Ranking the BEST Extracurricular Activities (for College Apps)

Do you agree with my rankings? From my experience working with students on their college applications, I've found that certain activities tend to impress admissions officers better than others. Leave a comment if you agree/disagree!

Check out our TikTok!
Follow us on Instagram!
Need 1 on 1 college admissions support?

[thecollegetreehouse]

I tested it out for fun and had 3 interview invites within a few days! But I'm premed so I don't need them tho... any takers?

[Ash-blvm]

It’s sad that most of the upper tier activities barring olympiads are all filled with nepotism/elitism. For example, a lot of ISEF projects are faked and actually created using connections etc., (also some regions are unfairly disadvantaged, and regions that are more wealthy are able to qualify more individuals) getting real company internships can be hard but someone with connections can get one quite easily, starting a nonprofit as a high schooler is fine but often expensive and most of them are actually harmful to society overall as they usually replicate an existing organization or die out after the student graduates high school.

Most people who get into the S tier schools don’t have S tier activities.

Also musical instrument as C tier? Making all-state, national youth orchestras, etc. are all S/A tier in my eyes… (especially since you put varsity sports as B tier lol)

This is just my experience so far!

[randombaguette]

I’m in Princeton and my only extracurriculars were Varsity Soccer, Varsity Lacrosse, and a Part Time Job. For those of you that are doing all that nerdy stuff, good luck to you 😂

[burnsr]

The fact that you put Cornell and Dartmouth in a lower tier than Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, and offered no segue category between SUNY/OSU and community colleges undermines the value of your insights.

[BobaFett]

You’re off the mark on Boy Scouts, especially if you make Eagle Scout; only 1/10 of the people in BSA ever make it to that rank. And the service project combined with leadership is why a lot of people at West Point, Naval Academy, and USAFA are Eagle Scouts.

[bean]

1. did someone drop water on your head?
2. Nonprofit organizations often face bigger challenges and fail more than normal businesses, even when managed by experienced people. Expecting a high school student to create and run a nonprofit can be unrealistic, unless they are rich, as they will have little to no impact. This is like starting an app with no downloads. They look awful on college apps.

[advancedstudy]

Hello! I have been studying Japanese for 4 years, and passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1, which is the hardest recognized exam for Japanese by the government. Where would you rank that? I personally would go with C tier.

What about Youtube channels too?

[luvella]

I've been playing music my entire life. Played piano for 14 years, clarinet for 8. First chair in my band, I play in a youth symphony, my cities school of the arts, and my towns adult aged community band. Is this good? I don't know

[MoyuGuy]

How is dual enrollment so low? Are you talking about getting into a top college with an educational degree? Like if your doing stem your gonna need some hard classes. Real analysis, linear algebra, abstract algebra, calc three, differential equations. You cant really just peak with BC

[hmogaming]

So I live in Dubai but traveled to NYC to complete an MUN there what would you rank that?

[jojo-idrv]

How about winning first place in DECA, does that make a better impact than C?

[Rkmeier]

I got a question are these extracurriculars good if the following
Boy Scouts. Eagle at 14 with 70 merit badges and counting, along with brotherhood in the away, and leading a bunch of stuff, and very active in it on a sectional level. I have participated in two national advents,
MMUN
I did it for three years and on my third year I made a resolution that was good enough to get the UN to notice and add parts of it
4h
Active in my club
Chess Club
President of our chess club at school
Sports
I do JV cross country where I am at Captain, along with varsity soccer and varsity track and field
Theater
I am in Theater, and I’m part of the IBS
CSF
I am a CSF junior member and I’ve qualified all semesters. I have a 3.8.
I have others mainly political ones, but I don’t wanna start a debate here. I know a lot of them are c tear on paper. But especially for the scouting and MMUN one I am active on a national level, and I have proposed stuff that changed the world. On the scouting part, I’ve met people from around the world as well as served as a sectional secretary, for my area, along with representing our lodge, and our troop on a national level

[KtKmusic]

why does it feel like bro is yelling at me

[rko]

Which category of schools would Boston University be in?

[IloveThatArtandMusic]

Hello! I really liked this video. I was wondering if you could do an English version, with Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, erc.

[speedyjail]

If I manage to get a internship at a local clinic, would that fall under a company internship or a research internship?

[Sepo]

What about publishing research papers?

[comradeidiotstick]

Where would a congressional campaign internship fall in relation to a company or research internship?

[azmayeenahanaf]

I wish to study economics/business related subjects like finance, business analytics at excellent universities.I won bronze award at world economics cup which is a international competition where best economics students from 50 countries participated.How will this impact my application to top universities?

[mayliu]

Hi. If you are a member of FBLA and on your sophomore year with a great team of seniors and win at nationals. Do you even need to join FBLA junior year with a weaker team composed of freshmen and compete again or should you just move on to other activities?