Extracurriculars: Proven Strategies to Strengthen Your Student's College Application
DenardExtracurriculars: Proven Strategies to Strengthen Your Student's College Application
Most families think a longer activities list makes a stronger application—admissions officers know it usually means the opposite. Former Elon and Duke admissions officer Denard reveals the difference between involvement and impact, and how to turn an already-existing activity into something a reader remembers. Whether your student has three activities or thirteen, leave with a repeatable framework you can use this weekend.
Speaker Info
Denard
Denard is one of Empowlery’s lead counselors. He has worked as an admissions officer at Elon University and Saint Joseph's University for over a decade. He then transitioned to college counseling directing a Duke University summer program and two independent schools. Denard earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Information Systems from Elon University.
About this Webinar
Most families think a longer activities list makes a stronger application — admissions officers know it usually means the opposite. Join Denard, a former admissions officer for Elon and Duke, for a candid look at how activities actually get read behind closed doors. He'll show you the difference between involvement and impact, how to rewrite a activity description so it survives 150 characters intact, and why the club your student is already in probably has an unclaimed opportunity sitting inside it. Whether your student has three activities or thirteen, this session replaces guesswork with a repeatable framework you can use this weekend. Stay for live Q&A — Denard's answering questions in real time, not from a script.
In this webinar, you'll learn:
- Involvement ≠ Impact: "Club member" and "attended meetings" tell a reader nothing. Denard breaks down the four signals readers are actually trained to spot.
- The 150-Character Rewrite: See real before-and-afters where the exact same activity reads ten times stronger — without inventing a single detail.
- Timing Changes Everything: Senior year can describe impact — it can't generate it. Learn what each grade level should actually be building.