Hi
I’m not sure what kind of academic extracurricular activities I should be doing. A lot of sources on the internet have recommended doing some sort of academic extracurricular activity(like Math Bowl, if someone wanted to be a math major), but I’m clueless as to what I want to major in, in the future.
So how should I decide what to do??
Do what interests you and makes you happy.
What are your favorite classes?
If say, Math, then check out math bowl.
If English, how about the School Newspaper?
Like performing/drama? Then help out with plays
Helping others? THen Key club or similar.
Do you go to a house of worship? There are always opportunities
Your school will have a list of clubs…look at that and pick 3 or 4 that sound interesting. Attend a couple of meetings for each then see which ones are doing things you find interesting.
Check out “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”
http://www.examiner.com/review/be-a-relaxed-high-school-superstar
As the father of college graduate, former high school teacher, and former university adjunct lecturer, my advice would be to not worry about your college major now, but rather think about what your deep-seated interests and proclivities are. What are your passions? What do you care about deeply? What are you doing when you lose track of all time? Think about a research program that allows you to dive-deep into YOUR interests. Use the internet to find your dream program. Let me know what you discover!
Well, what do you like to do? It can be anything, even video games! Let’s say you love video games, maybe join a graphic design class, do some research on video-game programming, or anything along those lines. Whatever it is you like! Find something, and work from there. Ask around teachers at your school or ask your peers with similar interests what they’re doing. Maybe there’s a club at your school you never knew about that interests you. Get involved in your community, I’m sure you can find something that excites you.
Thanks everyone for the responses. Really helpful!