Extracurricular Activities for High School Students
Why Extracurricular Activities?
- Community Service and Volunteering
- Educational Preparation Programs
- Internships
- Summer Programs
- Other Ideas
Why Extracurricular Activities?
While academic achievement is at the very top of the factors the UCs consider, the majority of the UCs also pay close attention to applicant achievements outside of the classroom. Given how competitive the top UCs are, extracurricular activities are also a way for you to distinguish yourself from other applicants. Make sure you balance your school work with your extracurricular activities during the school year and plan ahead for summer activities but never sacrifice your grades for extracurricular activities.
Extracurricular activities encompasses anything you do outside of school. As long as you have devoted time and excelled in what you do, it doesn't matter if you are a cheerleader, a school club secretary, the student body president, the church choir lead, the youth orchestra flute section leader, the state yo-yo champion, a homeless shelter volunteer, a barista at the local coffee shop, or in charge of taking care of your 4 siblings while your parents work 3 jobs. Competitive UCs generally like to see applicants with demonstrated leadership potential, and the best way to do this is by describing your academic and/or extracurricular achievements in your personal statement.
What is Leadership?
So what exactly is leadership? This is how the UCLA Alumni Scholarship Program defines it:
Individual Qualities
- Shows initiative, takes charge, sets priorities.
- Displays intelligence, good judgment, confidence and self-knowledge.
- Accepts responsibilities willingly and eagerly.
- Demonstrates courage, resolution, and steadiness.
- Manages, decides, and sets priorities.
- Exhibits perseverance, ingenuity, creativity, and dynamism in solving problems.
- Seeks opportunities and surmounts obstacles, including challenging the status quo.
Group Leadership
- Sets an example through commitment and action.
- Works collaboratively with others.
- Guides changes and improvements.
- Makes plans, motivates, follows through and guides the participation of others so that all will benefit.
- Delegates, trains and shares the responsibility and the credit.
- Demonstrates selflessness and consideration of others.
- Assesses potential in others.
- Shows understanding of followers/constituents, and their needs.
- Skilled in dealing with people, shows social perceptiveness.
- Able to win and hold trust.
- Exhibits adaptability and flexibility in approach.
You don't need to achieve EVERY quality, but be sure to MENTION every quality you did achieve in your personal statement!
Below is a selection of activities and programs I have come across over the years. Broaden your search beyond the internet; check with your high school career center for local opportunities and browse the library reference section for guidebooks on summer program and internship opportunities.
Community Service and Volunteering
Ideally, you should pick two to three areas of interest (in case some don't pan out, there are couple of backups) and make long-term commitments (3 to 4 years) in 3 to 5 extracurricular activities. Development of leadership skills in your extracurricular activities is essential.
Search for volunteer opportunities or sign up to receive email notifications when volunteer opportunities in the areas you are interested in become available. Most of these are national listings with opportunities in every interest area you can imagine.
- 1-800-Volunteer.org
- Action Without Borders
- All for Good
- Charity Guide
- Doing Good Together
- servenet.org
- VolunteerMatch
Design for a Better Future
Organization: Design for a Better Future
Date: Continuous
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Community, International
Age restriction: None
Details: Start a charter on your high school campus to help spread awareness of architectural and innovative solutions for sustainability in developing countries.
Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter
Organization: Habitat for Humanity
Date: Continuous
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Community, Homeless & Housing
Age restriction: High school students
Details: Start a campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity at your high school to help building, fundraising, advocating, and educating.
Community Programs
Organization: Student Conservation Association
Date: Continuous
Location: Selected cities nationwide
Interest area: Environment
Age restriction: High school students
Details: Join one of the Community Programs across the nation to help with conservation efforts in your community.
Breathe California Los Angeles County
Organization: Breathe California Los Angeles County
Date: Continuous
Location: Los Angeles County
Interest area: Children & Youth, Community, Environment, Health & Medicine
Age restriction: None
Details: Start a 4-U-N-I club on your high school campus to help teens quit smoking.
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
Organization: Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
Date: Continuous
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Disabled
Age restriction: 16+
Details: Help produce books on CDs for the blind and dyslexic at studios across the country.
