Extracurriculars? No thanks!
Who else thinks that high school 'activities' are meaningless and that it should not be such a large factor in the college admissions decsicion?
Sure, extracurricular activities can vaguely measure how committed you are to an activity that you LIKE! But what about activites that you dont like?
Why are universities around the nation stressing the importantance of extracurricular activities, when it measures nothing? How does staying in a BS club for four years, like Photography or Chess Club, determine academic sucess or work ethics?
I think that colleges should just CONSIDER activities when they make their decisions. I sorry if I offended you, Im sorry that you solely rely on activites because your GPA and SAT scores are garbage. I've noticed that a lot of people who post here overemphasize their extracurricular activities, thinking they are somehow at least as important as academics, which is just not true.
I wouldn't go so far to say that they are meaningless, however. In high school, you are taking classes which you are forced to take, for the most part. The only indication that colleges get of a student's interests and passions come from what they do outside the classroom. As an academic, there is nothing which bothers me more than the student who comes in for advising about electives who has no interest in ANYTHING at all! That shows absolutely no curiosity and can't be said to be someone who is taking full advantage of college.
A second reason is that almost anyone can do reasonably well in high school if s/he does nothing but study. If that person goes on to college, where the academics are more difficult and time-consuming, s/he may not do so well. If the person did reasonably well in high school while pursuing a lot of extracurricular activities and then goes on to more difficult courses in college, s/he can just drop an activity or two to keep up.
Some schools have as part of their mission to educate leaders in their fields, and the extracurriculars can indicate leadership potential. This isn't true at all schools, but many schools look at the whole person, and not just the intellect, as what they want to mold.
Finally, and this is primarily true at elite schools, many applicants have identically outstanding academic records, so the schools have to stretch a bit to figure out who will be the most qualified. Thousands of people with perfect grades and SAT scores apply every year to the Ivies, for example. The admissions people need as much additional material as possible in order to be able to distinguish among them.
At most schools, quality matters more than quantity, so when I see endless lists of extracurriculars I have to think that the student hasn't given much to any of them. I would rather see three or four good activities (especially if some of them are related, such as multiple musical organizations) over the course of four years, wherein the person played a leadership role, than a dozen clubs. I agree. I'm not joining ROTC or any gay crap like that for college. It should be GRADES they look at, not extracurricular activities. |
