𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲

 

What does the perfect extracurricular resume look like?  

Four years of research at successively more prestigious institutions? Robotics championship? Deep commitment to one area of mastery? National titles? Patents? Publishing a book?  

Eh, maybe.  

As an admission officer at Vanderbilt, I was often asked “what do you all want to see?” I know the question was asked earnestly because of how competitive admissions is, but my honest response was “I dunno, what do you do? Do that and then tell us about it.”  

AOs don’t want to see one particular thing from the hundreds of thousands of high school students who apply to college each year. How would that even work?  

Instead, I want to share with you a balanced approach that our team uses with our students to approach extracurriculars in a way that leads with learning and fun while also leaving room for as much depth as you care for. It’s our three pillars of a balanced EC resume.  

School-based engagement, something altruistic, and something independent or creative.

𝟭) 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁  

This is where just about everyone should start.

Pretty much every high school has clubs, organizations, and teams you can engage with. Probably starting in 9th grade you’ll engage with your school in some meaningful way that is of interest to you. Maybe that’s the chess club, orchestra, ski team, theatre, or debate.  

School-based engagement is a great way to make friends, try something new, and develop your interests. From an admissions perspective, it shows engagement with a school community. Remember, colleges aren’t just classrooms and labs for 18-22 year olds. In many cases they are living and learning communities that prioritize social and academic aspects in balance.  

I call this engaging within the four walls of your high school. It’s good for you and demonstrates to colleges that you might be an active community member.  

That being said, I’ve written plenty that there is a ceiling to the engagement within the four walls of your high school. For your own learning and admissions chances, you should move beyond that into the next two pillars. 

𝟮) 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰  

As mentioned above, colleges aren’t just classes and labs, and students aren’t just students. They are community members of their school, their classes, their teams, their cities, their states… and members of a community take care of each other.

So, the next pillar of a balanced EC resume is to do something for someone else. Something altruistic. 

Now, there are levels to this.  

There’s baseline volunteering which is a great way to start. Maybe that’s through a community organization, place of worship, or local non-profit. If you’re looking to deepen your engagement, check out my post on how to turn volunteering into a standout EC.  

Just like with the ceiling on school engagement in admissions, there can be a ceiling to altruistic engagement within the confines of a well-defined volunteer-type role. Part of that is addressed by the third pillar, but you might also look for ways to engage more deeply with the organizations you already have a relationship with.  

Finally, here’s the big one.

𝟯) 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁  

Now, I want to make sure people understand the scope of what “counts” in admissions.  

The long and short of it is, if you do something interesting to you outside of the classroom, it’s fair game in your college applications.  

Now, I say creative or independent. Anything that stretches and challenges your brain could fit in this category. If you are tempted to comment and ask if your thing counts, I can go ahead and tell you that yes, it does. No need to ask.  

This might be your band, your research, your art show, your internship, your care for family members, your podcast, your small business or non-profit… the possibilities are literally endless.

The idea here, again, is balance. Engage with your school, help others, and then challenge yourself. Do something other people aren’t doing.  

By the way, you will probably fail at this. At least some. I hope you do. I hope you fall on your face and screw up and struggle. Seriously. Education is the process of not knowing, trying, learning, failing, trying a new strategy, and improving over time. So feel free to not get it right the first time.  

And parents, I implore you to support your kid (duh), but also let them struggle with the realities of failure without fixing it for them. I’ve met thousands of high schoolers, college students, and parents, and I can pretty quickly tell the kids who have developed the independence of a young adult from those who have been propped up for the past 17 years.  

Besides, you’ll have to write a supplemental essay about failure at some point.

(Side note: while a part-time job doesn't fit neatly into these buckets, it's a totally valid and helpful activity that colleges do want to know about! Whether you're supporting your family or earning some extra cash, you're also learning a lot, and that'll be good essay fodder too.)

So there it is! Whether you are gunning for a highly selective school or applying to your local state college, I believe if you do these three things you will find a lot to enjoy and learn in high school and have success in admissions. As with everything I write about extracurriculars, I encourage you to take college admissions out of the equation, at least at first. Do what you like to do.  

Peace ✌🏻

Written by: Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Former Assistant Admissions Director, Vanderbilt University

(Ben is the former Assistant Director of Admissions at Vanderbilt University and was a Resident Director of the 2018 Harvard Pre-College Program. Ben has reviewed 20,000+ applications, presented files to the admissions committee, and selected students for top merit scholarships. At Harvard, he facilitated admissions workshops for 500+ high-achieving high school students).