Colleges love seeing students who have a signifcant engagement in activities outside the school – that is often much more valuable than participation in school sports or clubs, because it demonstrates initiative as well as genuine commitment. It’s one thing to sign up for what is offered; another to actively look for or create something beyond what it is offered.
BUT kids should not be doing those outside activities simply because they think it looks good for college-- nor should parents be pushing their kids in that direction. For one thing it may backfire – and for kids who truly have an outside passion or interest, it doesn’t always work out to be a benefit in college admissions. The outside activities can cause scheduling conflicts or distractions, so it can be a mixed bag.
My DD benefited in college admissions because of the outside stuff… but it also made her a very lopsided candidate because of the adjustments that needed to be made to her schedule to accommodate travel abroad. It was never a matter of college resume boosting – to the contrary, when she wanted to study abroad in high school I told her that I would support her, but that her plans could very likely hurt her chances of getting into a top college.