Does having an extracurricular related to your major help with admissions?

I’m a freshman in high school right now and I’m currently deciding on the 1-3 areas that I am passionate about that I would like to showcase to the admission officers. I’m interested in a business major, maybe marketing, and I was wondering if a project related to that major will help. I’m passionate about writing, so maybe I’ll write a blog related to business. Who knows?

Hello! How much it helps will depend on the school you are applying to, but it certainly can’t hurt! My daughter has a lot of extracurricular activities related to her intended major and in one case it earned her a scholarship to a school she wasn’t sure she would get into. She also received praise in on-campus interviews from 3 other schools — one is a reach, one she got accepted at, and one she is still waiting to hear from but is neither a reach or a safety. Though she drew nice comments from her first choice school, it was not enough to get an acceptance (it is a program with only 16 spots). It certainly doesn’t hurt to gain experience related to your major — and this way you know for sure what truly interests you. Good luck!

https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways/

Do the thing that is truest to you.

ECs related to your prospective major can be part of a strong application- but so can ECs that are completely unrelated. From an AO pov you are showing that you can commit to something over time and learn and grow in it. It can be a proxy for showing self discipline and the ability to organize yourself, and (if relevant) that you can work well with others. Whatever you choose will add color and dimension to your app, b/c it shows something about you as a person.

But to pick your ECs just to impress AOs would be a terrible waste. Do things that are real for you.

This might just be word choice, but “deciding” on your areas to be passionate about seems counter to following your passions. You discover your passions.

If you are passionate about something, by all means make it a priority. All the better if this is something that might translate into a college major. However, colleges like musicians and athletes who don’t major in music or play on a NCAA team. It is about the qualities it takes to become really good at anything, not necessarily what you are good at.

As a high school freshman, you can prepare for college by taking the level of coursework required by the type of college you want to attend. You can take electives and participate in activities that sound interesting. Then, make the time and take the effort to follow the passions you discover.

You should reread what you wrote.

That’s your answer right there.

You know what your passion is, but you seem to feel that it is not something that is worthy of your time and energy. If you are passionate about writing, why do you think that the only thing that is worth doing with that passion is writing about business?

It seems to me that somebody (or somebodies) has (have) been filling your head with nonsense about having to engage in ECs that will help you get into a “prestigious” major, and that your real interests and passions are only important so far as they help you do that.

In all honesty, the way you express your “interest” in business, you seem to have no real interest in business at all. You seem to want to get a degree in business, while actually engaging in writing. Both your mention of marketing, and your idea of a “Business EC” being a blog, are strongly indicative of this.

You love to write. Do that. Attend creative writing workshops, be part of a short-story/poetry/novel writing/reading club or clubs, submit your writings for competitions, etc. Limiting your writing to a blog about business is such a meager way to engage in such a passion.

If you want, check out some business related ECs as well. However, do not engage in ones that are actually all about writing. If you want to explore this interest, do so, but actually explore that interest. Don’t pretend to be engaged in business while you are actually just engaging in another writing EC, because that won’t tell you whether business interests you.

Good luck!