
The 3 best college counselor tips from a Former Top 20 US University Admission Director to build your high school resume with the best high school extracurriculars to stand out in university admission every single time.
I find myself saying these three weird things to students all the time:
“Level up. Layer in. Double down.”
Why? Because here’s the truth.
You don’t need to have wildly unique extracurricular activities or published research to “win” in the university admission process.
As a college counselor and former highly-selective admission director at a U.S. National Top 20 University, I have read thousands of admission applications, twice that number of college essays, and the same number of high school resumes.
The most important characteristic of stand-out high school extracurriculars is simple: impact.
So, how will you demonstrate your impact in the high school clubs and high school extracurricular activities? How will you go beyond surface-level membership and uninspired leadership roles?
The answer is as simple as the question.
Level up. Layer in. Double down.
Read on for the 3 extracurricular tactics that will make your application stand out and help you create the most effective high school resume and Common Application activity section to get you admitted!
Tactic 1: Level Up
When you begin high school, join lots of clubs. Stay busy after school, explore, and experiment. Your job in this early stage of high school is to uncover what you enjoy doing by leveling up your overall engagement.
Then, take it one step further.
Let’s say you realize you really love your school’s robotics team. Here’s what “leveling up” might look like as you commit to several years of participation with the team:
Year One: You first get involved and see the potential of the group to succeed and your role in that effort. Maybe you initially try to help the team Secure Sponsorships and Partnerships. Help the team obtain funding or mentorships by reaching out to local businesses or alumni to provide resources for advanced projects.
Year Two: Lead a Special Project: Take charge of designing and building a unique robot for an external competition (e.g., FIRST Robotics, VEX, or BattleBots) or a specific real-world application, such as a robot that helps with tasks at school or supports a local cause.
Year Three: Compete on a Larger Scale: Help the team qualify for state or national-level competitions by refining strategies, improving collaboration, and pushing technical boundaries.
Year Four: Assume a Leadership Role: If you're not already in a leadership position, strive to become the team captain, project manager, or programming lead. This demonstrates initiative and gives you the chance to mentor others.
With a four-year progression of leveling up your engagement and learning process, imagine the story you would be able to tell in a college essay, high school resume, or college interview about your time in robotics! Robotics alone might not be special or unique, but the story YOU tell about your engagement and impact over time is.
Tactic 2: Layer In
Some of the best extracurricular activities and high school resumes I have seen are developed by students “layering in” experiences at the intersection of two or more personal interest areas.
I’ll give you two examples.
Student A: Highly interested in chess and had played since elementary school. Also interested in STEM fields as college major options, most notable computer science and AI.
First Experience: Joins the school’s Chess Club and begins building a group of friends connected by their shared hobby.
Next Experience: Joins the club’s competitive team and sees some success at the regional, then state, and then national level. Over time, the student has also started reading about chess strategy, the history of the game, etc. A hobby is now turning into something deeper.
Next Experience: Reads about DeepBlue and sees their other interest—computer science— connected directly to their love of chess. Leads a chess club meeting where members analyze their games using software or develop a simple chess algorithm.
Next Experience: Organizes a “Computer Science and AI Connection” workshop on how artificial intelligence plays a role in modern chess. Works with club leaders to create a summer program for younger students.
Student B: Interested in pursuing a career in journalism and writes for the school’s newspaper and yearbook. Also, deeply creative fine artist.
First Experience: Joins the school’s newspaper and yearbook clubs. In newspaper, finds a career path through the exploration of writing, reporting, etc. In yearbook, enjoys the creative design and photography elements. First time experiencing photography and loves it.
Next Experience: Spends a summer in part of the developing world volunteering at an orphanage, learning about the issues the country is facing in caring for these children.
Next Experience: Commits to return to the orphanage the following summer for a leadership role teaching English to middle school aged children in the orphanage. Makes plan to incorporate photography into the experience the following summer and creates a photojournalism story to document the experience and bring awareness to the orphans’ needs.
Next Experience: Works with the orphanage leadership to create a marketing and fundraising campaign for educational, medical, and personal supplies for the children.
Once you find something you really love doing or that truly inspires you, layer in new experiences. Let the “process of learning” guide your next steps and look for ways to combine one or more areas of personal interest together. You would be surprised how much fun, and more importantly, how much impact you are able to have!
Tactic 3: Double Down
Where layering in is all about combining two or more interest areas, doubling down is about taking a more singular focus. Sometimes, students find the thing they care most about—the thing they can’t imagine going without, the most important activity for them.
When that happens, employ tactic 3. Double down.
Leadership
If you find one high school club, sport, artistic endeavor, academic activity, etc. that you really care about, perhaps consider doubling down on your engagement and impact in this one thing rather than trying to join too many different things. To make this successful, you must be action and result oriented.
Advice: Explore formal leadership roles. Why? Because when you really care about something, you will take action.
Run for team captain or take on a formal leadership role. (If no formal leadership roles exist, read more here on the power of informal leadership.)
Organize team-building activities, design practice schedules, and mentor younger students.
Create goals, mission, vision, values for the organization and a plan to inspire the larger membership to work with you in achieving them.
Community Impact
Think about how you could double down on your commitment to one thing and make an impact outside just your school community.
Example: If you’re singularly committed to swimming, start a swim clinic for younger kids in your community, teach swimming, create a summer swimming safety course, create a fundraiser for your swim team or another charitable organization related to swimming.
Example: If you’re into politics, reach out to local elected leaders and ask to join their campaign teams, register voters, canvas neighborhoods and knock on doors for a candidate or issue you care about, get involved in your city government through youth councils with the mayor, look for non-profits related to politics and get involved.
Advocacy
Find ways to become an advocate.
Advocate: Someone who publicly supports, defends, or promotes a cause, policy, idea, or group of people. Advocacy can take many forms, such as speaking out on an issue, providing resources or education, or working to bring about change.
Women’s issues, voting issues, healthcare access issues, ethical issues, and more.
What do you care about the most?
What issues have had a direct impact on your life or the lives of those you care most about?
Level up. Layer in. Double down.
The biggest takeaway in planning the best high school clubs and extracurricular activities?
The 3 extracurricular tactics that will make your application stand out all focus on one thing: impact.
Surface-level membership in high school clubs doesn’t work.
Uninspired leadership roles are one-dimensional. Just a title with no impact from your time in a role is not going to do the admission trick.
Importantly, you can make a significant impact on yourself, your high school community, and your larger community that makes you an extracurricular stand-out. You don’t have to have major awards, national recognition, and scientific discoveries attributed to your research! You just have to care enough and take time to consider how you can employ the level up, layer in, and double down approaches.
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