<p>I know colleges always rave about wanting a well rounded student, but what does well rounded mean? Is it participating in everything in high school, from sports to fine arts? Or, focusing on a perspective like academics, but join activities related to academics?</p>
<p>I’d say a breadth of activities, marked by superior accomplishment – but mostly a lifestyle indicative of an inquiring and engaging spirit. It’s not a list of things to do. It’s what type of person you are. </p>
<p>If you need someone to write down a list, the odds are you are on the path for the latter and not the former.</p>
<p>“Well-rounded” means that you are well-versed in a variety of fields/subjects/interests.</p>
<p>However, too many students join a plethora of activities for the sake of strengthening their college applications. This does not help the college application (especially at selective schools), and can actually hurt your application if the activities don’t show any commitment.</p>
<p>Sometimes, the unexpected does catch eyes- the STEM kid who’s also in plays. The clearly humanities gal who still takes AP calc- and excels. OP, your question centers on high school. That’s only one component.</p>
<p>Colleges rave about wanting well rounded students? That’s news to me.</p>
<p>They don’t want to see you focused on academics most or all of the time.</p>
<p>^ True, but only for the most selective colleges, and those colleges seem to prefer specialists over generalists.</p>