List Your Activities and Interests

Example questions you can ask yourself:

Colleges want to know what you do. They will ask you how you spend your time. What were you involved in when you were in high school? How often do you participate in playing lacrosse? The deans of admissions at selective colleges will want to find out what makes you tick, what kind of activities pique your interest, and how do you spend your time when you are not in the classroom.

• What activities do I enjoy most outside of the classroom?
• How would I sacrifice my time to do this activity?
• Will there be time and opportunity for me to continue pursuing this activity when I enter college?
• How important is it that my prospective school provide ample opportunity for me to continue doing these?

As for myself, I am very much involved in 3D animation and video production. So when I look for schools, I make sure that they at least have student organizations devoted to film-making. Even if they do not, most schools allow you to set up your own organization once you are a student there. Bear in mind though, that it is probably a good idea for you to communicate with current students to find out the type of social scene that exists there.

“What clubs should I join to get into XY University?”

It doesn’t matter what you do; colleges want to know what you do outside of the academic circle! Cutting grass, looking after your three siblings, pumping gas, painting portraits, riding horses, walking neighborhood dogs, collecting antique medicine bottles, all count.

When I heard that last sentence from the first college admissions counselor I met, I asked her, “Why would a dean want to know that I pumped gas?” She told me that it showed the kind of character and personality I had as an applicant. Deans and their colleges are very interested to know about an applicant as an individual, not as a set of numbers, and test scores.

So there you have it. Everything counts! What you do, and what you love to do, will and should affect your choices of schools.