50 Extracurricular Examples for the Common Application Activities Section
Most students don’t recognize the power of the activities section on their college application. This is such an underutilized space that can make all the difference in your application!
Something I hear from students all the time is that they aren’t sure what to include in their activities section, or what “counts” for an extracurricular.
Let’s get specific! An extracurricular activity can be any of the following:
- Athletics, either school or club teams (ex: varsity soccer)
- School-based activities (ex: Spanish club)
- Community-based (ex: Volunteer work)
- Any personal hobby, interest, or pursuit (ex: photography, fishing)
- Employment, formal or informal experience (ex: ice cream shop, babysitting, dog walking)
- Family-related (ex: caretaking of relatives, charity events)
- Online-based (ex: taking classes online, etsy shop, personal website)
- Anything that’s meaningful to you and a consistent way you spend your time (ex: creating art)
When...
How to Stop Procrastinating
Procrastination: the bane of every student’s existence.
Everyone – even highly-driven and accomplished individuals – struggles with procrastination. So, what’s the key to conquering it? A mindset shift. Everyone thinks, learns, studies, and works differently. The only way that anyone can overcome procrastination is by changing the way they think about their work and learning some common strategies about what works for them.
Recognize that you’re procrastinating
As mentioned above, everyone thinks, learns, studies, and works differently. Consequently, the strategies that help someone else overcome procrastination may not instantly help you. To start, you’ll want to stop and acknowledge:
- That you are in fact procrastinating
- Why you’re struggling with procrastination
Often, procrastination is painted as “laziness,” but this is an oversimplification of the issue. There are numerous reasons why people...
The Number One Mistake Students Make When Writing Their Admissions Essay
Every year, I work with many students looking to write a killer admissions essay. And with each and every one of them, I end up having the same conversation. When we connect, these students share a topic that they’re looking to write on that they think will be a good fit. When I ask them what inspired their choice, they usually say one of these responses:
“I don’t have anything interesting to write about”
“I thought that’s what admissions officers wanted to read about”
“I thought I should write about that because that’s what ____________ said to do”
The problem with all of these is that you’re making an assumption. So what’s the number one mistake students make when writing their admissions essay? They make assumptions. They make assumptions about what admissions officers are interested in, they assume someone else knows how to tell their story better than they can, and, perhaps most disappointingly,...
Stop Assuming More Time Means More Results
If you’re a student at any level, you know that investing absolutely zero effort is a surefire way to performing poorly in your classes. Skipping classes, ignoring assignments, never reading and avoiding studying means not passing.
To some extent, the energy you invest determines the results you get. So at some point, we accept that doing nothing gets you nothing.
Over time, we start to believe that the inverse is true: Doing EVERYTHING will get you the results you want.
But what if “more is more” is really more of a fallacy than a study strategy?
Now, I understand that doing more can feel powerful, inspiring, and productive. But it can also be exhausting and undermine your confidence. When you are legitimately unable to dedicate a million hours to something (because there’s only so many hours in the day), you’ll inevitably feel unprepared or not good enough.
This “more is more” obsession runs rampant in all areas of our...
Why You're Not Seeing Progress with Your SAT and ACT Test Scores
Part of our culture is predicated on the philosophy that "more is more." Upgrade this, supersize that, get two for one... we have been conditioned to believe that more is better, always.
The standardized testing space is no exception. There is an unspoken assumption that doing more will yield better test results. Unfortunately, that's not always the case.
Sure, there is something to be said for completing some practice. Will a student perform better after completing his or her first practice exam? Usually, yes. But what isn't a given is that expected score increase after completing the tenth, fifteenth, or even twentieth practice exam.
The reason why students see diminishing returns with extended test practice is not because they're not working hard enough. They actually might be working too hard. Unfortunately, what is usually happening at this point is the student is trying to force something to work: strategy, timing, comprehension, etc. And if it...
I Love What I Do
Why do I do what I do?
When I was in school, I was just like you. I was stuck, working harder and working longer just to get by, thinking there had to be a better way to do all of it. And I was right. There was a better way. But at the time, it felt completely out of reach. I didn't have time for it. I didn't have energy for it. In my eyes, the right way was the hard way - the long way. I couldn't afford to do things the right way, because I had too much on my plate. I had to get as much done in the fastest way possible just to keep my head above water. So I just kept paddling.
It was exhausting.
I was constantly searching for the next best way to be a better student. Something my friend tried or something I saw online, I tried it all and hoped it would be the magic fix that would solve all my problems. In my head, it made total sense! Once I got more organized, I'd finally have things under control. Once I took my notes in this special...
Mastering Motivation
“Ugh I just can’t get motivated.”
I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve heard a student say that. It happens all the time, and there’s a really simple explanation for why it keeps happening.
You’ve been lied to.
Seriously.
Think back to a great movie you’ve watched where the main character finally tackles a challenge they’ve been faced with. What happens? Usually, the character has been struggling for a while, when all of a sudden, there is a split-second where everything changes and suddenly they become inspired. They’re struck with a great idea, become super energized, and are ready to take on the world. That jolt of motivation somehow carries them through an all-nighter, hours of basketball practice, the longest car-chase ever, or while climbing an entire mountain.
Has that ever happened to you?
Probably not.
That’s because motivation doesn’t work like that....
COVID-19’s Impact on Standardized Testing and College Admissions
Over the last few months, a lot has changed across the academic landscape due to COVID-19. Students are attending classes online, schools are implementing new testing policies, and the national SAT was cancelled. Here is the newest information and recommendations for what to do next.
SAT
The national SAT was cancelled in April, leaving many students unsure of when and how to retest. If it is deemed safe for public health, the SAT is currently planning to schedule in-person test dates for every remaining month of 2020, beginning in August. Anticipated testing dates include: August 29, September 26, October 3, November 7, and December 5. These testing dates are all subject to change as the SAT must ensure safe accessibility for all students in all testing locations.
The College Board is also considering an online version of the test which will be available soon (allegedly). However, this solution comes with some drawbacks: additional payment fees, online proctoring, and privacy...
