Extracurricular activities can be anything that takes up your free time outside of the classroom, but it is important to distinguish between productive hobbies and simple pastimes. Academic activities are based on a specific academic subject and include both clubs. Hobbies count as extracurricular activities on a CV, but only include hobbies related to the job you’re applying for. Independent projects and hobbies, such as running a blog, creating a YouTube channel, building a computer, or coding an app, can also count as extracurriculars.
School-sponsored extracurriculars are school-supervised programs based on an activity, goal, or purpose, and while not part of the regular curriculum, they can still be educational. Most high schools offer an array of these activities. Hobbies can be included in your college application if you’re dedicated to them.
Extracurricular activities include programming, learning new languages, athletics, student clubs, hobbies, interests, and volunteer work outside of school. However, it’s crucial to consider whether the hobby truly enjoys it and if it contributes to your career.
Extracurricular activities and hobbies play a key role in shaping a student’s career and improving critical thinking. While many people think that school sports and clubs are all that count as extracurricular activities, anything you do outside the classroom could be considered extracurricular. Activities like dance, cooking, and learning to code can also count as extracurriculars.
📹 The Extracurricular Activities that Top Colleges Do/Don’t Want to See
Today, we’ll be talking about how there is no list of the extracurricular activities that top colleges, like the Ivy League, want/don’t …
How do you list extracurriculars?
As early decision deadlines approach for universities like Vanderbilt, it is crucial for high school seniors to list and describe their extracurricular activities in order of importance. Highlight leadership, commitment, and impact, and provide depth over breadth. Avoid leaving anything out, give context, and don’t try to guess what the university wants to see. The Common Application asks for a holistic evaluation process that considers academic achievement, extracurricular accomplishments, and community service.
With over 510 student organizations on campus, Vanderbilt seeks students who can balance a rigorous academic experience with high levels of involvement on campus and in the Nashville community. In most cases, the propensity for active involvement is gauged through the extracurricular activities completed in high school.
What counts as extracurricular activities?
Extracurricular activities are activities that help students grow outside of school, such as sports, clubs, community service, arts, academic competitions, part-time jobs, and internships. Colleges want to learn about students’ interests and skills, so it’s important to choose activities that align with your true interests and goals. Colleges prefer committed and engaged individuals, and showing sustained interest in an extracurricular through multiple years of service shows seriousness about your pursuits outside the classroom.
When choosing extracurricular activities, consider whether you consider yourself a leader or a team player. Activities that overlap categories, such as being the captain of your soccer team, can fall under leadership and sports activities. Demonstrating leadership qualities in college applications isn’t just about being a class president or team captain; it can involve developing new ideas, taking the reins, and making things happen. For example, starting a recycling program or organizing a study group for college entrance exams can demonstrate leadership.
Can hobbies be an extracurricular?
Hobbies can be considered extracurricular activities if they are organized, part of a club or team, and take place regularly. However, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is not considered extracurricular. If you volunteer multiple times over an extended period, you should list those builds on your application. If you’re unsure if your hobby qualifies as an extracurricular activity, consult your high school guidance counselor. Travel is not considered an extracurricular activity unless it’s for a purpose, such as participating in a service project or taking classes at a school or language institute.
Do hobbies count as experience?
Hobbies and activities generally do not count as work experience, but they can be included in a resume if they are relevant to the job. Private hobbies are not particularly relevant to most jobs, except for team sports. Entry-level positions often require at least three years of experience. It is difficult to distinguish between internships, volunteering, and hobbies, as they are not considered work experience. To determine what counts as work experience, it is essential to understand what constitutes work experience and what does not.
What hobbies to put on a CV?
It is recommended that students include a variety of engaging and relevant hobbies and interests on their curriculum vitae. Some examples of suitable activities include community involvement, writing, blogging, language learning, photography, travel, sports, reading, and art. Such pastimes and pursuits can assist in demonstrating one’s abilities and background in a multitude of domains.
Is watching TV an extracurricular?
