meaningful to you? What did you learn? Uh. All of the things I mentioned earlier, like the number of events you’ve hosted, the words you’ve won, keep that in the activity section.

That’s where it’s good to list things like that, but in your essay, tell a story. I also want to point out, in your essays, Any activity you’ve done can be related back to your academic interest. So let’s say you’re really into music. You play an instrument and you want to study physics. Or math or something that seems completely unrelated on its face.

It’s not so if you’re asked in an essay to talk about an extracurricular and how it relates back to your intended major, or if you just want to get that that framing in there. Just take some time and think about it. What, what physics questions come up when you’re playing clarinet or what math is involved in reading music?

There are ways. to tie any activity you’ve done back to your academic interest. You might just need to take a step back and look at higher level themes like teamwork, um, or things like that to tie it back, but I promise, and there is a way.

Things to avoid. Um, so this is about writing about extracurriculars in your essays. Uh, so again, just like in that activity section and your essay, you also don’t want to spend a lot of time describing the club or the organization. Every sentence you write in an essay, the goal of that sentence should be to help the readers get to know you better.

So if you’re spending a lot of time describing what the club does, um, They’re not learning anything about you through that. Um, and the essays, while they’re longer than that to be section, they still have more limit again, listing things like accomplishments or awards. Keep that in the activities section.

And then I have a note here about negativity, unconstructive critique. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t write about something you didn’t enjoy or that you felt like you failed at initially. It’s okay to do that. And it’s really important to be thoughtful about the framing of it. So, you know, instead of saying, when I joined this club, it was a disaster.

There was an organization that sounds overly critical. On the other hand, if you say I joined this club, I was excited for this. I noticed X, Y, and Z. And I thought we could do things better. So here’s what I did. I spoke to the advisor. I spoke to the leaders. I made these suggestions. I helped implement these changes.

Or, you know, if it was something that you feel like you failed at, that you weren’t good at, what did you learn about yourself? How did you respond? Show like your thought process, how you approach things and frame yourself in a positive way. In response to something you thought needed improved or something you thought that you weren’t good at.

So, taking a step back and just thinking about activities in conjunction with other parts of the application. Um, again, this is a good place in the activities section to list accolades, honors, things like that to save space in your essays. It’s a good way for the application readers to get a quick overview of your interests.

Uh, admissions readers are really good and they don’t have a lot of time on their first pass through an application. So on their first pass, they’re spending, you know, five to seven minutes on what you submit. The activities list is a really quick and easy way for them to see, okay, here’s the sorts of things the student is interested in.

I highly suggest that you list things in the order of importance to you and your level of involvement. So, um, the first activity, first couple activities should be the ones that mean the most to you and where you’ve spent the most time. Um, I did see a question come in about what if. I have more than 10 activities.

Hooray! That’s awesome. I love that you are that engaged. On the activities list, there’s an absolute limit of 10. So pick the 10 that are the most important, that show the highest level of involvement from you. And then if there’s something else that just doesn’t fit on that list that you really want the application readers to know about, work it into one of your essays.

On the flip side, um, this, the activities list is a great place to highlight a unique interest you have that’s not covered anywhere else. So if your application is STEM heavy, you know, science and math everywhere, and the essays, um, and you also happen to be a theater kid, it’s a good place to, to throw that in so they can see, you know, the, the range of activities that you enjoy.

Some last pieces of advice. Um, start exploring now. I know we have some freshmen, sophomores here. Y’all are in a great position, um, to go out, explore, see what interests you. Juniors, same thing. Go out there, see what interests you and look at what you’re already involved in and see how you can get more involved.

Um, In the places that interest you, so you can show, you know, some examples of extended commitment, um, again, balance, uh, commitment with exploration. Um, so. You know, you probably don’t want to do, you don’t want everything on your activities list if you can help it to be something you’ve only done for one year.

Um, so if there’s something you’ve got involved in early and you stuck with it, that’s great. Uh, and it’s okay to show that you did a couple of things for just a year until you found your way to where your real interests are. Um, be creative. If there’s something that you really are interested in and your school doesn’t have a club for it and you can’t find anything in the community, um, brainstorm with a guidance counselor or CollegeAdvisor or someone about how you can create your own opportunities.

