Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education. They are a way for students to participate and spend their free time in something that they enjoy. Extra curricular activities are also a great thing to put on their college resumes in order to help in the admissions process. But should colleges look at extra curricular activities more than grades?

I feel that in high school, extra curricular activities should be viewed at more than just the grades themselves. If you have a straight A student that doesn’t get involved in anything after school, they won’t be a benefit to the school by participating in any of the activities it has to offer whether it is sports or clubs. However, in my opinion, if there is a student that has decent grades but he/she gets very involved in school activities, colleges should also consider them. The student shows that they can balance the responsibilities of these different extracurricular activities and still manage to maintain their grades. A college is going to know that the student will have a positive effect on the campus and get involved in the school outside of just academics.

 Colleges should look at grades but to a certain extant. Not every student is great at school. Extra curricular should be a way to help the students who excel at other things other than academics to get the same opportunity to get into a good university. A College Board study reveals who students that participate in extra curricular activities have a higher SAT score than the student’s who don’t. According to college board.com, study suggests that important reasoning abilities measured by tests like the SAT are developed both in and out of the classroom.

Extra curricular activities can express the individual qualities of a student that grades may not. For instance, if a student seems involved, this might mean that the student is dedicated to their work if they are able to manage several clubs or sports and maintain a decent grade point average. They can also show a students leadership. Every university wants someone who has a quality that separates them from the rest of the applicants and leadership is a major quality that colleges should look for. It shows they can take the responsibility to successfully lead a team or club. It shows that the student has great time management skills as well because they to fit school and clubs and sports into their schedule. In college, students are supposed to manage their time wisely between all the work that is necessary. If students can handle these responsibilities in high school, they can easily transfer the work ethic to college which should have an effect on the admissions process. It can also bring out the student’s character. Community service projects really bring out someone’s character. If they are constantly giving back to the community, this should have a big effect on their admissions to college.

Colleges are always looking for well rounded students that have multiple positive characteristics. A student who is successful in multiple aspects has a greater chance to succeed in the college environment. Although grades are very important, I think universities should also consider at their activities outside of school because they express the individual.