The message popped up as I scrolled through the posts on Facebook group for mothers of teenagers. In the middle of a general freak-out about her son starting high school, a mother launched into a three-paragraph panic attack about the fact that her kid — who she described as bright and a good student — wasn't really doing the whole extracurriculars thing. She explained that while she was glad that he was on the school soccer team, she worried that it "wasn't enough" and it might jeopardize his chances of getting into college.
In the replies to her message, countless other moms chimed in with advice (often misguided), echoing her anxiety that extracurricular activities are a make-or-break part of the college application process.
After reading about 50 of these messages, I couldn't contain myself any more. After I established my credentials (I have a doctorate in higher education, I've worked in higher education for over 20 years, including as an admissions counselor, director of student services, a faculty member, and a college vice-president), I made a simple plea: Parents, please chill out when it comes to pushing your high school students to do extracurricular activities!
When it comes to college admissions, most parents worry too much.
When it comes to talking about college admissions, it's important to first understand a really essential truth: Most colleges admit most of their applicants. There are nearly 4,000 degree granting colleges and universities in the US and a majority of them admit at least 65% of the students who apply. By some estimates, there are at least 1,000 colleges that have open admissions policies that mean that all students who apply can be admitted. If this seems surprising, there's a good reason for that. The most selective institutions, the schools that admit less than 20% of their applicants, tend to get a disproportionate amount of press coverage during college admissions season. It seems like every year there is a story about how few students get accepted to Harvard or Stanford, but rarely stories that report the good news about all the kids who get into all of the schools they applied to.
The other reason? Well, sometimes colleges and universities don't want to advertise the fact that they admit most of their applicants. As Jay (last name withheld be request), an admissions director at a large private college in the Midwest, explained, "The truth is that we admit almost 90% of our applicants. Any kid with a 3.0 GPA or higher is going to get in. But we don't say that because there is a fear that we'll be seen as less desirable to students and parents if they think we're too easy to get into."
The good news is that parents and students can find out the admit rates for all the schools they might be considering at the government's College Navigator site. Checking out the admit rates for some of the colleges and universities a family might be considering can often really reduce the "will my kid get in" anxiety.
Extracurriculars may not count at all in an admissions decision.
For the majority of high school students applying to the majority of colleges, the two biggest criteria for getting that "you're in!" email or letter are strictly academic. "The first thing we look at is that the student meets the minimum for high school coursework (four years English, four years math, two years social studies, two years foreign language, three years of science). The second thing we look at is the unweighted GPA," shares Daniel S., an admissions counselor from a large public university in Southwest. "What a lot of families don't realize is that, for my university, most of the admissions decisions are made by the computer. I get about 10,000 applications a year from my territory but I probably only actually read about 200 of the applications, the ones that are on the borderline. For the other 9,800 their extracurriculars played zero role in their acceptance or denial."
Even for schools where every application is read by a person or committee, extracurriculars may not factor too much into the admissions decision. Lori R., an admissions counselor for a selective liberal arts college that admits about 30% of its applicants, explained how she considers the role of extracurriculars: "Well, like almost everywhere, grades and strength of academic is the main thing. We also strongly consider the essays in the process. I would say that letters of recommendation are probably next on the list and extracurriculars are near the bottom of the list. The exception to that is if the extracurriculars are truly noteworthy. Making the swim team? That doesn't really stand out. Made the Olympic team? OK, now you have my attention!"
Some admissions counselors even intentionally give lower weight to extracurriculars in the process, including an admissions rep who declined to be named but who works for a university that all college basketball fans have heard of, who shared, "I try not to factor in extracurriculars because I worry about the equity issues. For example, what if a student doesn't do school clubs or sports because he or she has to work to help their family? Should I be more impressed with a student who was on a champion robotics team than a student who wasn't because their school was too small or too underfunded to support a robotics team? Also, it's just too hard to compare apples to apples, knowing that some kids will attend two club meetings just to add it to their resume and some kids are deeply involved."
There are some exceptions when it comes to extracurriculars.
OK, so far we've learned that extracurricular activities might not matter that much in the college admissions process, so we should also note that sometimes it can matter in some surprising ways.
First, for students who are hoping to go to the ultra selective schools, extracurricular activities might carry more weight in the admissions decision, given that nearly all the students who get admitted will have impeccable academic records. Katie C., who worked for an Ivy League school for 10 years, spills the tea: "The starting point for us was obviously the grades and test scores. But given that we denied students with perfect 4.0 GPAs, great grades wasn't usually enough. We did look at the rest of their file and looked for evidence that the student was going to bring something really amazing or unique to the table. It wasn't so much about them having tons of extracurriculars, it was about high achievement. I didn't want breadth. I wanted depth. I wanted the science club kid who already had a patent pending or published research, not the kid in 10 clubs."
On the flip side, extracurriculars actually counted against some students that Daniel (the admissions rep from the large public university) turned down for admission. "If I was looking at a student with a 2.6 GPA and tons of extracurriculars, I'd actually be more hesitant to admit them. We want to admit students who are going to make it to graduation and I'd worry that kid focused more on the outside of class stuff than the academics. Coming to a big school like this, which has a party reputation, students who didn't prioritize school in high school can find way too much fun stuff to do here and you wonder 'hmm, will this kid actually go to class?'"
Here's why students should do extracurricular activities.
All that being said, as a mother of high schooler and a higher education expert, I do actually think kids should be encouraged to pursue some extracurricular activities.
I know, I know! I just spent many paragraphs explaining why parents need to not worry about them from a college admissions standpoint. And I still agree with myself (and my higher ed colleagues who weighed in) about that! What can get lost in the discussion about extracurriculars like sports, clubs, student government, and more is the actual value they can provide to high school kids.
Extracurriculars can be a great way for kids to make friends, to keep going with a sport they love or to try a new sport, and to even gain some practical skills. Trying out different activities can be a terrific way for teens to learn more about what their passions and interests may be, including even getting started on the path to a future major or career. Many a lawyer used to be a on the high school debate team, after all!
Ultimately, extracurriculars can make high school more fun and help students find hobbies and interests they might love. So ease up on the pressure to do 10 clubs to look good on a college application and celebrate extracurriculars as a way to have fun and enjoy being a teenager!
