High school is a time of self-exploration and pursuit of interests. You will have so many opportunities to choose from whether it’s the robotics club, science olympiad, MUN, band, or sports – the sky is the limit. 

But is there too much choice? 

The sheer number of opportunities high schools provide can be disorienting and make it difficult to plant your flag in the sand. And what’s worse, the wrong decision can dash your hopes of getting into your dream school. 

So how do you decide which activities are worth your time? 

I strongly recommend using my “two birds with one stone” method. This is the strategic selection of activities that achieve more than one goal for the price of one.

In the case of college admissions, universities are constantly on the lookout for applicants who excel in four major areas: (1) academics, (2) community service, (3) leadership, and (4) innovation.

Therefore, the more areas your extracurriculars target the better your chances are of winning that acceptance letter. 

Related: Read this article to learn why these major areas can make it or break it for you in the college admission process.

To implement this method, start with at least three different options and choose the one that best satisfies the criteria below:

1. Targets the most major areas
2. Best highlights your personal strengths
3. Most relevant to the program of interest (major)
4. Most relevant to academic/career goals

Note: Relevance to program > relevance to goals > highlights personal strengths > most major areas

Let’s Practice!

Alex intends to apply to the mechanical engineering program at MIT. He eventually wants to pursue a Ph.D. and hopes to become a research engineer at NASA. Choose the activity that is the best choice to maximize his chances:

1. ASB class president
2. Engineer lab research assistant (RA)
3. Robotics club president

Best Answer: Research assistant

• Satisfies the academics, community service, and innovation components with the possibility of leadership roles after a few years.
• Highlights research skills and relevant hands-on experience.
• Strongly related to engineering.
• Reaffirms occupational goals (researcher, engineer).

This is a perfect example because Alex is hitting seven birds with one stone! 

And while it is true that this grading system is based on face-value, the point is some activities are more advantageous than others.

A second extracurricular should focus on tying his story together which could be an internship at NASA (preferably) or an engineering firm. This way it is clear to admission officers what Alex wants to do and why he wants to do it.

Average Answer: Robotics club president 

• Satisfies the academics and leadership components.
• Does not add anything new from the previous point.
• Loosely related to engineering.
• Does not directly address academic or occupational goals.

A president position at the robotics club would be helpful since it addresses two of the major areas and it is somewhat related to engineering. However, the goal is to maximize time by selecting activities with the highest yield so although this would be an acceptable choice the research position is better. 

Worst Answer: ASB class president

• Satisfies the academics, community service, and leadership components.
• Does not add anything new from the previous point.
• Unrelated to engineering.
• Unrelated to academic or occupational goals.

This ASB position would also be an acceptable choice because it targets the major points quite nicely, but it doesn’t do a great job at reaffirming his interests in engineering (remember: relevance takes precedence).

Overall, you should be involved in a few, high-quality activities that not only address every major area but must be relevant to your program and academic and occupational goals. 

This selectivity will make the most out of your time, keep you on script, and narrate a single cohesive story.

So once you get into the habit of not picking up every single extracurricular, you can focus on what matters for exponentially more benefits.