Of all the ways to make yourself more appealing to colleges, few are more enjoyable and effective than taking an activity to its reasonable and productive extreme. Find something you like and get into it.
It’s virtually impossible not to like a kid who talks about how many hours she’s spent in the backyard hurling softballs to her dad in an effort to improve her curveball.
The student who works part time at a hamburger stand and writes an essay about how much he revels in the “hamburger pandemonium” that is the busiest day of the summer has a spirit to him that colleges know will be contagious.
The student who writes about how he attended a local book club just to understand more about 100 Years of Solitude, who guesses that he was the youngest attendee by 40 years, doesn’t need a high SAT verbal score to convince colleges that he loves to read and discuss literature.
Is there any doubt that this kid would love being a mechanical engineering major?
And the kid who plays guitar in a 70s rock cover band, a band that includes his dad on the bass, has a pretty great start in response to a college interviewer’s question, “Can you tell me a little about yourself?”
How you spend your time outside of class shouldn’t be a strategic decision designed to impress colleges. Just find things that you really enjoy doing, hopefully in ways that let you develop or explore a talent. Don’t just participate for the sake of listing it on a college application. Be into what you’re doing.