Extracurricular activities are not just for personal enjoyment but also involve concerted effort and personal development. Examples include starting an after-school movie club or developing video games on your own time. These activities are important for the top 250 colleges and universities, as they help stand out among academically-qualified students. Less competitive schools, like large public schools or state universities, often focus on quantitative data, like GPA and test scores, as they require less time on the admissions committee. Therefore, not all hobbies count as extracurriculars, and their importance is emphasized in these schools.
What is the best example of extra-curricular activities?
The club offers a plethora of extracurricular activities, including drama, jazz band, photography, choir, songwriting, rap, bagpipes band, ceramics, creative writing, literary magazine, costume design, animation, sculpture, ballet, and swing dance.
Should I put hobbies on my CV?
A functional curriculum vitae should include hobbies and interests that complement one’s skills and abilities, and highlight them if they are relevant to one’s prospective career. This allows the candidate to demonstrate their expertise or passion in a way that is relevant to the position for which they are applying.
Is it OK to put hobbies on CV?
Include hobbies and interests on a CV to make a difference in the job market. These hobbies can demonstrate your skills, teamwork, or technical abilities. If you’re a recent graduate or have limited
professional experience, include hobbies that showcase your personality traits or working styles. For example, playing a musical instrument shows dedication to practice and openness to learning. It’s important to highlight hobbies that demonstrate your skills and personality traits, even if you don’t have years of experience.
Is hobby like extracurricular?
A hobby is defined as an activity that an individual engages in for pleasure and that may span a significant portion of their lifetime, potentially extending to a lifetime. In contrast, an extracurricular activity is any pursuit engaged in outside of one’s academic studies. While there is considerable overlap between the two concepts, only a select few activities are typically considered hobbies.
Do extracurriculars go on a CV?
When incorporating extracurricular activities into your resume, it can enhance its strength by highlighting key skills relevant to the job you’re applying for. These skills can be hard or soft, and are specific to the job you’re applying for. The skills that hiring managers seek in candidates determine whether your resume will reach them. When applying for a job, your resume is entered into the applicant tracking system (ATS), acting as an internal search engine for the hiring manager.
📹 How to create IVY LEAGUE EXTRACURRICULARS in 5 minutes
The sole purpose of my channel is to equip you with the knowledge and understanding of the college admissions process so you …
Update: As you guys might see, the free application review service Calendly link isn’t currently active. We simply don’t have enough members in our team to conduct that many meetings so for now that will be down while we focus on our consulting clients I’m really really sorry for anyone who was trying to book a meeting and weren’t able to get a chance to get an application review, I’ll try and see what we can do to bring that back in the near future I hope you all understand 🙏
My life was a mess when I was 16 and dropped out at Melbourne Australia high school due to tiredness and stress. I’m 27 right now but I still believe in change, hit the gym. In a 4 bedroom house with my Mum who is over 60. Brother has his own 900k house with his wife no kids. Can’t see where my life is going, but change is possible but it will be a long term.
I’m a freshman and I’m perusal all I can to improve myself,it’s a bit hard because where I live there’s no ap classes and the only extracurricular we have is sports,which I would love to join but everyone is just really rude and harsh on beginners 😭I play 3 instruments,take part in every oratory contest(public speaking),do art and I’m at the top of my class but honestly I don’t think its impressive. Im planning to run for Student Council President when Im a senior,join the chess club,join debates and join more activities which I enjoy (like dancing,singing and more instruments^^) 😀 I feel really burnt out and i dont know how to catch the attention of the people when they look at my achievements and stuff.I tried to build my confidence by joining competitions but that only made it worse and ruined everything.Everything is biased and it feels like you have to be a certain age or race to win.However,This year I want to make a change!!:DD Im learning more pieces,getting more serious about studies and I’m working on improving my skills in other areas!!Im not gonna let my emotions and failures take me downn!!>:) I typed too much,sorry😭 I found this article informative and helpful,Thank you 🙂 *Consistency*,in my opinion,is one of the biggest and really important value that will help you be successful:DD
When I was smaller, I used to be praised for being talented and told I’d do great things, but over time, I guess I just let go of that. I’m in my junior year of high school, but I feel like I have nothing to my name. No credit. I guess I was always waiting for an opportunity to come to me to do extracurriculars or projects or volunteering. Now, everywhere I go, I get reminded of all the things I could have done but didn’t. It’s not just for the sake of college applications, but also for myself. I just really dont want to be a failure. I’m glad I found your article. Hope your website gets a lot, lot bigger.
