Question About Extracurriculars and Volunteering

Applying to College
1

Hello everyone,

I am currently a high school sophomore about halfway through my first semester. My course load consists of two AP and four Honors classes with an unweighted GPA of 4.0 for last year and this year (so far). I would have done at least one AP class my freshman year, but my school does not offer this. Similarly, few APs are offered for sophomores. If it helps, my intention is to go through with the IB program.

I’ve been a bit anxious about college applications as I did not participate in any clubs or similar activities during my freshman year. This year, I’m in Art Club, CSF (if you’d call it a club), IB Club, Multicultural Club, and Political Science Club. I plan on joining Key Club (service-related club, if what I’ve heard is correct) next semester and doing volunteer work at a hospital on weekends and during the summer.

I understand that colleges look for quality over quantity in extracurriculars, but I’m not terribly involved in any of my clubs. The colleges I’m hoping to apply to are UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara, although I’m certainly willing to look at more.

Could a lot of volunteer work (and perhaps some kind of internship) make up for not-so-stellar involvement in clubs? And just how separate must “volunteer work” be from “extracurriculars”?

Thanks!

2

Honestly, without leadership positions, being a part of the generic clubs (Key Club, FBLA, all those sorts of things) won’t do much. ECs aren’t about who has the most hours, or the most memberships, or any of that. Do ECs that you’re passionate about and that relate to what you’d maybe like to study in college. Maybe try to split your time between volunteer work, in-school curricular activities, and more independent projects. It’s really up to you though. Just find some fun stuff.

3

Read “How To Be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport for some insight about how to think about ECs.