What matters most to college admissions officers?
Most colleges across the country in 2025 use holistic review. That means academics lead the decision, then readers consider essays, recommendations, activities, and character to understand your impact and potential. There’s no fixed formula or percentage. But here’s what we do know: strong grades and a solid course load open the door. Activities and essays help readers differentiate applicants with similar academics.
So, how do you choose extracurriculars that boost your college application the most?
Picking the right mix
Today, competitive college candidates always have extracurriculars. So it really comes down to your choices. What admissions officers will be evaluating is the quality and depth of those activities as they relate to the whole student.
So what has the biggest impact? When we say “impact,” we mean the difference your involvement made. Did you lead? Mentor? Raise money? Start something new? Influence others? Solve a problem? These specific outcomes will help illustrate why your participation matters and make your extracurriculars stand out.
Of course, if there were “shoo-in” extracurriculars for college applicants, then everyone would do them. The truth is that the best extracurriculars are unique to each student. Unlike academic statistics, extracurriculars convey to admissions that you are a real person with unique talents and great potential.
Keep in mind, depth and impact always beat sheer volume. The Common Application allows up to ten activities, and you do not need to fill in all ten. (Quality really is better than quantity here.) So focus on the activities that you can sustain over time and best tell your story.
If you have already chosen your extracurriculars, you can check out your candidate competitiveness score from Empowerly. This data-driven tool will give you a specific score for your extracurriculars as part of your overall Empowerly Score and will help you gain a better understanding of where you have the strongest foothold and areas you may need to focus more on.
Rise to the top
Leadership and impact matter. Titles help, too, when they reflect real responsibility. But contribution and character also carry weight, with or without a title. For instance, one student organized translation help for a local clinic in a bilingual neighborhood. Another student built a tutoring rota and actually measured the impact on each student’s outcomes. These details are gold!
Why? Rising to a leadership role demonstrates a long-term commitment. It shows admissions officers that you are responsible, that you can work in a team setting, and have a good work ethic.
Competitions help when you show results. While they don’t necessarily show leadership, they provide evidence of your hard work to attain winner status. If you do succeed in earning an award, be sure to quantify your impact in the description.
Avoid listing one-off activities or low-commitment entries that require minimal effort unless they connect to a larger effort. Prioritize sustained responsibility and outcomes.
“Real-world” extracurriculars
Impact can happen anywhere: school clubs, family responsibilities, or even paid work. What else? These activities can include:
- Internships
- Summer programs
- Part-time jobs
- Church groups
- Community organizations
Any activity that requires you to sacrifice your time away from school and regularly interact in a “real world” setting (typically with working adults) provides you with valuable experiences you won’t otherwise access. For more ideas of activities to try, check out this article. Impact can happen anywhere, including school clubs, family responsibilities, and paid work. Admissions leaders encourage colleges to value ethical engagement and steady contributions.
Looking for structured mentorship and deliverables? If you want to knock it out of the park, consider Empowerly’s Startup Internship Program. The SIP team will help you get a foot in the door to educational internship opportunities. Learn more here:
Tell a story
Your extracurriculars communicate your unique skills as well as personality. You want the record of your time in high school to fit a broader narrative about you. This helps college admissions offices see how all of your accomplishments and interests fit together, and why you are such an impressive candidate.
Empowerly calls this an “activity thread” to describe the way that you tie your extracurriculars to your overall candidacy to tell a story.
For example, if you’re interested in environmental science, your thread might include Science Olympiad, founding a composting club, volunteering for local park cleanups, and interning at a sustainability nonprofit. All together, these show consistent passion.
Quick reflection prompts for your activities:
- What motivated me to start this?
- What challenges did I face?
- What did I learn about myself or others?
- What change or result came from my work?
The ideal application will reference your extracurricular experience in your essays and interviews as one consistent, powerful impression. In other words, aim for the best version of yourself. Empowerly can show you exactly how to get the most out of those extracurriculars on your college applications!
Stand out
After admissions departments review thousands of applications, there are certain stand-out students. These are candidates with well-established extracurriculars that leave the admissions officers with a memorable, person-like impression of the student. Here are some rockstar student profiles that can catch the eye of admissions:
The Renaissance Student:
Some students show that they have diverse talents, like simultaneously participating in theater productions, the student council, and science competitions.
The Virtuoso:
Other students may show a well-developed and specific competency, such as a musician who plays in recitals, writes sheet music, and performs with the marching band.
The Whiz:
Find your niche. For instance, future rocket scientists who simultaneously participate in the Science, Math, and Chess clubs and compete in robotics competitions.
The Prodigy:
Multi-letter athletes who are slated for greatness at the collegiate level.
The Saint:
Students who selflessly commit themselves to their community.
The Crusader:
Passionate students willing to fight for a good cause.
The Builder:
The one who improves an existing program and shows the metric.
The Specialist:
Go deep in one field and share the outcomes with others.
The Community Anchor:
You handle ongoing family or community roles and document time and results.
The Competitor:
This student trains toward specific rankings and reflects on learning.
The Creative Producer:
Always makes work that reaches an audience.
The Unicorn:
All of the above? Students who speak six languages, are competitive dog sledders, or can recite Othello from memory… Well, not these things exactly, but you get the idea. College admissions officers know that the most unexpected perspectives add value to an academic environment, so let your weirdness show!
Still looking?
If you’re still looking for an extracurricular and none of these suggestions resonate, consider creating your own. Make the most of the resources available to you as a student and recruit members from your school or clubs!
Starting a club or publication, bringing a sport or event to your school, organizing in your community, all showcase a unique personality. In one fell swoop, you can demonstrate leadership, creativity, vision, drive, and character. This is also pure gold for your essays and interviews.
However, be careful of the amount of time this will take. Focus on the impact you create through the activity you set up, in a realistic timeline. Most of all, don’t kickstart a club or found a chapter just for the sake of putting it on your app. Likely, this path will take the most effort to get started, and results are not guaranteed.
Ready to work with the experts?
Empowerly’s Guide to Extracurriculars is a free download that explains Empowerly’s expert approach to getting the most out of your extracurriculars and creating a winning college application. Or, book a free consultation to continue the conversation about how we can help you thrive this year and beyond. We’re here to help!
Originally published July 18, 2022. Updated October 2, 2025.
