How to Write the “Extracurricular Essay”
- Blue Admission
- May 8
- 5 min read
5 Easy Steps to Writing Your Best Extracurricular Essay
In the college application process, as you apply to more and more universities, you will likely see the similar "themes" repeated throughout the essay prompts you encounter.
While phrased in various ways, the “Extracurricular Essay” is one of these common themes.
Examples of “Extracurricular Essay” prompts include:
"Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences."
"Please describe a meaningful activity or experience outside of school that has been important to you."
“Think of all the activities, both in and outside of school, that you have been involved with during high school. Which one are you most proud of and why?”
On the surface, these questions seem simple enough – pick an activity and describe it, right?
Not quite.
Consider why colleges and universities are asking this question.
At the most basic level, they want more insight into which of the many extracurricular activities present on your resume is the most important to you.
Going a little deeper, they want to understand better why an activity matters to you, how it has played an essential part in your life, and what your involvement in it reveals about your passion, character, and personal growth.
Want a simple way to organize your ideas and brainstorm for the “Extracurricular Essay?" You're in the right place!
One pro-tip before you work through this exercise. If you haven’t already created a resume for the purpose of university admissions, this is a good time to do so.
You can read more about resume writing for university admission and find a free downloadable template to get started on yours here.
Let's jump into these 5 Easy Steps to Writing the Best Extracurricular Essay.
Step One: List Building
To begin, prepare to make a couple of different lists. To make this easier, having your resume or activity list available is best.
List One: Significance to Me
Review your resume or activity list and identify 2-3 activities that feel the most significant to you. What does “significance” mean? Really, the definition is up to you. Generally speaking, it means identifying the 2-3 activities that matter most to you on a personal level .
Maybe an activity is significant to you because you feel most successful with it. Maybe you feel like it has been the activity most central to your personal growth throughout high school.
In your brainstorming document, list the activities that feel most significant to you now.
List Two: Significance to Larger Community
Just as you did above, review your resume or activity section. This time, choose 2-3 activities that are most significant to a larger community.
Larger communities could include your school community, the community at church, your city or state, or even a global community.
Find yourself choosing the same activities that you added to the previous list? That’s OK! Don’t worry about choosing the same activity for multiple lists. Keep going!
In your brainstorming document, list the activities that feel most significant to a larger community now.
List Three: Significance to Academics, Career, and/or Major
Finally, repeat this brainstorming activity by identifying 2-3 extracurriculars that are most significant to your academic interests, career interests, or intended university major.
In your brainstorming document, list the activities that feel most significant to academic interests, career interests, or intended university major now.
Step Two: Zoom In
The best extracurricular essays focus not on the number of hours you invested in the activity, but on the stories, moments, and lessons that left a lasting, transformative impression on you.
One of the most effective ways to achieve this and make your "Extracurricular Essay" stand out is to zoom in — pick a specific moment or experience rather than trying to summarize everything you’ve done. Even a seemingly small or niche example that demonstrates the work you did or the success you had can make for a powerful essay. The key? Zoom in on the personal and be specific.
For Step Two, review List One: Significance to Me, which you completed above in Step One. Work through the following exercise, writing your response to each prompt below (1-4) for your chosen activity :
Give Context. In a sentence or two, summarize why this activity stood out from the many others on your resume and took a place on List One: Significance to Me in Step One.
Zoom In. Your involvement in this activity likely includes many things -- events, shared moments with peers, actions taken to solve problems, competitions, etc.
Reflect on them now.
Zoom in on just ONE memory from your time with this extracurricular activity that embodies its significance to you.
Be detailed and specific in your description of this memory as you add it to your brainstorming document now.
Be Specific. Getting into the details of the story means that your essay becomes deeply personal -- a story only you could tell.
What specific problems did you personally face, and how did you overcome them?
What specific problems did you solve independently or with a group through this activity?
What specific skills or lessons did you learn?
Get Emotional. The activities we participate in are important to us for deeper reasons that stretch beyond winning competitions or completing required community service hours.
How has it shaped you or influenced your future goals?
Why does this activity matter so much to you?
What emotions do you associate with this activity? Again, be specific.
As you work through the exercise above, you may find it difficult to answer all of them for each activity. Don’t go easy on yourself here.
Spending time to really think and reflect on the prompts above, the significance of an extracurricular to you, and how your participation has shaped who you are right now will help you elevate your “Extracurricular Essay” from basic to extraordinary.
Step Three: Draft
Using the outline created through your brainstorming in Step Two, you are ready to create a rough draft of an "Extracurricular Essay."
Like with all rough drafts, don’t worry about word count or perfect grammar. Focus on drafting an "Extracurricular Essay" that zooms in on the specific examples of the extracurricular's impact on you and tells a story so full of specifics and details that only you could be writing it. Also, focus on building into your rough draft the emotional connection you have to the activity and how it has shaped you in an essential way.
Step Five: Repeat
Repeat the steps above for at least one extracurricular activity from each of the three lists you created – List One: Significance to Me, List Two: Significance to Larger Community, List Three: Significance to Academics, Career, and/or Major.
This will ensure that you have multiple options to choose from each time you encounter this common essay topic, and you can select the best response from the set.
Final Thoughts
The "Extracurricular Essay" is a common prompt used in the university application process. As such, the time and energy you invest in early drafts will repay you later.
Focus on drafting “Extracurricular Essay” options that highlight your personal growth and any impact or contribution that your participation made on communities to which you belong.
Want more essay writing help? Blue Admission can help with more helpful blog postings and one-on-one advising.
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