consistency! hey man. I’m a freshman in high school and I’m really freaking out because this year I’ve joined several clubs and tried to explore what I wanna do in the future, but to be honest I don’t know. ppl have been saying that your application needs to follow a certain theme, and like u pointed out, you need to go deep into your passions. the problem is I don’t know what I’m passionate about, so I’m rlly struggling rn. any help would be appreciated <3
consistency! i’m thinking to apply to ivy league unis as an international student but only decided that a few weeks ago, not realising that i need a whole portfolio of extracurriculars as in my country it’s much different for uni applications. this article is really helpful into understanding what i really need to do to stand out in the applications
Consistency!! Currently entering my sophomore year, I want to get into Harvard, Columbia, or Yale to work in med school. Last year I didn’t earn full GPA credits because of English and I plan to make those up, I am also doing every AP/IB class possible to improve the GPA. I wondered if starting an out-of-school program for students would stand out in applications. If so, would advertising it online and building a platform to gain members be noteworthy?
Consistency! In your article, you mentioned having to start your own club that’s different from others. I’m about to enter high school and was thinking of starting an Entrepreneurs club (since I’m interested in business.) Do you think this would be a good club like you mentioned or is it more on the basic side and won’t “stand out” much? Thank you so much for the article!
Consistency! As im nearing the end of my junior year of highschool, ive noticed that most of ny extracurricular activities dont really align my dream job of an architect. Ive been apart of many nonprofit organizations, making graohic designs, starting my own magazine club, about to release my blog, a digital artist, apart of dance, track and feild, camp olyimpa, a camp councilor, many more, and stuco president. Im not sure how to translate these when i start writing UC essays. Im asking for guidance about how to make some sort of relation to architecture or a skill. Anything is appreciated!
Consistency! I am a junior in high school and I currently am homeschooled and take dual enrollment classes. I really don’t know how I would do extracurriculars like that. An example is that I played on the varsity soccer team last year and I never got it put down as an extracurricular because I simply had no idea how and no one to help. If anyone knows what I should do and how I should go about taking extracurriculars, I would really appreciate it(also, if you have some suggestions for which one’s are best). Thank you!
Consistency. Hey can you react to my future roadmap for getting into Ivy leagues? (this is not complete and things will keep getting added but this is what came to mind after perusal ur article) Future Roadmap •Crush MUN in 10th grade (win some awards) •Go for EB (executive board)for MUN later on •Do some sort of volunteer work in 10th or 11th grade •Join football school team in 10th •get ‘street cred’ with juniors in school for 12th grade School headboy(head of student council) •keep doing extracurriculars that school provides and try winning stuff What can I add to this? I’m currently in 9th grade and I have already won some little awards here and there and do pretty decent academically ( A consistent 87-90% in all exams as an aggregate, I do top some exams but the others just bring me down Istg)
Could you rate my ecs going into junior year not for an ivy but for a modest college like UNC or NC State: Upcoming junior – 4.6+ gpa, 3.9uw – Secretary/Upcoming President of PreDental Club – Envirothon Member – Plan to Create Geography Club – Secretary of Adobe Club – 1yr: Deca/Tsa – VP of a NonProfit (These are only in school) I would appreciate it a ton 🙂
Consistency! I’m an international student applying from Bangladesh. I finished my junior year in America as an exchange student with a full funded scholarship from the Department of state. (One of 700 recipients globally amongst 68k applicant pool). How should I best frame it to add value to my application?
Hey bro! Hardworking student frm india. Really wanna join Harvard. Already about to join a college for my freshman year PG at india itself. But I wanna join MBA at Harvard business school. How do I get started, and as an Indian foreign applicant, how do I make sure I beat my competition? Im gonna join there in 4 years of time, what’s the things I gotta make sure I’m doing properly and also can u pls hook me some links to get started? For context I’ve done extremely well till grade 10. Grade 11 and 12 ruined cuz of pandemic, I’m in my gap year preparing for exams here and done really well, I’m getting back in form as before, but wanna make sure I do the right things for the next 4 years, I’m really interested jn building my own startup
The best way to apply in theseuniversities is CONSISTENCY, so i wanna ask u, is making different applications which are helping people in different ways the greate argument for them to accept my application? Because not every app with zero downloads is a peace of shit only for the sake of putting on an application, can i prove them that it’s useful for someone ?
