Hey guys, it’s me again with the second episode of grad school talk. Lol
In undergrad, I used to be part of the group of students that just went to class and then back to my hostel. You know, that life. Maybe one or two gay parties occasionally. Calm down. I’m saying gay parties because the guys outnumbered the girls by like 15boys to 1girl (maybe even higher) at the parties in my school. So because of the huge difference in the ratio, parties in my University were tagged as gay parties.
Anyways, why are we talking about parties and what does that have to do with preparing for grad school? Parties themselves don’t have anything to do with grad school. Where I’m driving at is Extracurricular activities. Or simply put, extracurriculars.
If you don’t know what extracurriculars are, they’re basically things you do that are not in your program’s curriculum. So sports, clubs and associations you’re part of, sports and the likes.
Most homebodies (like me back at school) don’t make time for anything else aside lectures. What I hear people say mostly is that whatever doesn’t help their grades, they’re not obliged to do, and so count them out. And the funny thing is they don’t use all that extra free time for anything productive.
Extracurriculars are important
PhDs don’t place emphasis on extracurriculars, but more on research experience. Extracurriculars are key if you want to get into programs at the undergraduate and masters level. In most of our home countries especially in Africa, extracurricular’s are no taken very seriously in admission decision making (from my observation and what I’ve come to find).
However, when applying to very competitive undergraduate or masters programs in an international pool, best believe they’re interested in the things you do outside class. You might not see the significance, but it’s important in many ways.
Extracurriculars demonstrates personality and interest (passion)
Some universities are interested to know whether the candidate they’re accepting into their school shares either values or interests that aligns with the school, and extracurriculars are a great way to tell.
Being the President of the “Women in Programming” club on campus says two things about you.
- You’re passionate about programming
- You possess leadership qualities and potential
With this extracurricular on your CV, you’ll have an easier time convincing an admission committee that you’re passionate about programming. Instead of saying “I am passionate about programming”, saying “I was the president of the Women in Programming club on campus and going ahead to describe your roles SHOWS the admission committee. It’s always better to show rather than say.
They could be your gateway to scholarships
Some schools have a single application process with which they evaluate you for both admission and scholarship eligibility. Although this is not the case in all universities, it is the case in some (I could even say many). So for those schools, having on your CV that you play basketball and have won some awards could be your key to being offered that basketball scholarship to play for the school.
Extracuriculars show your versatility
This last one, I didn’t find this out by doing any research. It’s really just something I think makes sense. I feel like engaging in other things aside class just goes to show that you’re a versatile person capable of handling multiple things at once.
Schools are not just looking for people that are academic fits for the programs. You need to have some substance. Something else about you, you know.
For programs that require individuals to be able to work on many different things at once, I think someone with a lot of extracurriculars even if not relevant to the program, will stand a higher chance of getting in, if two candidates with almost equal academics are being reviewed for admission. Like I said though, a personal opinion that I think makes sense.
Aside the fact that extracurriculars will look good on your CV, they’re fun to engage in, and help you let off some steam. Don’t totally ignore them. However, it’s good not to overdo them either, because academics is primarily the main goal. You just need to work a balance between academics and extracurriculars, and you’ll be good.