<p>I am in the class of 2015 at Johns Hopkins. I wanted to know in addition to good grades and test scores, what is needed to get into a good graduate school. What is needed in terms of extracurricular activities and work experience? I think I am going to end up in business or engineering for graduate school. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Extracurricular activities are irrelevant unless directly linked to your intended graduate field, and clubs, etc. are irrelevant even if they are.</p>
<p>GPA, GREs, research experience and letters of recommendation are the keys.</p>
<p>Engineering grad schools will care about your grades, letters of recommendation, research experience (for PhDs) and (less importantly) GRE scores, as polarscribe said.</p>
<p>Business schools, at least for MBAs, care much more about a track record of professional success, initiave and leadership skills.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with Polarscribe. If you want to go into business than extracurricular activities ARE important. Business has a lot of networking involved and EC’s are a great way to get your name around. I would suggest to get involved in your university’s business clubs, golf leagues, or anything that attracts business people. Also, internships are very important. This of course is on top of GPA, GRE/GMAT, and LOR.</p>
<p>mantidguy, this thread is about graduate admissions, and graduate admissions committees at business schools will not care one whit how many golf leagues or civic clubs an applicant has joined. Anyone can join a club by signing a check - it’s a meaningless “accomplishment.”</p>
<p>No need to get defensive. I agree that anyone can join a club, but what I said was networking is important in the business world. My suggestions to OP comes from my own experience. My UG’s accounting club had golf outings that were partnered with tax firms and big businesses. This type of networking gives opportunities to build relationships, get internships, etc etc. You would be surprised how many business people (including graduate committee members) belong to the same country club or rec center.</p>
<p>I didn’t say it wasn’t important - but in the context of graduate admissions, it’s not.</p>
<p>The point is, the tons of pile-on, over-the-top “extracurriculars” that everyone thinks they need to get into an undergraduate school, are completely and totally ignored in graduate admissions. Gradcoms are composed entirely of professors who couldn’t care less how “well-rounded” you are. They want to know your academic potential, research capability and compatibility of interests.</p>
<p>If you want to get into a top PhD program, you need to be able to distinguish yourself in that field. Grades are important, but your recommendations and your scholarly work (research, papers, etc.) are the core of your application. </p>
<p>A 4.0 and perfect GRE scores will not get you into, say, Harvard’s math department. </p>
<p>On the other hand, a student who co-authored a successful paper with one of his professors and who shows genuine potential to contribute to the field has a decent shot, even if he has a 3.7 and not-so-great GRE scores.</p>
<p>People do realize that “graduate school” =!= “PhD program”, right? The OP has expressed an interest in business school, and business schools care a fair bit about what applicants have accomplishd outside of the classroom (and outside of a research lab!).</p>
<p>B@r!um is exactly right. For example, a M.S. in taxation doesn’t have the research component, so admissions look for other non-academic factors.</p>
<p>Being a member of a golf league is not a non-academic factor anyone will care about.</p>
<p>^Ah, but you have disregarded a key fact! Business school isn’t academic.</p>
<p>This is section is devoted to purely academic graduate studies. Business school is a professional school, and it has its own forum on this site.</p>
<p>He asked about engineering grad school.</p>
<p>Also, we have no idea if he would like information regarding pursuing a PhD in a field of business. Not all business degrees have to be professional.</p>
<p>I don’t think any business program (PhD or master’s) or engineering program would care about the golf league.</p>
<p>Business programs do care about some extra-curriculars that <em>are related</em> to business, as someone already pointed out. Being a member of the business club does not matter unless you are the president and do some cool stuff with it, or if you meet the head of admissions through it. Playing golf doesn’t matter either, unless you meet someone important in admissions through it.</p>
<p>The kinds of ECs that are important to admissions are business internships, research with business professors (and yes, business professors do research and a lot of MBA programs have research tracks and components, so while it’s not as important as getting into a PhD program it’s still a strike in your favor) and displaying leadership in on-campus organizations. Simpling being a member of the Business Club doesn’t impress anyone; being the vice president and organizing a business school fair does. Being a member of the golf club won’t impress anyone but managing them and taking care of their financial statements will. And so on. It’s not the kind of meaningless participation a lot of HS kids do to put it on their apps.</p>
<p>^ I agree with you that if these activities listed on a resume is meaningless. My point was EC’s can provide opportunities to network with professionals. These activities could lead to internships, but also get the students name out there. However, most importantly build relationships with professors (usually are required to sponsor university clubs) and local business professionals.</p>