Your extracurricular activities play a significant role on your college application. In fact, for most selective colleges, they’re the next most important factor after your academic record and test scores. And without test scores, your activities play an even greater role!

Did you know that colleges – as well as your school counselor – actually give your extracurricular commitment a score, almost like a GPA? We shared that little-known “Activity GPA” information in a recent blog – Common App: The Hidden Factors. And without an extracurricular GPA at least equal to your academic GPA, admission to the college of your dream may remain a dream!

Excelling in high school academics and on an admissions test simply isn’t enough to differentiate one student from the next because virtually all accepted students at selective colleges are cut from the same GPA/Test Score mold. What’s the first way that schools differentiate? Extracurricular participation.

It’s what you do outside of the classroom that opens a window into your character, how you’ll impact your college community as well as the world after college. Your activities show better than anything else what it is that you value, what’s important to you – in short, who you are. What you do and what you accomplish while doing it makes a very big difference in college admissions, potentially tipping the scale in your favor.

Do you know which aspects of extracurricular participation and achievement really make a difference? Listen to my college admissions industry interview by Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin to get the answers.