Is the panic to join clubs/extracurriculars your freshman year really worth it? Do colleges even look at anything other than your grades? Does joining multiple clubs even help you stand out the slightest, or are you just a number? So many students start high school with the attitude that all their hard work and time will pay off when coming to college applications. But is that really true?
According to a recent poll conducted at Norwin High School, over 78 percent of students are involved in some sort of extracurricular activity. With that being said over 78 percent of students have received some sort of scholarship for their acceptance to schools.
Now, although grades tend to have a very important role on what colleges are looking for, the results from the poll show the same amount of students who are involved in extracurricular activities received a scholarship to at least one school they applied to. According to the University of South Florida, “extracurriculars break into the Top 4 of must-haves for an applicant, but they do not outweigh what you do in the classroom or how you perform on entrance exams.”
Students often worry about the amount of clubs they’re in, trying to make themselves more rounded overall, but many students are only involved in 1-2 clubs, who also received scholarships.
“It gives you something to do after school and to be a part of it keeps you busy along with building and shaping you as an individual throughout your high school years,” senior Damien Kapfer said.
Schools like to know that you’re interested in the field that you have chosen for your major, so instead of joining 10+ clubs, simply just join the ones that interest you the most.
“It looks good on college applications and it makes me feel good to be a part of something. Especially when I am part of a club that I enjoy what we do so much,” said senior Kali Walkosak as her reason for joining clubs is both for college and herself.
Not only do clubs and sports impress admissions, but also having a full or part-time job. According to BigFuture, “balancing work with high school studies shows that you have good time management skills and are excited about developing job skills early on. A job commitment also helps you learn the importance of teamwork, reliability, and work ethic.”
Now with this information don’t go running to get a job or to join a club, admissions advisors like to see commitment as it reflects on how committed you’ll be to their school.
Although many students may join a club or sport their senior year to pad/build up their resume according to U.S. News, “colleges want to see that applicants are committed to the extracurriculars they choose. One way to showcase commitment is through the length of your participation in an activity. The longer you have been involved in a pursuit, the better it will look on your resume.”
The same principle goes for sports and clubs, keep to one activity that you are devoted to. An activity that reflects what you want to do, or what you’re going to be interested in for the future.
Many students who were surveyed were found to receive around $10,000-$30,000 in scholarships to schools they applied for. Now maybe it isn’t all just from extracurriculars, GPA also plays a major role in the efforts to receive a scholarship as the average GPA for Norwin students is around 3.6-4.0.
So the real question is, how important is it to join extracurriculars? I would say joining extracurriculars is pretty beneficial to most, but don’t burn yourself out by joining too many. Keep it simple and sweet by choosing what truly interests you most and reflects you as a person.
