Some students feel so much pressure to get into the “right” college that they want to make sure they do everything “right”—down to their extracurricular or co-curricular activities.
On our application, we ask for up to four activities that are the most important to you. Your academics don’t shape your whole personal context, and our goal is to understand more about who you are and how you spend your time outside of schoolwork.
Some students find room for many activities in high school; others prefer to concentrate on just a few. Some students may spend significant time on family, work,01 There is another section on the MIT application where you can describe any jobs you've had. or other obligations. Different communities across the country—and across the world—have different clubs, organizations, and physical spaces for students to explore their interests, and some students focus their attention on activities that aren’t formal programs or events. There are no “right” answers on the MIT application; we want you to be yourself so we can learn more about you.
If you have time to explore your interests outside of the classroom, choose your activities because they delight, intrigue, and challenge you—not because you think they’ll look impressive on your application. The test for any extracurricular should be whether it makes you happy; it should feel right for you, right now, and it’s completely okay if your interests change later.
- There is another section on the MIT application where you can describe any jobs you've had. back to text ↑