Best Buddies High Schools
Organization: Best Buddies California
Date: Continuous
Location: California
Interest area: Children & Youth, Disabled
Age restriction: High school students
Details: "Best Buddies High Schools pairs people with intellectual disabilities in one-to-one friendships with high school students... By becoming a High School Peer Buddy, volunteers offer a Buddy the chance to explore a new way of life and feel included in the high school environment."
Collegiate Challenge
Organization: Habitat for Humanity
Date: Continuous
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Community, Homeless & Housing
Age restriction: 16+
Details: Gather up 5 or more of your classmates and/or friends, grab a teacher or parent to supervise and be on your way to help build affordable housing!
Apprentice Ecologist Initiative
Organization: Nicodemus Wilderness Project
Date: Continuous
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Environment
Age restriction: None
Details: Organize your own trash pickup project or native tree planting project and take lots of pictures. Write an essay about your project and upload it with your best picture to receive a Certificate of Achievement. A $500 scholarship will be awarded annually to the top essay.
Call to Protect
Organization: The Wireless Foundation
Date: Continuous
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Women
Age restriction: None
Details: Collect unwanted/broken cell phones to help raise money for domestic violence shelters. Check the website for information on how to start a program at your school/community.
The Huntington
Organization: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Date: Continuous
Location: San Marino, CA
Interest area: Education, Environment, Children
Age restriction: 14+
Details: Choose from seven programs, from working with the public to working with children to working with plants. Required volunteer orientation and training happen twice each year in March and September.
April
Act! Speak! Build! Week
Organization: Habitat for Humanity
Date: First week of April
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Community, Homeless & Housing
Age restriction: None
Details: Join this student-initiated week of advocacy and work in partnership with local affiliates to plan and host events focused on ending poverty housing.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month
Organization: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Date: April
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Animals
Age restriction: None
Details: Check the website for ideas on promoting humane/cruelty-free treatment of animals at your school/community.
Denim Day in LA
Organization: Peace Over Violence
Date: Third or fourth Wednesday of April
Location: Los Angeles; Southern California
Interest area: Women
Age restriction: None
Details: A rape prevention education campaign with organized rally taking place in Los Angeles. Register on the website to receive a free Denim Day Action Kit to promote awareness at your school/community.
May
Revlon Run/Walk for Women
Organization: Entertainment Industry Foundation
Date: May
Location: New York and Los Angeles
Interest area: Women, Health
Age restriction: None
Details: Join the 5K run/walk to raise funds and awareness for women's cancers research, counseling and outreach programs. You can also volunteer at the event, check the website for details.
Learn and Build Experience
Organization: Habitat for Humanity
Date: June to July
Location: Varies
Interest area: Community, Homeless & Housing
Age restriction: 16 to 18
Details: Get out of your community and experience Habitat for Humanity's work in a new location for a week during the summer. In addition to five days of building, you will also participating in educational activities during the week. Program application deadline is at the end of February.
National Crews
Organization: Student Conservation Association
Date: June to July
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Environment
Age restriction: 15 to 19
Details: Participate in the National Crews and help restore our national parks across 50 states. Program application deadline is March 15th.
September
Eco-Corps
Organization: Greater Los Angeles Zoo
Date: September to December
Location: Los Angeles
Interest area: Animal
Age restriction: High school students entering 9th, 10th, or 11th grade in the fall
Details: "Students participate in a 10 week class, meetings on Saturdays, learning about conservation, ecology, and abbreviated taxonomy of the animals here at the Zoo. Upon completion of the class, Eco-Corps students are then eligible to participate in some educational opportunities for visitors as well as most General Volunteer programs."
October
Lee National Denim Day
Organization: Lee Jeans
Date: First Friday of October
Location: Nationwide
Interest area: Women
Age restriction: None
Details: The largest single-day fundraiser for breast cancer. Register on the website to receive a free Participation Kit to promote awareness at your school/community.
Educational Preparation Programs
You may have heard about "educational preparation programs" and the UC application even has a section for them. So what are educational preparation programs?
