goSwoop Scoop with Curt Nichols, college counselor at the Lahore American School in Lahore, Pakistan.
A lot of students ask me how many activities they should be doing after school. Really they should be asking me “What do you think is the best activity for me to do after school?” That is because colleges do not measure extra curricular activities in quantity but rather in quality.
Find an interest you are truly fond of and pursue it. Hopefully you can find a niche or find something special that colleges will be impressed with. It’s kind of a cliché but colleges covet passionate students. They are looking for students who bring something special to their college, especially the unique elite colleges and universities where all the students are highly competitive. They look for something that makes you jump off the page because they are only able to look at you on paper.
Find something cool to do and do it really well and often times you can write about it in an essay and talk about it in an interview. You probably don’t want to be involved in only one activity but a few and you want to be involved in them to a high level. That includes leadership! Colleges and universities love leadership. If you can get involved in the science club and be a president, student council or an organization like national honor society, it will offer you the opportunity to show your leadership skill.
