are extracurricular activies important for college application?

Question

Here the thing. Right now I decent grades, but I have to work so hard to get them. That took me alot of time, and I don't have time to do extracurricular activities. I quit football in the fall b/c I was doing bad in my classes. I have few clubs, 2 or 3. I have job, and I belong to a youth orchestra outside the school. I am aiming for the nation's best colleges. Do you think this is enough?

Answer 1

Extracurricular activites tell colleges that you have the potential to be able to handle a broad base of education.

If you are in high school right now, colleges and scholarship committees are really interested in volunteer work. i e to your local Boys and Girls Club, church, community service project etc..

Answer 2

The nation's best colleges? I sincerely hope that your English and grammar are better in real life. I commend you for dropping football to try and bring your grades up. This shows the admissions counselor that your head is in the right game. College is a major change from living at home with "Mom and Dad." There will be many distractions. Showing that your head is in the game now will help to show your future intentions. Extra curricular activities also give a counselor a good picture of your character. Not everyone can be "The class president," but how much can you handle at any given time? The first semesters of college life can be very stressful. What you've done, should be enough. Call the admissions counselor at the school you intend to attend and ask. They should be happy to help. Best of luck!

Answer 3

Extracurricular activities are a very important factor on your resume. Think of it this way...to get into a good school, you'll be competing against other qualified applicants, many of whom will have devoted their summers to human rights work in Africa, or interned at NASA, or won the state track and field championship. The bottom line is, to get into a good school, everyone is qualified. So, you want to do something that will set you apart. That's where extracurricular activities come in. Do what you're interested in. Community service is a great thing to do. Also, if you have a job, it looks really impressive if you're able to work as well as keep your grades up. Sports are good, so is playing a musical instrument. You just want to be able to prove that you've been devoted to and become fairly good at at least one thing.

Answer 4

Colleges certainly do like to see students involved in their school and community. Of course, it is always important not to let outside activities become a hindrance to your performance in class. I've known of valedictorians with near-perfect test scores denied from Ivy League schools because of a lack of extracurriculars. I think what you have is good, you don't need to be involved in everything in order to impress admissions staff. One question though (two I guess) what do you mean by "decent grades" and "best colleges"? Are you talking Ivy League schools, because most won't even look at an applicant with lower than a 3.8-3.9 GPA, regardless of extracurriculars.

Answer 5

Pretty much, you only quite football...I believe you are in great shape. Unless you plan to play sports in college you shouldn't be concerned. Make sure that one of those clubs you belong to is a foreign language club and perhaps you may want to work on being inducted into the Beta club or the National Honorary Society. Good luck to you!

Answer 6

uhhh >.>;;;
how good are your grades and what would be "decent" to you? For one, clubs are an integral part of the application. The most the admissions officers see on your application, the more likely you will be admitted. They want to see more well rounded students who can balance academics with extra-cirriculuar. And let's face it, they want students who are active and actually have a life! So, with that said, I hope you look back on what you've done so far and see what else you need to do to make yourself look more competitive. Best of luck and I suggest correcting your grammar when you write your personal statement.

Answer 7

Here's the deal: sports are huge, however they aren't the only key. If you need to keep your grades up, try volunteering on the weekends. If you can volunteer and keep those grades up, yay.

Those 2-3 clubs are just fine. The volunteering/community service will also be impressive.

In all honesty, your grades are going to matter but not as much as your SAT/ACT score.

Good luck!

Answer 8

It sounds like you have made the right decision. According to the Princeton Review, what the top colleges look for is someone who is doing well in tough classes, and people might need to cut back their activities to achieve this. Good luck!

http://www.princetonreview.com/college/apply/articles/process/competition.asp

Answer 9

I never did any ECs and I still got into a perfectly good college with the highest scholarship they offered. Just get good grades and a good ACT/SAT score and you should be fine.

Answer 10

ya, i believe so. You still have been doing alot. And they will look into that.