Prepare to sign up for leadership activities this school year.

Be a leader in a few extracurricular activities this coming school year – lead a team, be an officer in a club or organization, start your own project, or run for a class office.  Demonstrate initiative, commitment, creativity and leadership.  College admission officers love students with leadership skills and determination; listing such activities on your college applications will be very impressive.  Be sure to participate in the activities you sign up for – people writing letters of recommendation must  know you’re participating and not just signing up to make your college applications look good.

Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities should be things you are passionate about and involved with for years (ideally since your freshman year in high school).  Colleges don’t really care what your activities are, just as long as there is in-depth, long-term involvement.  Because college admission officers prefer students with long-term commitment to their activities, they look for students who work their way up into leadership roles.  If you are involved in an activity you are passionate about for years, the expected progression is to go from simple participation to leadership.  Being a leader is very appealing to admission officers because colleges need leaders in every field of interest.

College admissions officers they try to build college communities with students who have varied interests.  Nothing would be more boring than to have a campus filled with students who earned a 4.6 high school GPA and perfect SAT scores, and whose only interest in college is to study 100% of the time.  Colleges want a student body filled with variety and diversity to make their campus come alive with interest and excitement.  Therefore, clearly demonstrate your passionate involvement in activities on your college and university applications.  The schools you are applying to just may be looking for a student with your special interests.