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What's Covered:

What Are Extracurricular Activities?
Why Are Extracurriculars Important?
How Do Colleges Evaluate Extracurricular Activities?
How Many Extracurriculars Should You Do?
Complete List of Extracurricular Activities

Most colleges, especially competitive ones, are looking for a "well-rounded" student. This means that, in addition to having grades and test scores that meet their requirements, you must also display other talents and interests in your application. A strong extracurricular profile can help you make a good impression on admissions officers. You'd be surprised how many activities are out there!

What are Extracurricular Activities?

Extracurriculars are anything you do outside of academics. These can include sports, music, community service activities, jobs/internships, clubs, and more. Extracurriculars help colleges get to know you as a person: what do you care about? How committed are you?

It's important to note that not all hobbies count as extracurriculars. For example, things like watching movies or playing video games would not be counted. Basically, recreational activities that you do for your own enjoyment don't make the cut because extracurriculars need to involve some concerted effort and contribute to your personal development. If you started an after-school movie club where you and other members watched and then analyzed movies, or decided to develop video games on your own time, then you could list those as extracurriculars.

Why Are Extracurriculars Important?

While most schools are interested in extracurricular activities to some extent, they are especially important to the top 250 colleges and universities. These 250 schools get too many students who are academically-qualified, so extracurriculars help you stand out.

The less competitive schools, like large public schools or state universities, receive so many applications that they narrow their focus. Typically, extracurriculars fall to the wayside here as more emphasis is placed on quantitative data, like GPA and test scores, because these require less time on the part of the admissions committee.

That being said, having extracurriculars on your resume, no matter where you apply to, helps you present a robust application that helps the admissions officers gain an overall deeper understanding of the type of person you are. This can make or break their decision to accept you into their university. A well-rounded profile demonstrates that you are passionate and dedicated to the things you care about, both of which are qualities that would make you a valuable addition to their student body.

In addition to showing off your many interests, extracurriculars can also help establish your commitment and interest in your prospective major. This can be especially true for pre-med students; you have to show interest in the field, so having a medical club or hospital volunteering opportunity on your resume would show initiative in that direction. Other examples are video game clubs or coding competitions for a computer science major, or heading a psychology club for an intended psychology major.

How Do Colleges Evaluate Extracurriculars?

At CollegeVine, we've divided extracurricular activities into 4 tiers.

Tier 1: Rare activities that show exceptional achievement or leadership. They include national awards or other prestigious achievements.

Tier 2: A little more common than Tier 1, but these activities still showcase high levels of achievement and leadership. They include leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations, winning regional competitions, or sports/music distinctions.

Tier 3: Lack the distinction of Tier 1 and 2, but still highlight student's interests. They include minor leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations and smaller athletic/musical distinctions.

Tier 4: Most common and most often seen by admissions committees. They include general club/sports/musical membership and general volunteering.

How Many Extracurriculars Should You Do?

Strong applications tend to have between 8 and 10 extracurricular activities. This sounds like a lot, but many activities are seasonal, so it's possible to fit, for example, three to four sports into one year. That being said, the most important thing to keep in mind is quality over quantity. It's usually better to try and achieve depth in one to two fields than to do a bunch of things on a surface level. You can certainly start by trying a bunch of things freshman year, but really stick with what you love and are good at. This way, you show a real passion, dedication and progression in the things you care about.

If you want to find out how your extracurriculars stack up, our free chancing engine can help you understand how your activities impact your chances. You can also see more in-depth tiers; the 4-tier system is slightly simplified and our chancing engine runs from Tier A-I.

Complete List of Extracurricular Activities

Affinity Groups

African American Club
Asian Students Association
Association of Latin-American Students (ALAS)
Bible Camp
Bible School
Black Lives Matter
Black Students Union
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions
Caribbean Culture Club
Chinese School
Chinese Student Association
Christians in Action
Church Involvement
Climate Change Activism
Diversity Awareness Club
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Feminist Club
Filipino-American Club
Gay-Straight Alliance
Gender and Sexuality Alliance
Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior (GEMS)
Girls in the Trades
Girls Learn International
Girls Who Code
Gun Control Activism
Indian Students Association
International Students Association
International Women's Club
Italian Club
Japanese Club
Jewish Culture Club
Jewish Student Union
Junior ROTC
Latino Students Union
LGBTQ Club
Mosque Involvement
Multicultural Student Union
Muslim Student Union
Muslim Students Association
NAACP
National Organization for Women
New Crew
Nigerian Student Association
Pacific Islander Student Association
Persian Club
Racial Justice Club
Society of Women Engineers
South Asian Culture Club
Synagogue Involvement
Teens Against Human Trafficking
Temple Involvement
Women in Business
Women in STEM Club
Women's March

Community Service

4H Club
ACE Mentor Program of America
Achieve Miami
Achilles International
Adopt-a-Highway
Alzheimer's Awareness Club
American Cancer Society
American Civil Liberties Union
American Diabetes Association
American Heart Association
American Kennel Club
American Legion
Amnesty International
Anchor Club
Animal Rescue League
Animal Rights Club
Anti-Defamation League
Autism Awareness Club
Autism Cares Foundation
Baseball Coaching
Basketball Coaching
Beach Cleanup
Best Buddies
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Blankets of Hope
Blood Drive
Boy Scouts
Breast Cancer Awareness Club
Cat Rescue
Cesar Chavez Service Clubs (Chavista)
Cheerleading Coach
Church Camp
City Youth Council
Civil Air Patrol
Climate March
Community Outreach Club
CPR Training
CureSMA
Dana-Farber Jimmy Fund
DARE
Do Something
Doctors Without Borders
Dog Rescue
Earth Day
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT/EMS)
English Tutoring
Epilepsy Foundation
ESL Instruction and Tutoring
Feed My Starving Children
Feeding America
Food Drive
Fostering Animals
Girl Scouts
Girl Up
GoFundMe
Greenpeace
Habitat For Humanity
Heifer International
Human Rights Club
Humane Society
Hunger Project
Hurricane Relief
Interact Club
JUNTOS
Key Club
Kids Helping Kids
KIVA Microfinance Club
Kiwanis Club
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Link Crew
Lions Club
Make-A-Wish
March for Life
March of Dimes
Meals on Wheels
MEDLIFE
Mission Trip
Missionary Work
National Charity League
National Down Syndrome Society
Operation Christmas Child
Operation Smile
PALS
Park Cleanup
Peer Leaders
Peer Mentor
Peer Tutoring
PETA
Recycling
Red Cross Club
Relay For Life
Roots and Shoots
Rotary Club
Salvation Army
Save Endangered Species Club
School Ambassador
Shadowing a Physician
Sisters on the Runway
Soccer Coaching
Social Justice Club
Special Olympics
Student Ambassadors
Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD)
Sunday School
Tutoring
UNICEF Club
United Way
Upward Bound
VFW
Volunteer at Elementary School
Volunteer at Middle School
Volunteer at Soup Kitchen
Volunteer Trip
Volunteer with Refugees
Volunteering at Animal Shelter
Volunteering at Children's Hospital
Volunteering at Food Bank
Volunteering at Hospital
Volunteering at Library
Volunteering at Museum
Volunteering at Nursing Home
Volunteering Club
Volunteering with the Homeless
Walk to End Alzheimer's
Water Aid International (WAI)
Wounded Warrior Project
YMCA
Youth Sports Coaching
YWCA