<p>I know extra curriculars are very important in applying to undergrad, but is the same true when applying to grad school? S is going to a small LAC and majoring in earth science; he's gotten good grades and will have excellent LORs; GREs haven't been taken yet. He's planning on taking a year off between graduation and applying to an MS earth science program so that he can get some work/internship experience, and to more thoroughly research schools before applying. He has spent a tremendous amount of time at college taking leadership roles in his fraternity (philanthropy chairman, rush chairman, house manager, VP), his club sports team (captain for 2 years), and leading trips for the school outdoor program. Do grad schools care?</p>
<p>Just read “Graduate School 101”, I should have started with that, seems the answer to my question is no. Oh well, he learned some organizational skills.</p>
<p>Aside from learning organizational skills…not everything done in college should be done for the sole purpose of getting into graduate school. Some things are just really fun to do, and college should be fun in addition to preparation for the work world.</p>
<p>And those ECs could be interesting things for him to talk about when he wants to get a job. At least in my experience those fraternity positions can be a lot of work and require a lot of money management, which may be very appealing to an employer. Organizing large events via the outdoor program could, too. So it’s not like he was wasting his time. They’re just enjoyable, awesome things to do that could be what gets an interviewer interested in him later.</p>
<p>juillet, thanks for the perspective, of course you’re right. In fact, he’s home for the holiday break and after talking to him we all realize that he doesn’t need to rush into grad school; there is life to be lead and experiences to be gained. After 16 years of school he might want to explore some other stuff for a year or two.</p>
<p>+1 to this. They won’t matter much for grad school unless they’re related to your intended field of study, but employers want to hire people they’d like to work with on a daily basis (or at least can bear working with on a daily basis). ECs help with that. They also help to distinguish you from other candidates with similar educational credentials.</p>
<p>I’d say for any science/engineering field, they are not important.</p>
<p>Depends on the field, but when I was interviewing at grad schools, every once in a while I’d pull out an example of something that I had done in an extra curricular to answer a question that an interviewer asked. They may not have a lot of pull when you’re applying to grad school, but good experiences are still good experiences, despite that. You never know when something you do just for fun can turn into a really useful learning experience for you to pull from later in life.</p>