So sometimes students will find a teacher, an educator they really connect with and say like, Hey, I’m really interested in the Civil War. There’s no clubs. There’s no courses on it. Could I do maybe an independent research project? And you would you be willing to? Sort of guide me through that, um, that can count as an activity truly, truly, please take time to just reflect on what matters to you, what activities are meaningful and seek those out.

Follow your passions. I know extracurriculars can feel like a thing you have to do to get into college, but really the true goal of them is to help you learn what you want to do with your life, where you want to go, and to give you somewhere to connect with people, um, you like, and to have fun. So I know it’s stressful thinking about it in the context of college, or it can be, um, but I hope you’re able to remember at the end of the day, that This is about you following your passions.

And then I’ll say it one more time, honor your limits. We all have them. Um, so be thoughtful about what you sign up for. Make sure that you are able to still give the attention your school. To your school work that it needs. Um, and then go from there.

Okay. Well, thank you so much, Anna. That now is the end of the presentation part of the webinar. I hope you found this information helpful and remember that you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab. Now we’re going to move on to the live Q&A. I’ll read through the questions that you submitted in the Q& A tab, paste them into the public chat so that you can see them, and read them out loud before our panelist gives you an answer.

If your Q& A tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email and not the webinar landing page. Try logging out and logging back in through the link in your email. Okay, so we are going to go ahead and get started with our first question.

So earlier in your presentation, you spoke about the different aspects of the application. You provided some context. What is test optional? Yes, um, thank you for this question. And I apologize that I kind of threw that out there and then rushed on. Um, You have probably heard of SATs. or the A. C. T. S. Those are standardized tests that for a really long time pretty much all of the colleges required high school students who are applying to have taken these tests or one of them at least and to submit their grades to them their scores.

I mean, um, That has all kind of changed since 2020. Um, a lot of colleges have stopped requiring them, but I believe all or mostly all of them still allow you to submit those grades if you want to. Um, so my point that I’ve made earlier was just to Make sure you check with a lot of you said you’re in the research phase.

So when you’re researching schools, um, that’s something to look at. Are they requiring you to submit S. A. T. or A. C. T. scores? Is it optional? Um, and then the decision around, you know, how Which test you should take if you should submit your grades. Those are great conversations to have with your guidance counselor and or your CollegeAdvisor.

Thank you. Our next question is, um, someone would like to know what activities that you do in high school. Maybe you want to share about just, you know, the different extracurricular activities you were involved in. Yeah. Um, I, Did a lot of theater. I did a lot of like anything singing related. I was there.

So I was in a couple of choirs, um, I was in the band and then like, honestly, I joined. every club at my school. And I don’t think that did me any favors. Um, because one, you can only list 10. And the ones I listed were the ones that I had spent all this time on, the musical ones. Um, The science club that I went to once a month didn’t even make it on the list.

Um, and that’s good. Like, it’s good that I didn’t submit it because I wasn’t that passionate about it. So, uh, my passions were in the arts. Um, but I, I did fall into the trap of signing up for too many clubs. Um, thank you for sharing. This next question reads, Due to COVID, I wasn’t a part of any club during my first two years of high school, but now I’m a part of multiple clubs, honor societies, band, and community projects, community service projects.

Well, I still have a good chance of getting into a low acceptance college, like an Ivy school, even if I wasn’t able to participate in any clubs. So maybe kind of talking about that gap. Yeah. Thank you for that question. I really appreciate it. Um, yeah, colleges know that the pandemic happened. They are aware that everything shut down.

So I wouldn’t stress about that. And I would write about it somewhere. Um, I would put it in your personal statement, work it in there. Or, this changes each year. Um, but this past year there was a space where, um, students could submit anything, you know, additional that they wanted. The colleges to know, um, so that could have been a space to do that this past year.

We don’t know if that’ll be an option, but just get it in there somewhere. Um, and I think it’s a super understandable thing and that you’re doing everything you can to be involved now. And that’s. Like, they’re going to understand that.