I’m currently sitting with 3.9 uw gpa, act and sat scores in pending, 108 hours of community service, eagle scout, leadership position in student council, mu alpha theta, tennis team member, cross country team member, and am involved with many jrotc extracurricular events. the school that I want to mainly go to and am shooting for is stanford, what are some opinions of my lay out? mind you my hs only offers one ap class and mainly offers de classes for rigor so I have not taken any ap classes or ap tests yet…
i am a 17 years old with a messed up life no freinds no carer aspirations i dont know what the hell i ll be doing 5 yrs down the line i am in my last year of high school barely living through it with the pressure to get into prestigious uni is killing me all i want to do is lie down on beach and hear the waves all alone and yes i open to advices so y’ll can drop it down here👇
Consistency- Hi! Love your articles.I’m finishing up 9th grade with 7 clubs which led me to 4 officer positions next year, 2 school sports and 1 outside sport, 100+ community service hours still maintaining a good gpa. I just need a bit of guidance still for these upcoming years would I be able to email you?
tysm for this vid, it makes me feel better about how my extracurriculars aren’t the most out-there but i have been doing them consistently 🙂 on another note, can someone please review my stats below and lmk if i have any possibility of getting into a hard school 😭 – gpa: unweighted = 3.77, weighted = 4.2 – ap classes: ap lang. junior year (a+ and a 4 on the ap exam), ap psych. this upcoming year – grades: straight a’s junior year, one b+ sophomore year, one b+ freshman year – honors classes: all subjects possible except for math (but doing calc. senior year) – activities: show choir (2 groups, one for 4 years, one for 3 years, spirit leader junior year for 4 year group, vp for this upcoming year for 4 year group, received spirit award sophomore year), music honor society (was treasurer junior year), orchestra assistant (sophomore year), multiple plays + musicals, formerly played violin (3rd – freshman year) – summer: camp counselor for many years, babysitting (recent) – awards: spirit award (show choir, mentioned earlier), excellence in theatre (sophomore year), excellence in psychology (junior year)
GPA of 3.76 as a high school diploma (94/100 | Italian hs graduation), a general GPA for the 5 years of high school of around 3.5, competitive karate for 11 years, participation in the Italian karate championships for 2 years without winning, however, participation in a 1-week Erasmus in Portugal, 1 language internship of 1 week in Dublin, participation in a Hackaton in which I and my group came 3rd in the ranking, PET language certifications with an overall score of 163/170 and FIRST with an overall score of 179/190. Do you think that’s enough activity? I’m an international student from Italy, my dream is to go to ivy leagues.
Man i am in turkey for my first three years of highschool(will be in Usa for Senior year)My highschool doesnt have any clubs (literally) so i dont have any extracurricular activity i can do easy way and i am just lost because even if i do play sports even if i do internships at summer and work a regular job when studying i just feel like it wouldnt be enough for an Ivy League
Consistency. I am going into 8th grade and find myself obsessing over college, extracurriculars, AP classes and more. On one hand I think it’s great to try and achieve my goal of getting into brown, but I think I’m becoming overly nervous about the college admissions process. I feel like my age is the age from which springs the extracurricular activities and passions that one might stick with through highschool and into college. I’m just not there yet. I’m scared of being a failure. I’m scared I’m doing too little. I’m obsessive, and I can’t seem to stop myself. Any tips would be appreciated.
i’m currently a junior in highschool, and so far i don’t have that many clubs and volunteering under my belt. however, the few thing i do i am really delved into. for example, i’m big into stem, so i take the hardest math and science courses my school offers as well as being the secretary of my schools chemistry club for two years (president for the following year). i also love music so i write and record songs, participate in choirs on the state, regional, and national levels, participate in musical theater, and im going to start a podcast hgihlighting people in my community that make an impact, with a focus on academics, musicians, and small businesses. i don’t do very many things, but the few things i do i’m consistent with and have been doing for a while. i hope this can help any upcoming freshmen who want to figure out things to do!!
