College Admissions: Extracurriculars & "Additional Information"

Besides the basic information that cannot be amended, there is a lot to consider when it comes to what to include on your college application. For the purposes of this post, the focus will be on all extracurricular activities as well as the "Additional Information" section.

Less is more, particularly if the few clubs and activities that you were involved with happened to be long ranged and ones in which you managed to work your way to any potential cabinet position. When choosing what extracurriculars you want to include, there must definitely be some diversity. For example, it's great to have a few honor society titles but it is just as important to show that you are a well rounded individual by including the not so common activities. For me, that not-so-common activity was a decade of playing the accordion--not to mention the 80,000 word novel I had completed at the time.

Here are the types of extracurriculars you should be sure to include:

• Organizations that you started and kept running.
• Activities that you've been involved with for two years or more.
• Clubs in which you hold a cabinet position.
• Any and all long term volunteering that was interactive. This means no library volunteering if all you did was restock the shelves.
• Honor societies.
• Long range projects that were self initiated.
• Sports and recreations whether on campus or within the community.

Be sure not to include many activities that you weren't really all that active in, or that you really didn't do much for. If you are involved in a fan club, be sure that your club does activities that involve the community, or at the very least your school. If it doesn't, I would pass on including it in your activities--even if you were in it for four years and hold a cabinet position.

What about the things that don't really fit into any section of the application? For that, my friends, you have the very well known "Additional Information" segment. 

Keep in mind that many people consider the "Additional Information" section the area where students beg and plead to be accepted. There is a somewhat "grovelling" feel to it, but if you are serious about that particular school then you must pull out all the stops. This doesn't mean that you whine and make excuses throughout the limited space, rather you make claims of any special circumstances, anything that you feel will strengthen your application that doesn't fit so comfortably in any other section of the application.

This is where you can make mention of the special accomplishments you have made and any situations that may affected your performance in one way or another. One of the things to remember when it comes to the additional information section is to keep it short and sweet. Don't bother with impressive vocabulary or complex syntax--just get right to the point. Do consider your organizing principle though; if there are a lot of situations (excuses?) that need to be mentioned, be sure to include other types of information between them. You don't want to overwhelm the admissions officers with excuses, even if they really aren't excuses.

Hopefully this was helpful!