Okay, our next question is, If I’m an athlete and play on a club outside of the school, does that count as an extracurricular activity? Yes. Um, yes. Anything you do, that’s not required of you to graduate high school counts as an extracurricular activity. If the question is about, like, maybe the student plays on their school’s team and a club team, then I think it’s up to you how you list that on your activities list.

If you, if you have more than 10 and you want, you know, to get more in, I think it’s okay to list, you know, the activity as soccer or whatever the sport is, and then put in the description that you are on multiple teams. I also think it’s okay to separate them out. Um, and to list, you know, the high school team as one activity and the club team as a second.

Okay, I agree. Absolutely agree with that. Um, how, let me see. Next question is

how to think of a self made little business impact or say about me and my application. Let me get back to that one. I’m going to reframe that question so I can make sure it gets answered. Um, but our next question is, do Ivy League schools want any, um, extracurriculars and like specific extracurriculars that Ivy League may be looking for?

Nope, they don’t. And if they did, we would all know about it and everyone would be trying to sign up for those plugs. Uh, they are not reading your applications, checking off like, Oh, yep. They did United nations. Yep. They did this. They’re not. They’re looking to see, were they involved? Were they engaged? Do I understand their story?

Do I understand what they’re passionate about? Do I think they’d be a good fit on campus? Um, so there’s no, there’s no right or wrong types of clubs to join for Ivy or for any type of college. Um, okay. So going back to the question previously asked and, um, for the person who wrote the question, if I don’t, um, frame it the way you intended, please let us know.

Um, but how do you kind of think about maybe like the impact that like maybe a small business that you created? Like, how do you kind of talk about that impact in yourself in your application? Yeah, um, I think that’s a really cool thing. Um, on the activities list, um, I maybe put it under work. Uh, and then I think something like that, because it is a bit unique, is a good candidate to write about in your essays.

Um, because in the essays, you’ll have room to really expand on not just what you did, but why. Why did you start a business and what impact Did it have for you? How’s how do you learn what you want to do? Uh, I would need to talk to the student obviously to to learn more, but that’s my first thought Yeah, okay.

Next question is i’m interested in going into the medical field I’m a part of a health science club since it’s related to my desired major Could I count this as an extracurricular? Um, I see the question too money and I I see how science class Um So yeah, health science class. I’m pointing that out because I think that distinction is important.

If it’s a class that you’re taking at your high school, I’m not listed as an extracurricular because they’re already going to see it on your transcript. And I’ve used the space for something else. Um, and even like, if it’s a class, At the local library, or somewhere that’s not going to be in the transcript, then yeah, absolutely.

Um, but if it will show up on your transcript, I would not put it on the extracurricular list. That said, if you learned something in that class that really, like, ignited a passion in you, Um, then write about that in an essay. I just wouldn’t put it on, on the extracurricular list, because they’re already going to see it on the transcript.

Right, right. Okay. All righty. So we’re gonna just take a short pause. Um, we’re going to continue with our questions and answers. So if there’s anything that comes to mind that you would like to ask our panelists, please feel free to place it in the Q&A tab as I share more about the work that we do within CollegeAdvisors.

So for those who are in the room who aren’t already working with us, we know how overwhelming the admission process can be. Thank you Our team of over 300 former admission officers and admission experts are ready to help you and your family navigate it in a one on one or in one on one advising sessions.

Take the next step in your college admission journey by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team. using the QR code on the screen. During this meeting, we’ll be able to talk about your current extracurricular lists and help you to start to think about a potential strategy for your applications and discuss how that aligns with your college lists and outline tools that you’ll need to stand out in this competitive admission world.

Okay, so that QR code will continue to be on our screen as we move forward with our last round of questions and answers. So my next question is, um, does it look bad if I only have, you know, a couple of activities versus having, you know, 10 activities listed on my application? I wouldn’t, I would, I would think more about the quality of your activities than the quantity.

Um, so going back to my own example, don’t join clubs just to join clubs and put them on the activities list. And I do think you want to list more than three club, three extracurriculars. Um, so find ways to get involved. Um, but don’t, I know this is like, this is easier said than done, right? But find ways to get involved.