Thank you for making this article! I’m a sophomore… in college. I got into the school I hoped for (not an ivy league) but I was originally waitlisted. I didn’t try that much in high school, and it made me realize that I can’t continue the habits I previously had when I was in college. I’ve grown exponentially so far, but I feel like I’m at a plateau. I’ve been perusal these articles and they’ve been beyond helpful in suggesting what I can do more to further my experience. It not only applies to high school students, but also us college students too!
Consistency! Rising senior here! Wish me luck on my applications! I’m mainly worried about my essays but that’s why I’ve already started writing them! That’s my biggest advice to any freshman here. Start thinking where you wanna be early, but don’t feel pressured to force yourself into certain extracurriculars. Do what makes you happy and that you are passionate about!!!
consistency! i’m a rising senior and while i feel fairly confident in my extracurriculars, i’m a little bit more worried about my essays just based on choosing what to talk about. what would your biggest tips for essays be other than just making it personal, and what are some of the biggest mistakes people make in their essays?
Consistency. I’m a Freshman (I guess?) in an international school and I’m about to do IB. I have started a philosophy society in school with 25 ppl and more than 30 waitlisting members, launched an elderly home volunteering project for the homes in our district, launched an Orbis team in our school and do MUN (I chair and delegate). But I feel like everyone else is just trying harder and doing better, but I guess it’s just a sign for me to work harder too. Anyways, the article was super good, thanks for the advice and new perspective!
CONSISTENCY- great article bro, I really appreciated your advice. rising junior, I get pretty good grades (4.25), but I’m trying to find ways to stand out academically, because I’m in a semi average track right now. (Algebra 2 as a sophomore, AP Euro, Biology, I go to a Christian private school.) How can I stand out more academically?
Hi i seriously seriously need help! I hv been perusal alot of articles of stats of other accepted dental students I even scheduled a consultation with an counsellor but they cancelled last min and im from middle east so people here are not that experienced with applying to us so i cant ask anyone for help Please tell me what type of extracurriculars,volunteering,awards and sports i should focus on for being accepted into DENTAL SCHOOL Im only starting undergard later this month and i wud be very busy since its medicine sorta degree so i want to hv an idea abt this during free time before college starts My top choices are michigan and illinois one,uscla,uni of San Francisco Any suggestions wud be helpfull❤❤
Yeah I currently have no ECs, but I have a plan set in place to get some: – In band, section leader(next year I am guaranteed) and varsity tenor sax player currently, I just have to make a region band/be an area/state qualifier or make region jazz band/be an area/state jazz qualifier next september – Just stack up on volunteer hours(I only have 12) – Starting a club with a friend to help people find volunteer hours in different fields(law, medicine, computer science, business, etc) – Engineering Design Club at my school that I’m joining – Planning to pursue filing a patent idea thats a computer accessory(not exactly 100% planned out yet) – Already have one law internship and one cs internship lined up for next year, I can bridge the gap between the two – Playing golf, but it’s currently a hobby. If I get a job at a local golf club or if I start playing tournaments that could mean something – I can just code some project – Planning to apply to multiple cs summer camps across different colleges and maybe jump into some youth organization from there – NSHSS, not in NHS currently but I will be next year So if I follow this plan my ECs will at least be alright, and I’m fine with that. Any suggestions would be nice.
Hey I have a question, so for my Extracurriculars I’m a builder for vex robotics, founder and President of Women in Stem club, Ambassador for WiSTEM(international organization), and other STEM EC’s. Do you think my EC’s are to focused on Stem and I should expand to other fields? Because I’m not too sure😭
consistency! as a student athlete, ive started a non profit six months ago that is focused on spreading mental health awareness in sports and for other student athletes. we currently have about 250 followers, but im also looking to enhance my other extra curriculars over the summer. im interested in studying politics and international relations in university, do you have any tips on how i can expand my ecas to get a better chance at us applications? (international student btw!)
