Extracurriculars: How many is enough?

Not surprisingly, colleges want to know what types of extracurricular activities you have been involved in during your high school years. The question often asked by high school students is, “I have only been involved in one or two extracurriculars. Is that going to be a problem?”

The answer varies. Colleges care more about what you did as a member of a group or organization, rather than how many you were a part of. For example, let’s say that you were a member of your school’s softball team and you wrote for the school newspaper. That’s a great start! But if you only joined the softball team in junior year, and wrote 1 or two articles for your high school newspaper, that’s less impressive.

Colleges want to see that your commitment was strong and that you “climbed the ladder” in your respective club or team. Did you play softball in 9th grade, make varsity in 10th and were named captain in your senior year? Did you start writing for your school newspaper in 10th, wrote front page articles in 11th and were an editor by 12th? These examples show growth and commitment and are much more impressive to colleges than if you were a part of 6 clubs and 3 sports teams, but only for short periods of time.