Um, that aren’t overworking yourself. And. I would direct the student back to the slide I showed earlier with a drop down of all the types of activities that count. And really, like, look at what you do day to day, weekends, evenings, when you’re not in a class that you’re required to take, how are you spending your time?

Do you have a job? Do you have family responsibilities? Are you engaged in a religious organization? Uh, You might find more things that you’re doing than you initially think of, because they might not be like the, the class, the typical, um, extracurricular at school. Um, So

if you want to have more than two to three listed, you do not need to have 10, um, and focus on the things that you do include showing real quantity or real quality time spent on that activity. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Um, what if I speak about an activity in my essay? Should I still also listed in the activity section on the common app?

Good question. Um, in general, yes. So, um, you know, the, if you have 10, the 10 that are, the 10 activities that are most important to you should be on that extracurricular list. If you’re talking about it in an essay, that’s okay. The reason it’s not redundant is because you shouldn’t be saying the same thing about it in the activity section that you’re saying in the essays.

Um, so like I tried to, um, compare and contrast like what you would talk about in each section earlier in the other activities list. Um, let’s say you with soccer as an activity, um, In that description, you’re going to, you know, say any leadership positions you’ve had, any words you’ve won, um, like real basics like that on an essay.

You don’t need to, you don’t want all of those lists because that they’re in the activity section. You want to tell us what it was like playing soccer, what it was like being on the team, what did you learn about yourself? Um, so yeah, in general, you would put them in both places. The only time you wouldn’t is if you have more than 10 and you want to talk about something that doesn’t fit on your activities list.

You could, you could talk about it in an essay. Um, but general rule you would, you would have them both.

Okay, next question. Academic, academics is on the activities list. Could you provide examples? Have this, has this, uh, does this need to be related to the major you’re looking for? Yes. Um, I think of academics. on the extracurricular list, um, as things like if you, let’s say you take a class At the local library, or you, um, do sort of like an independent research project with a teacher’s guidance.

That’s how I think about academics. I wouldn’t list a class there. Um, does it need to be related to your intended major? No, um, it, it probably helps if it is, but if it’s not and you, you know, it was meaningful to you, I would, I would still include it for sure. Yeah. And then maybe this kind of connects to the, that question too.

Does summer programs at a college count as an activity? Yes. Um, that’s a great example, better than the ones I gave of something you can put under the academic category. Um, yeah, that absolutely counts. Um, the reason I, I hadn’t mentioned college classes is because if you’re taking a college class, you’re going to submit the transcript of that.

So then I don’t think you need it on the activities list, but yeah, if it’s like a summer program or camp at a college, absolutely, I would include that. Um, and what can I do if I have more than 10 activities? I. Find that I’ve, you know, everything that I’ve done has been really impactful and I want to showcase everything.

So what tips do you have? Yeah. Um, well, the first tip I have is, um, I think I mentioned it earlier. If you play a sport and you play it both at your school and. At a, like an outside organization. Um, maybe you combine them as one activity and just put in the description that it was with two different teams.

Um, that’s 1 way to condense it. Um, another, I mean, I think that’s the main way to condense it then if things still don’t fit, you still can’t get everything in. Um, I would just write about the ones that don’t fit. In an essay. If they were meaningful to you, I would not do it if if your intent is to show these is to show the colleges that you’ve done a bunch of clubs because that’s not what they’re looking for.

They’re looking for meaningful engagement. I’m only right about them in the essays. If they, if they’re really meaningful to you, and they just genuinely don’t fit. Great. Great. Okay. Well, with that, that was actually our. Final question. So thank you, Anna, for sharing more about exploring extracurricular activities.

I’m pretty sure our audience received some great information. Um, and with that, I do want to show the webinars that we have coming up for this month. So we have a good range of webinars that are ranging from, um, Advice on how to write your college essays, discussing ways to stand out in the college application process, learning more about SAT versus ACT and the whole test optional.

Um, and then also we have webinars, you know, towards the end of the month that are geared towards financial aid and scholarships. So we have a lot of webinars we’re offering this month. So we definitely look forward to seeing you in an upcoming webinar. So with that, thank you everyone. Have a great rest of your day and good night.

Thanks everyone. Bye.