Extracurricular activities for an edge

Extracurricular activities provide a setting to become involved and to inteact with other students, thus leading to increased learning and enhanced development, says Rohan Ganeriwala.

The importance of extracurricular activities on college campuses is well established. The primary goals of extracurricular activities focus on the individual student level, the institutional level, and the broader community level.

 These activities exist to complement the university's academic curriculum and to augment the student's educational experience. Whether you’re applying to college or your first entry-level job, having extracurricular activities on your resume will put you ahead of the game. It is good to be aware that many college admissions offices and recruiters frown upon loading up on too many activities. So don’t feel like you need to sign up for everything your school offers.

Professional schools are looking for highly-motivated, committed, enthusiastic, thorough and well informed applicants. They strongly prefer people who have looked into the details of the profession and know the shortcomings, demands, and rewards of the profession through direct experience. Such people will be more realistically motivated to go through the pre-professional program, and are more likely to be accepted, all other things being equal.

Most colleges won’t make you to decide on a major until the end of sophomore year, so make sure to explore all of your interests while you still have time. When you choose a major, your exploration of different classes and activities will have helped you choose a field of study you’ll be happy with.

So what kinds of activities should you put on your resume exactly. On college campuses, extracurricular involvement is a key tool in this personal development. For the majority of college and university students, involvement in extracurricular activities plays an integral role in the collegiate experience. Students become involved in extracurricular activities not only for entertainment, social, and enjoyment purposes, but most important, to gain and improve skills. 
Interaction

Extracurricular activities enable interaction with other students, thus leading to increased learning and enhanced development. Specifically, a student's peer group is the most important source of influence on a student's academic and personal development. By identifying with a peer group, that group may influence a student's affective and cognitive development as well as his or her behavior.

As the development of the well-rounded individual is a principal goal of extracurricular activities on college and university campuses, the numerous experiences these activities afford positively impact students' emotional, intellectual, social, and inter-personal development. In addition to the specific extracurricular activities previously mentioned, other activities exist on many college campuses. Honorary organizations recognize student scholars, often in a certain academic discipline, who maintain a specific grade point average. 

The US college admissions process endeavours to judge a student holistically—not only their academic ability, but their presence as a contributing member of the community. Thus, a student's extracurricular profile becomes a very important part of evaluating their overall applications. These colleges want to ensure you will excel in the classroom and outside it, adding value to the campus community. Applicants should try to ensure their profile provides the following: 

n A range of activities: For your bachelor's degree, no one is expecting single-minded focus and devotion. Admissions deans want to see true all-rounders, those comfortable on the soccer pitch and in the chemistry laboratory, busy organizing protest marches and campus rock shows, and juggling it all successfully.

n Demonstration of commitment: However, colleges want to ensure students are not simply packing their CV with empty achievements. Students showing a sustained interest in one activity—be it eight years on the school cricket team or nine years of classical dance training—are more likely to draw the committee's attention. 

n Public & Private activities: Deans would like to see you as a mature and thoughtful person. Showcasing your ability in public activities like debate or drama balances well with the artistic portfolio you work on in your spare time. Colleges see this as evidence of a productive and fertile mind, exactly the kind they want on campus! 

n A desire to help others:  Social service and community work are very important pillars of American society, as it is expected that one is always interested in bettering the community around them. Students should show a prolonged interest in social inequities & injustices as well as a track record of trying to remedy them. Working beyond the requirements of your school's SUPW rules is essential to crafting the kind of applicant admissions deans want to admit. 

n Initiative & Risk-taking:  Students with a record of entrepreneurial behaviour, project-oriented activity, and exposure to wide variety of experiences fare very well in the admissions process.