With more and more applicants to college every year, it becomes increasingly important to stand out. A lot of extracurricular lists from applicants blend to admissions officers, and while that doesn't hurt you, it's certainly not good enough to get into a top school. Use the five tips below to fix up your list and get it to a point where it helps you get into any school you'd want.
1. Depth beats breadth
Two activities where you're one of a handful of students at that level in your school outweigh ten activities where you show up for an hour a week. Admissions readers look for evidence of depth rather than something anyone else can do. Pick two or three activities, cut down your time on everything else, and put the freed-up time into what'll actually make a difference.
2. Build toward one clear spike
A spike is a single strength that shows up more than once on your list. Leadership, technical depth, and initiative are the three that read strongest. If you led a club, show that you also built something inside it. If you're technically strong, attach a project with a real result (ideally with a metric like revenue or users). One clear spike is really important and is one of the defining characteristics of top admits.
3. Create things yourself
Joining the robotics club is fine and can be done by many people. Starting one at a school that doesn't have one is a different tier of activity entirely. Same goes for tutoring, a coding club, a school newspaper, or a local fundraiser. Founding something, even small and unglamorous, proves initiative in a way membership can't.
4. Give your activities a throughline
After reading your activity list, an admissions reader should be able to describe you in one sentence. "A kid who's spent his high school career fixing water-related issues in his community" is much stronger than an applicant who touches student council, a dance team, a debate club, and a part-time job with nothing connecting them. A throughline requires doing somewhat related activities that point in a common direction, but it doesn't mean you should limit yourself to just one niche of activities either.
5. Chase outputs vigorously
Things like a research poster, an app with real users, a published paper, a small business with actual revenue, or a competition placement are proof of your activities. These are much more important than just the time you spend on your activities. When deciding how to spend your time, ask what you'll have to show for it by the time you're submitting applications, not how many hours you'll log.