Hey there i hope you read this !!! I am currently a junior in highschool and been really stuggling with the college admissions processes, i just wanted to share a little bit of my back story so i am an Indian ( Asian ) and ik most of the people don’t know this but the way we are taught in our school here in india is really different than any other aisan country’s school (to mention not all the school are the same but most of the indian schools which are not in metropolitan cities are the same) in our schools and even at homes we were never ever introduced to what were extracurriculars, never had the opportunity to do any sports, never knew what admission process looks like and even today most of the indian students are told just to pass certain exam and they will directly be provided a university according to how much they got like we never knew anything other than studies but i don’t wanna do all of this i want to go this way getting into ivy league uni, coming out of my comfort zone and actually proving myself that my career means more than an EXAM and get to know the real world …. This is really terrifying how i only got to know about the fact that we could go out to study and make our careers and now when i look back at my own position i find myself miserably failing to even follow the path that I’ve chosen late but right 🙁 I don’t know what to do now looking for some HELP HERE 🙂
Well there’s no such thing as clubs in my school. I’ve been doing percussions since last 6 years and have participated In national level competition as well. Other than this I have a internship experience. What else can I do to get into a good university? Should I do more internships? Because I still have a year left before applying.
I know this may be a little late to comment, but I am a freshman and I joined investment club have a good GPA, did 30 hours of volunteering this year, and on the lacrosse team, what should I do to maximize my potential, like should I make a lacrosse league for younger kids or what. I need guidance but this article was reassuring. CONSISTENCY
My issue is not that I do too many extracurriculars for my resume, but that they all seem interesting to me and it’s difficult to let go. I’m going to be a junior next year and even though this year was super hectic for me and I tried decluttering my schedule for next year, it seems I will have even more to do.
I am already in senior year of High school . Will doing this help me? I played badminton until junior year now due to a shoulder injury i don’t. But i do play the piano and do classical dance and i do paint write poems and short stories and also have joined a lot of clubs over my middle school and now in high school.
Consistency. I run a club with a specific focus on raising money for childhood cancer but I want to also do something that correlates with my intended major, engineering. I will probably not do computer science but more toward mechanical engineering. What are some ideas or things I could create and do that shows my interest in that field?
Conistency! And I have a question: I’m going to be a sophomore after the summer ends- I had to move from Florida to New York in the middle of freshman year. So now I have to start all over when it comes to rising up the chain and perfecting my craft. Do you think since I’m starting in sophomore year, I’m too screwed to get into a top tier school?
I am currently 15, and getting into the Ivys has always seemed like a bridge too far to cross, I always find myself wondering what I should do in high school to make an impact and right now I am stuck between many small extracurricular to boost my application and one big passion project with a minimal chance of success, I always am unsure on what I should do. Whether I should commit to my passion project and maybe be late to some of the other extracurriculars or should I go heat first into my passion project, love the content and any input would help.
My english marks aren’t very good and my communication skills aren’t very good. I have time to improve it but I think if this continues it can limit many of my opportunities, not just in university applications. Last semester in my English class I found myself relying on ai, chatgpt and googling for my essays instead of being creative myself, coming up with my own ideas and just writing myself. I also found myself during presentations constantly needing to look at a script I made while others only need points and some can present without any points to look at. Do you have any ideas to help me to improve my writing skills and presentational skills, because I have no idea how other people are so good.
Consistency. I want to be a lawyer when I grow up, so for that reason I have my resume oriented toward that ambition. I am a 2 time debate district champion, an attorney on mock trial, student council, model UN and a few other non lawyer related clubs. What you said that stood out to me was differentiation, and I just thought of a college essay idea that I feel would differentiate me, entertain those reading the essay, whilst showcasing my talents. What if I show the setting of a court case, where I am the defendant and acted as the lawyer as well in the trial? I feel like telling a story about that would be a banger story, especially if I win the case. But then again I think it would be disrespectful to break the law for a college essay. But another idea, what if I tell the story of a court case that I’m in and I phrase it like a real case, but at the end I can say it was a mock trial case, which also makes the essay entertaining while showcasing my skills to be a lawyer. What do you think? Also what clubs do you think I can start which shows “lawyer” on my resume?