Does volunteering count as Extracurricular activity?
I'm a freshman in highschool and I do one club, the Italian Club. There really isn't many other clubs that are offered or that I enjoy. But I'm a straight A student and worried that I wil not get accepted to a great college because I an only involved in the Italian Club in my school. However, I volunteer alot at a hospital and plan to volunteer more over the summer. My question; does volunteer work get counted same as extracurricular activity? Would colleges rather you do clubs/sports? Thanks!
Does volunteer work count as an extracurricular activity? What counts as an extracurricular?
Extracurricular is any club, organization, sport or activity affiliated with your school for which you receive no academic credit. Student council, Key Club, Chess or Spanish Club, track, football, volleyball, any theater productions, debate team, forensics, work at a concession stand, cheer leading, select choir, band, (even though choir and band may fall under academics because of grades you receive, they are also extracurricular due to the out-of-class time commitment; all are examples. Some colleges and universities have such competition for admission, that they may look at both academic and non-academic attributes over a period of years. For some Ivy League schools, for instance, the competition is so fierce for the few available slots, they may look at such commitment going back to seventh or eighth grade. This doesn't mean you should not bother to apply, however. Most schools are sufficiently impressed by a strong, challenging academic record. It is usually sufficient at most, not the most elite, but most schools to show you have successfully tackled the most challenging courses offered. Even a B in an honors or AP course is better than straight A's in a less challenging curriculum. Remember that it is not important that you number a variety or number of non-academics, less can sometimes be more in this situation, if that commitment is convincingly high-quality or time consuming. Some applicants attempt to pad their resume with a vast array of extracurriculars, but this can easily be construed, and probably often is, as jack of all trades, master of none. In other words, if you worked at a nursing home or senior center as a volunteer and chose to devote most of your free time to this endeavor, most institutions are not going to hold that against you. Rather, they may be impressed more than if you dabbled in so many activities that you probably accomplished very little with any of them. If that activity or extracurricular ties nicely with your chosen area of study, so much the better Basically, they want to see you can handle the workload and stress, and bring some non-academic life experience to the mix of the student body.
I have no extracurricular activities?
I doubt you're going to get rejected everywhere, especially if you include safeties on your list. But it is a problem: colleges like to see that you know how to balance schoolwork and other activities, and that you're going to contribute to the community. What do you do when you're not studying? Do you have a job? Community service outside of school? Hobbies? Make sure those find their way into your application. And if you can't come up with anything, pick an activity that interests you and get involved. Starting late (i.e. senior year; if you're still a sophomore or even a junior, this is easily fixable) isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing.
Does volunteer work count as extracurricular activity?
I am filling out scholarships and am required to list "extracurricular activities". I am early-enrolled and therefore do not participate in any of my school's activities/clubs, I basically just show up on their roster while gaining both high school and college credit at my local community college. I do, however, volunteer at multiple locations every month. Does this count as "extracurricular" activity?
Teens: what are considered extracurricular activities?
depends what you're doing it for. If its like to have something to put down when you apply for college, it doesnt matter if its at school. It doesnt even necessarily have to be a sport. It could be like volunteer work or something