Extracurricular activities are everything you do outside lessons. On an application they show how you use your time when nobody is setting the task. They matter a great deal in some countries and very little in others, so it helps to know where you stand before you worry about them.
What counts
- Clubs, sport, music, theatre, debating.
- Olympiads, competitions and science fairs.
- Volunteering and community work.
- A job, an internship or helping in a family business.
- Responsibilities at home, such as caring for a relative.
- Projects of your own: an app, a blog, research, a small business.
- Courses and reading beyond the school curriculum.
What readers look for
- Commitment: something kept up over years says more than many things tried once.
- Responsibility: what you were trusted with, and what you did with it.
- Results: what changed because you were there.
- Connection: activities that relate to the subject you want to study.
Depth counts for more than number. Two activities you can talk about in detail are stronger than a long list.
How much they matter, by country
- United States: a great deal. Most selective colleges weigh activities alongside grades and essays.
- United Kingdom: mainly when they relate to your subject. Wider reading, competitions and projects in the field carry the most weight.
- Continental Europe: often very little. Many programmes decide on grades alone, though selective ones may ask for a CV or a motivation letter.
Our country guides explain how each system makes its decisions.
How to describe them
Give your role, the time you spent and the result, in plain words. Numbers help where they are true: years, hours a week, people involved. Our guide to building a college portfolio shows how to record each one.
If you are starting late
Do not try to collect activities in the final months. Choose one thing connected to your subject and do it properly: a project, a course, a competition, a piece of independent reading you can discuss. Then describe honestly what you have always done, including the ordinary things. Never invent an activity. It is easy to check and costly when found.
Where Corinia fits
Corinia reads your activities together with your grades, shows which universities value them, and points out what would strengthen your record for the courses you are aiming at.