Extracurricular Activities for College- Not Just for Kids
All day every day, I answer this sort of question: what are the “best” extracurricular activities for college? It’s an important issue. A student’s involvement outside of school is critical in many ways–not just as a strategy for getting into college.
These activities are expressions of our personality, our talents, and of our priorities in life. Sure, school is important, but so are a great many other things in life.
As adults, some of us define ourselves by our professions. However, many more of us may define ourselves by our other involvements in our communities. All of us have interests and talents that extend beyond our careers. And sometimes these involvements take considerable amounts of our time. And energy.
These investments in time and energy can bring us a lot of joy and satisfaction. They can also make significant contributions to the communities in which we live.
But are extracurricular activities for college only? Are only high school students engaged in such activities?
Hardly. Everyone can do them!
Parents: What Are Your Extracurricular Activities?
I get calls from parents complaining that their kids do not engage enough in extracurricular activities. They know that these extracurricular activities for college applications are important. But sometimes I wonder what parents are doing to model the sorts of behaviors they want their kids to adopt. Are the parents, for example, highly engaged in activities that bring them joy and contribute to their communities? Or are they binge-watching Netflix every night or sitting on the couch staring at their phone?
My own parents modeled how to get involved. My dad played his trombone in an amateur orchestra and had rehearsals every week (at 87, he is still playing in a band!). He also climbed mountains, organized our family camping trips, and once worked with some local churches to bring the Duke Ellington orchestra to Denver to play his Concert of Sacred Music. My mom volunteered countless hours as a docent and educator at the Denver Art Museum.
While they were focused on raising three kids, they also found time to do things for themselves and for others. Their involvement was demonstrated to my brother and sister and me. Both the importance and the joys of engaging outside the family unit and outside their professions. We, then, found it completely natural and to do the same.
Teachers and School Counselors: What Are Their Extracurricular Activities?
Students, you might very well wonder what the adults at your school do in their free time (or maybe you don’t). But educators are people, too (surprise!). I know teachers who play instruments, who volunteer their time to construct sets for community theater productions, and who devote tons of time to their professional associations. Engage in local politics, and play professional lacrosse (it turns out that professional lacrosse doesn’t pay very well, so this guy teaches as a way to help him do what he loves even more than teaching).
Ask your teachers and counselors about their lives outside of school. Share what you are doing, but ask them. Do they knit? Do they volunteer at the local animal shelter? Does they have a huge vegetable garden filled with dozens of varieties of tomatoes? Does they go birding with the local Audubon Society? Are they in a summer volleyball league?
The point is that extracurricular activities should be a pleasure, not a burden. Adults do not do these things solely so that they can achieve some sort of objective. They do not do it in order to achieve some sort of reward (though sometimes that happens when someone makes a significant contribution). Rather, these involvements are expressions of their priorities, their interests, and their personalities. If you really want to get to know your teacher and school counselors, ask them what they do for fun!
College Admissions Officers: What Are Their Extracurricular Activities?
Can you imagine? The very people who will judge your applications to college are themselves likely involved in some sort of extracurricular activity. There are extracurricular activities for college applications, to be sure, and college admissions offices are going to be looking for them. But they have their hobbies and pastimes, too. You may or may not want to ask these folks what they do, but you can bet that they have interests outside of their job.
I mean, do you really think that the sole reason these people exist is to torture you? Many college admissions officers love their jobs. But most of them love the other things they do in life even more. I know college admissions officers who are athletes and musicians. I know one who raises dogs and trains them to be companion animals for the blind and deaf. Another is deeply involved in party politics as an organizer.
So You Want to Go to the Ivy League. What Extracurriculars Activities for College are Required?
The short answer is this: anything you love and enjoy. There is nothing “required”. There is no fixed list of activities that will get you into the Ivy League or similar highly selective colleges and universities. However, I can share with you some of the activities that my friends who are Ivy League graduates are now engaged in–many years after they graduated not only from high school but far beyond. One guy I know is an accomplished retired attorney–now in his 80s–who has written a couple of spy novels and is also a fantastic jazz pianist.
My former college roommate takes awesome photographs of funny things he sees in New York City, where he lives. He also took up running a decade or more out of college and has run dozens of marathons. Another loves participating in historical reenactments of famous Revolutionary War battles. He is a ski instructor who trains 10-year-olds to become racers. Another has dedicated a ton of time to the Special Olympics in her community.