Well, according to the UC application:
These programs may help students prepare for college by providing information, counseling, tutoring and other service or offer academic enrichment, research opportunities or special study opportunities, such as study abroad.
Below is a list of the educational preparation programs that are sponsored by the UCs. Look for them at your school and do your best to participate in them.
ATDP (Academic Talent Development Program) - through Berkeley
Cal-SOAP - available throughout California
CBOP (Career Based Outreach Program) - through UCLA
COSMOS (The California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science) - available from several UC campuses
EAOP (Early Academic Outreach Program) - through all UC campuses
EGC (Educational Guidance Center) - through Berkeley
Educational Talent Search - available at most UC and CSU campuses, search for "trio talent search" or "educational talent search" at a UC/CSU campus near you
GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) - available throughout California
MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement), including MESA Schools Programs, SUCCESS Through Collaboration and California Community College Program - available throughout California
PDP (Professional Development Program) - through Berkeley
Puente Program - students are identified for the program at the end of their 8th grade year
UCCP (UC College Prep Initiative) - check with your high school
UCSC SAGE (Students Acquiring "A-G" Expectations) - check with your high school
Upward Bound - available from all UC campuses; check with your high school
Young Entrepreneurs at Haas - through Berkeley
Other educational preparation programs that may be available to you:
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) - check with your high school
College Bound - check with your high school
UC Berkeley Incentive Awards Program (IAP) and Pre-Collegiate Academy (PCA) - limited to students nominated by participating Los Angeles Unified School District high schools; see a list of participating IAP high schools here and a list of participating PCA high schools here
Summer Search is a national leadership development program that helps low-income young people graduate high school, go to college, gain successful careers, and give back to society
Study abroad - there are a variety of study abroad and exchange programs available and many offer scholarships to cover part or all of the expenses. Here are couple programs that offer full scholarships: Sojourns Abroad and Youth For Understanding.
Internships
There are not a lot of online search sites for high school internships. Most large companies will post internship opportunities on their company website and there are plenty of books that boast comprehensive list of internships. If you are interested in a particular profession, you may also consider calling businesses in your neighborhood and inquiring about internship opportunities.
Some resources and ideas to help you get started with your internship search:
FastWeb: Resources: Internships for High School Students (a selection of internship links is posted)
Vault: Internships For High School Students (a selection of internship links in the areas of Sciences and Engineering, Advertising/Public Relations, Print Media, and Business/Economics is posted)
You can search for "internship" on the website of your Congress Member or State Assembly Member (for California, visit the California State Assembly website and click on "Find My District").
Find a California Superior Court near you and search "internship" on the website (internships are sometimes posted under Volunteer Opportunities)
Below are two internship programs I have come across:
Youth Internship Program (YIP) places qualified urban students in Los Angeles as paid interns in law firms, businesses, government offices, and non-profit organizations. Open to sophomores and juniors during their out-of-school months, the program is offered three times a year to accommodate students in year-round school systems. Each paid internship program lasts eight weeks. Students work at job sites for six out of the eight weeks. During the first and last week and every Friday of each program, YIP participants take part in educational seminars. Deadline varies depending on the program date.
Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media prepares minority youth for careers in the media industry. The program is unlike traditional intern programs in that students work for partner companies during summers and school breaks from the summer following their junior year in high school until they graduate from college. During the five-year program, students have an opportunity to learn many aspects of corporate operations and develop company-specific skills. Corporations have an opportunity to train and mentor students with the option of full-time employment upon completion of their college degrees. Deadline is at the end of January.
Summer Programs
Most of the summer programs listed below are academic in nature. For "fun" summer programs, please see summer community service and volunteering opportunities. Remember, you can always find summer program opportunities at a UC or CSU campus by visiting the campus website and searching the term "high school summer program."
The Berkeley Summer Session offers Pre-Collegiate Program for middle school and high school students; no financial aid is available.
Experience Berkeley is a summer/fall program sponsored by Stiles Hall, a nonprofit organization affiliated with UC Berkeley. Black, Latino and Native American high school juniors with a 3.5+ GPA are eligible to apply. This FREE program offers a summer campus visit, mentoring, support during application filing, and financial aid/scholarship assistance.
The Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department at Berkeley has a recommended List of Summer Science Programs for K-12 kids; these programs are run by a variety of agencies across the nation.
The UCLA Summer Sessions and Special Programs portal lists most of the high school summer programs available at UCLA. A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available to qualified California high school students for summer study at UCLA.
FREE! MIT MITES Program (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science) is a challenging 6 week summer program that prepares promising rising seniors for careers in engineering and science. If you are selected, all educational, housing, meals and activity costs are covered. You must, however, pay for your own transportation to and from MIT. Deadline is in mid-February.
Scholarships Available - Young Women's Political Leadership Program takes place at American University over 4 days and 3 nights and allows the participants to meet extraordinary women leaders of diverse backgrounds and to learn about the importance of having more women in political leadership and of running for office themselves. Learn about political leadership by working with inspirational women leaders, including Congresswomen and other elected officials and leaders in business, media and the law. Deadline is in mid-February.
FREE! Experience Berkeley is a summer program sponsored by Stiles Hall, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Berkeley. Black, Latino and Native American high school juniors from California are eligible to apply. Deadline is at the beginning of March.
Need-Based Financial Assistance Available - COSMOS is a four-week residential program for talented and motivated students completing 8th through 12th grade. Students work side-by-side with outstanding university researchers and faculty exploring advanced topics that extend beyond the typical high school curriculum. COSMOS courses are hands-on and lab intensive emphasizing current research underway at the University of California. Deadline is March 15.
FREE! Princeton University Summer Journalism Program brings high school students from low-income backgrounds every summer to Princeton's campus for an intensive, 10-day seminar on journalism. The program's goal is to diversify college and professional newsrooms by encouraging outstanding students from low-income backgrounds to pursue careers in journalism. All expenses, including students' travel costs to and from Princeton, are paid for by the program. Deadline is in mid-March.
Financial Aid Available - Stanford University Mathematics Camp brings mathematically talented and motivated high-school students from across the U.S. and around the world to Stanford university for four weeks of serious mathematical pursuits. Deadline is in mid-March.
FREE! UCLA Engineering offers an eight-week summer program where it encourages all of its high school participants to consider an engineering future. It does this by providing a hands-on learning program for the participant. Program participants work with a UCLA Engineering professor and graduate group (Program Mentors). Individual research or a group project will be assigned for the eight-week program. All laboratory work is assigned by program mentors. There is no out-of-pocket cost to any student participating in this program. Deadline is March 31.
Need-Based Scholarships Available - Summer Law Institute is an exciting week-long summer program at UCLA for high school students interested in learning more about the American legal system. Deadline is at the beginning of April.
FREE! One LA Teen Youth Leadership Program is sponsored by Coro Southern California and unites high school students from across the city to explore, learn, and develop into leaders. This year there are three Saturday workshops on April 25, May 9, and May 23; please make sure that you can commit to these three dates before applying. Workshops will include activities that encourage team building, critical thinking, and communication skills; opportunities to learn about community issues; and interviews with community, business, and civic leaders. High school students in grades 9 through 12 are eligible and encouraged to apply. No minimum GPA is required. Deadline is mid-April.
FREE! CDC Disease Detective Camp is an academic public health day camp held at CDC's headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The camp is open to upcoming high school juniors and seniors. Over the course of five days, campers will take on the role of disease detectives and learn first-hand how the CDC safeguards the nation's health. Activities may include lectures by CDC experts, a mock press conference in the CDC press room, an introduction to laboratory techniques used at CDC or a public heath law class taught with the Socratic Method. Non-Atlanta residents may apply for the camp, but are responsible for providing their own accommodations and transportation. Deadline is mid-April.
FREE! African-American Youth Leadership Program, a division of the Research and Policy Institute of California, is seeking applicants for its African-American Youth Leadership Conference. The conference will be held at CSU Sacramento Conference participants will stay in campus housing and be supervised at all times. Program will enhance leadership skills, strengthen understanding of state and local government, teach financial responsibility, and career exploration and development. Deadline is mid-April.
Check out the 50 Fantastic Summer Activities for High School Students from the folks at CollegeWise for some last-minute summer activity ideas.
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