The Application Process

hi!
i still have about 2-3 years before i join a business school. during that time, i would like to expand on my extra curricular. Are there any suggestions on what i should preferably be doing, which will help differentiate me from other applicants and add value to my resume?

I wouldn't go out of my way to get involved in an extra-curricular activity only to sound more interesting on your application. These EC activities are important because they show a desire to help others, to become involved in your community or school, or an interest in things non-academic. They reflect more upon your personality and individuality than other aspects of the application so you should be thinking about how you are best able to contribute to a person, a project, a group, a team, in your very own personal way. There's a very wide berth here. You don't need to be different and adding value to your resume is not the point.

shruti93 wrote:hi!
i still have about 2-3 years before i join a business school. during that time, i would like to expand on my extra curricular. Are there any suggestions on what i should preferably be doing, which will help differentiate me from other applicants and add value to my resume?

Hey Shruti,
'Profile building' for the sake of profile building is never a good idea. When Admission Committee members look at your extracurricular involvement and accomplishments, they evaluate them on 2 aspects:
1. Scale: how big a deal is what you have done?
2. Sustainability: how long have you been doing it?

If you participate in some activities in the 1-2 years before your MBA application, what you achieve will lose out on point number 2.

So, my recommendation would be to not take anything up based solely on how much value it adds to your profile, or whether it differentiates you. Instead, think about what you are passionate about, what you enjoy doing... and start initiatives on these. When you love doing something, you will automatically excel at it. And this will reflect in your personality and your profile.

I've shared some more thoughts on profile building here: https://www.crackverbal.com/profile-building/
Do check it out!