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Extracurricular involvements

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Extracurricular involvements

by pkan51 » Wed Sep 15, 2010 11:22 pm
Hi I am putting my package right now to get into Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, USC, UCI in Fall 2011

Got a question here about the extracurricular involvements. I spend a lot of time helping out local Marine recruiters but we didn't log in any hours, how can I prove this?

Also is it worth it if I start to volunteer in the tutoring center at the local junior college? Because first I enjoy helping other students with Econ (Of course I would only tutor Econ), and second I can also use that time to study for the gmat. I see a lot of volunteers in the tutor center before when they planned to transfer to a good school from the junior college. (I never did much with extracurricular involvements because I never thought about going to an elite school until my senior year, also I didn't have much time because I always took 15+ units and work at the same time. And I thought spending 4 years in the Marines would be good enough, but now I would like to increase my chance if I can.)

Would it improve my chance? Please help me out if you can. Thanks.
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by money9111 » Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:44 pm
whatever you decide to do... make it genuine... i know that doesn't help much, but disengaged involvement is transparent - i think
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by Alon Karmiel » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:30 pm
Dear pkan51

Business schools are interested in your extracurricular involvements for several main reasons: (1) they want to see that your interests lie beyond your job and that you have multiple dimensions to you as a person. They are looking for interesting people with diverse interests. Your extracurricular activities can also help the admission committee to learn about you as a person and to evaluate your fit with the school. (2) business schools are looking for applicants who are able to make a positive impact on society (which in one way or another will be a positive factor for a business school's reputation, as well) and want to be sure that they accept applicants who will contribute to their classmates' business school experience and to the business school community overall. (3) Your extracurricular involvements can also demonstrate your multi-tasking skills (something which will be very important during your MBA as you will need to balance studying and recruiting).
I don't think that you should make special efforts to show additional extracurricular activity. It's better to show quality and not quantity in this respect. Instead share with the admission committee what specifically you did in your involvement with the Marines, what motivated you, why it was important to you, and what was your contribution. Let the admissions committee discover you as a person and learn about your interests, passion and vision. Your long-term involvement with the Marines can tell a lot about your dedication and consistency, as well as indicate that your activity was real and not artificial for the sake of having the community service box checked off for the admission committee. Extracurricular activity, while important, is not a main admission criteria (of course some applicants do build on these activities to state their case, but it is more an exception that a rule) and it seems that you did enough to demonstrate your interest and dedication to community service.

Alon
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by pkan51 » Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:03 am
Thx alot. I helped out the Marines because I believe in the Marine Corps and it is fun to work with them. I am just wondering do I need to get a letter form the recruiters and say that I have helped them or how can I use that on my application?
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by Alon Karmiel » Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:10 am
There are several ways in which you can share information about your extracurricular involvements.

First, you can mention your involvement with the Marines and your specific contributions in the additional data section of your resume. You can find many free examples of top MBA students' resumes on the ZoomInterviews website. Go to the full-length video section on the site and click the view resume button.

Second, you can use this information for sharing your leadership, teamwork or community service experiences in the essays and during your interviews. Of course, you should use this information in the right context (i.e. present it only if it is directly relevant for answering the essay or the interview questions) and if your leadership and teamwork stories related to your community service are more impressive or impactful than your work experience related stories. Usually you will have an opportunity to present several leadership, teamwork and achievement related situations in your essays and interviews. Sharing your extracurricular involvement experiences in this context can bring additional interesting dimensions to your profile and enhance your application.

Finally, some business schools have dedicated sections in their applications for sharing information about your extracurricular involvements.

Try to present this information in a way which will support your application most, by emphasizing your motivations, contributions, achievements and by demonstrating your personality. Saying that "it was fun to help to the Marines" may be not enough to create a positive impression as (1) this could suggest that you were involved only because this activity benefited you personally and not because of your desire to support the community, and (2) it is not clear why this involvement was fun and does not tell a lot about you as a person.

I hope this helps.


Alon
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