The Only 3 Extracurriculars You Need to Get Into an Ivy League School

Conducting supervised research, competing in competitions, and making a quantifiable impact—whether in your school, local community, or a significant impact in a distant community—are the three key activities students should focus on during their four years of high school to become highly competitive college applicants.

For example, a prospective physics major applying to an Ivy League school could have an activity list on their Common App that focuses on just two to three years of research with a professor they cold-emailed, physics olympiad competitions, and an initiative that made them well-known in their school or tangibly impacted people's lives.

These accomplishments alone can make them a highly competitive applicant. There's no need to pad one’s application with sports, music, dancing, honor societies, shadowing, pre-college programs, starting a non-profit, or volunteer initiatives that lack meaningful impact, quirky hobby, service trips, and mastery of multiple languages.

Despite how it seems to become easier each year for high school students to engage in research through new startups that pair students with mentors or summer research programs run by top universities, research remains an extracurricular activity that admission officers value. It demonstrates to them that students are comfortable confronting what they don't know and are truly passionate about what they wish to study in college. Research is a powerful predictor of how much students will take advantage of academic opportunities on campus, and if they push themselves, they can distinguish themselves by becoming authors on real papers, not just publications in high school journals that accept everyone. Many research programs have very low acceptance rates, so just getting into one helps colleges understand how promising a candidate is. Furthermore, they know how difficult it is to secure a research position through cold-approaching professors. If students can successfully accomplish this, it demonstrates their grit and determination to pursue their field of interest. Additionally, staying with the same lab long-term shows admission officers the immense value a student can bring to their institution.

Competitions demonstrate to colleges how an applicant strives to improve, is comfortable confronting their shortcomings, and uses them as opportunities for personal and intellectual growth. They also make it easier for colleges to compare candidates against one another (gold vs. silver medal, etc.). Contrary to what some applicants attempt, admission officers dislike being challenged. They must consider tens of thousands of applicants and want to evaluate candidates easily against other students. They don't have time to decipher enigmas or piece together who applicants will be as students or members of their campus community. They want applicants to present themselves clearly so they can be evaluated efficiently, saving time and reducing stress. Competitions enable them to do this while also allowing applicants to stand out through their placing in them.

Making an impact on people's lives—whether in your school, local community, or distant locations—is just as important as research and competitions. Colleges seek individuals who will make notable contributions throughout their lives, which requires creating real-world impact. They also want to admit students who will bring value to their incoming class and broader student community. In other words, they seek students who can elevate the social and academic experience of their fellow students on campus. The ability to make an impact in one's local community is a great predictor of this potential. These impactful individuals can help their classmates unlock the full potential of their four-year campus experience, thus maximizing the likelihood that alumni will achieve accomplishments that make the university more renowned and desirable. Because colleges prioritize admitting students who add immediate value to their campus, they favor those who strive to create local impact. If a student attempts to address global issues while overlooking problems in their local community, admission officers may question their motivations. Furthermore, a student's local impact serves as a good indicator of their potential influence on campus and helps ensure students have an experience that lives up to the institution's reputation. While making an impact in a distant country can also be valuable, the scale of such impact would need to be significantly larger to be equally meaningful in the admissions process. Finally, the quantifiable metrics of impact one would be able to cite for such endeavors makes the job of admission officers who evaluate candidates easier, something they appreciate.

What binds all three of these types of activities is their practicality for admission officers. They all yield quantifiable metrics of accomplishment and are undeniably relevant in assessing what type of student and community member an applicant will be during their four years on campus. The absolute best candidates for Ivy League schools will have excelled at the national level in all three of these activities. However, not everyone who gets into an Ivy League school is one of these exceptional applicants. The vast majority are not. To have as strong a chance as the average student who gets into an Ivy League school, it is essential to participate in all three of these types of activities and excel at least at the state level in at least one of them. There are exceptions to this rule of course, but for those who wish to be as competitive as possible, this is what they should strive for.

If you need help selecting extracurricular activities or maximizing the impact you are making in your current extracurriculars, schedule a free consultation with us to learn how we can help you utilize your time most efficiently, as you endeavor to get into your dream college.