Is it necessary to be heavily involved in school-related activities or extracurriculars to get into a top-tier college?
Hi! I'm Sia, and I'm currently a junior. A lot of the activities that I currently do, like dance, voice, piano, and art, I have been doing for a while and they are not related to school in any way. The only school-related activity that I'm actively involved in is speech and debate. Essentially what I'm trying to ask is do top tier colleges specifically look for students who are very involved in school-related activities because they want people who will be active members of their community?
Earn karma by helping others:
3 answers
I don't think you necessarily need to be involved in school-related extracurriculars. Top-tier colleges just want to see that you're committed to and taking initiative in whatever extracurriculars you are involved in.
However, if you do want to become more involved in school-related extracurriculars, you could start a club relating to one of the activities that you do. This would show colleges that you're really passionate about what you do, and this will give you a leadership position in a school club.
hi, Sia! it's nice to meet you!
it's not necessary to be heavily involved in school-related activities to get into a top university, but you have to do something that impacts your community or be recognized in your extracurriculars. that's what they care about most: the impact. so, you need to develop the activities you already do.
you dance, sing, and play the piano, right? why not give free piano classes for children? and, if you are involved in speech and debate, why not start a youtube channel or podcast and ask your friends to debate some topics with you?
another thing that you can do is being published in your local newspaper, magazine, website, or radio to be even more recognized.
I'm here if you need more help!!
Hi Sia! What are you hoping to study in college, and which colleges are you interested in? Colleges don't necessarily need you to be involved in "academic" extracurriculars (like debate or SciOly), but it depends on your prospective major and the school. For example, if you're interested in studying STEM but don't have STEM extracurriculars, it may look a little strange. On that same note, some schools favor students with academic pursuits outside the classroom, like Yale, but this doesn't have to be a "purely" academic pursuit. An example could be writing an op-ed for the newspaper or starting a YouTube channel on fashion history.
Colleges are looking for students who will be active members of the community, but participating in dance, voice, piano, and art definitely make you an active member of the community! (the more team effort, the better). Colleges evaluate extracurriculars based on how difficult and rare your achievements are - have you tried our chancing engine? Here's an article that explains how ECs are evaluated too: https://blog.collegevine.com/breaking-down-the-4-tiers-of-extracurricular-activities/. The chancing engine can give you a better idea of how strong your ECs are.
Hope this helps, and best of luck!
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
Thank you so much! So to elaborate on the impacts, I co-founded a small international music program where I and some others teach 30+ students voice and instruments. I also danced and sang in a short musical art film, which has been accepted to some film festivals around the world. My sister and I have a joint YouTube channel where we upload song covers. During the summer, I am planning to create a short stop motion film, and also become a captain in the speech and debate team.