If you want to go to the Ivy League, you have to find a way to get engaged–and stick with it. Find something that interests you and run with it…as far as you can. However, don’t think that you’ll necessarily do this thing for the rest of your life. While my dad has played the trombone since he was about 12 years old. He has had other interests that have come and gone (he and my mom used to be wonderful square dancers, but that ended entirely when my mom developed Alzheimer’s, and now my dad focuses other interests like birding and opera).
I used to play the trombone in high school (and landed a slot in the All-State orchestra). But I dropped it in college in favor of a cappella music and acting). One of my former Ivy League students was an outstanding percussionist, but now he spends way more time backpacking in the wilderness than he does sitting in a rehearsal hall.
What matters is not what you do–but how much and how well you do it.
Educational Consultants: What Are Their Extracurricular Activities?
One thing I am most proud of here at Great College Advice is that I have an interesting, engaged, and curious group of colleagues. Each one of us has an abiding interest in providing the greatest college advice possible to our student and their families. But that is not all that interests us. We do stuff. We are involved. So let’s have a look: what does the team at Great College Advice do when they are not dispensing that great college advice?
The Quilter
Karen majored in East Asian Studies at Stanford and then got her Master’s in International Relations. She has worked in education for most of her career in a wide variety of roles. However, most people don’t know that she is an accomplished quilter. Not only does she painstakingly design and stitch her own creations, but she is a master at restoring old and damaged heirloom quilts.
She has made special quilts for family members, and sometimes she receives commissions from folks who appreciate her artistry and want one of her handmade masterpieces. One of her quilts (shown here) has more than 4500 individual pieces sewn together. Would it surprise you to learn that Karen is the master of details on our team?
The Political Activist
Andrea majored in Russian Studies in college, so all that is happening in Ukraine today is of keen interest to her: we went to school during the existence of the Soviet Union, and “mutually assured destruction” (or MAD) was the common understanding of what nuclear war might mean. More recently, Andrea’s time and attention have turned to local and state politics.
She has put her communications and organizational skills to work to lobby for issues and candidates she thinks will be best suited to contribute to our democracy. She has taken to heart that our democracy depends on our active participation. One of our core national beliefs is that we can always make our country better, and Andrea finds ways to do that every day.
The Skier
Pam graduated from Dartmouth and then moved to Colorado to be a ski bum (she was gainfully employed, but she had an interest that took precedence over her passion for powder). She worked in the mountains for a few years before eventually becoming a teacher. She and her husband met on the slopes! 
Now she and her family ski as often as they can–though she admits that she skied less while her kids were in high school–because she spent time ensuring they could pursue their own interests, too. As her youngest heads off to college soon, this may mean that Pam and her husband will be headed up the road every winter weekend to chase the snow!
The King of Side Hustles
James, our Executive Assistant, works several jobs. One of his abiding interests is stand-up comedy, so he often works weekends at the local comedy club so he can catch the country’s best comedians as they come through Denver. James is also interested in health, and he has developed a line of matcha-based powdered drink mixes, a business he hopes will become a lucrative side-line. He also reads like a fiend, and in our weekly meetings, he usually makes another recommendation that the rest of the team adds to their own reading lists. Having grown up in Illinois and attended college, James has not yet learned to ski. But Pam may get him on the slopes yet!
The Chorister
Since graduating from college, I have sung in a classical choir in Washington, DC, started an a cappella group at my graduate school, performed in plays and musicals in Hong Kong (where I eventually chaired the board of the American Community Theatre), sang in an award-winning barbershop chorus, and now sing with a community chorus that performs four times a year. I also perform in an annual variety show (this year I make an appearance as the coronavirus). I also ski about 20 days a year and hike the Colorado Rockies as often as I can in the summer. Moreover, I volunteer my time as a member of the board of Full Circle of Leadville.
Extracurricular Activities for Grown Ups
The point of all this is to demonstrate that one’s involvements and interests enrich our lives. They serve as a focal point. We enjoy doing them.
Not only do these engagements make our lives full, but they bring us into contact with others who share those interests. This is often the way we make friends or even meet our spouses!
Extracurriculars for college are important for that once-in-a-lifetime transition from high school to college. However, they are important to us well beyond that brief moment in our human existence.
We should all be involved in our world in whatever ways suit us best. So get out there and do fun stuff!
