extracurriculars? (1 Viewer)

[smh123]

How important are extracurriculars and volunteer work for uni applications? Is it worth doing some extracurriculars in Year11-12 despite the heavy workload?

cheers

 

[sida1049]

How important are extracurriculars and volunteer work for uni applications? Is it worth doing some extracurriculars in Year11-12 despite the heavy workload?

cheers

Slim to none. Being school captain, competing in the IMO, sports, music, et cetera might help you get very specific scholarships, but the effort you have to put into those things far outweighs the expected benefit.

Honestly, unless if you actually want to do those things out of your own interest, you should just focus on studying or whatever. Even leisure time is usually more beneficial to you than trying to chase an extra sentence for a resume or scholarship application (that reviewers will pay no attention to half the time).

Academic achievement is far more likely to land you a scholarship than any extra curricular activity alone.

 

[phat_tar]

How important are extracurriculars and volunteer work for uni applications? Is it worth doing some extracurriculars in Year11-12 despite the heavy workload?

cheers

Depends what you want to do. Most unis just look at your ATAR.

 

[jjuunnee]

Extracurriculars only really matter when applying for scholarships, but it's still good to do some so you're not just studying all the time

 

[Frostguard]

They're not exactly that important but I'd do all my extracurriculars now so i don't have to worry about them as much in university or something. It's a great way to meet new friends, make some networking connections and generally just have that experience. I do it so I don't look like a person who isn't interested in community events and spends their entire week at home studying... (which isn't a bad thing, but it's good to go out and do some things every now and then)

 

[sida1049]

Extracurriculars only really matter when applying for scholarships, but it's still good to do some so you're not just studying all the time

Yeah, but even when you're applying for scholarships, most of the time your extracurricular activities don't contribute much anyway.

They're not exactly that important but I'd do all my extracurriculars now so i don't have to worry about them as much in university or something. It's a great way to meet new friends, make some networking connections and generally just have that experience. I do it so I don't look like a person who isn't interested in community events and spends their entire week at home studying... (which isn't a bad thing, but it's good to go out and do some things every now and then)

I'd say extracurricular activities during uni are much more important than high school, and better in every aspect (e.g. networking, meeting interesting people, et cetera). With regards to extracurriculars in uni, be on the look out for competitions too, which are often directly associated with scholarships, prizes, internships and networking events.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I think unless if you're genuinely interested in extracurriculars in high school, they're generally a waste of time if all you're looking for is a few extra words in resumes/applications.

 

[30june2016]

You don't have to do heaps of extracurricular activities for scholarships tbh

e.g. I only did St John ambulance cadets for like a few months in year 11/12 (stopped during trials/externals due to health/workload), never did ANY other extracurriculars from year 7-11 (no sport, music, etc), but it was an extracurricular commitment of 2 hours a week that was enough for me to be able to show that I have teamwork/leadership skills/take initiative etc in interviews

But keep in mind I joined cadets in the first place because it was something I genuinely enjoyed and was willing to take time out for. So yeah if you actually want to do some extracurric then choose wisely!

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As someone who was lucky enough to do well in co-ops, scholarships and cadetship applications, I've realised that as long as you are able to demonstrate both the passion and transferrable skills they're looking for, you will be fine, bc they are trying to gauge your personality from your experiences. You don't HAVE to do extracurriculars - I have friends who talked about how they show teamwork/leadership/time management/conflict resolution etc at school or home, and the interviewers loved it!! ALSO UM YEAH EVEN THOUGH I DID ALRIGHT FOR THE INTERVIEWS, MY ACADEMICS WERE QUITE LACKING SO FOCUS ON UR ACADEMICS!!!!!! NO POINT GETTING SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS IF YOU CAN'T EVEN ACHIEVE THE ATAR NEEDED YO