Counselors stress the importance of extracurricular activities as a way of impressing colleges. Our website lists resources that high school students can use to find out more about the importance of ec’s.
Our Tips Booklet advises:

“Join one or two clubs in high school. This is better than joining a dozen you are not heavily involved in. Colleges like depth over breadth. It’s best to show passion and commitment to carefully selected activities.” (Tip #33, page 9 of 110 Tips for Getting into the College of your Choice)

Dramatic increase in Student Activity Groups

We might have to rethink this advice. It seems that, on some California college campuses at least, students are over scheduling themselves to the point of sleep deprivation as they participate in more and more activities outside of formal classes. This according to a report in the Monday San Francisco Chronicle.

The sheer number of student activity groups is overwhelming. At high-achieving Stanford, the number of groups has doubled in the last decade to 600. Across the Bay at UC Berkeley, the number of groups increased from 355 to 780.

Resume building and altruism motivate students

The reason behind this dramatic increase in activity? It seems to be equal parts resume building and altruism.

Some of the Stanford undergrads look as if they are planning to launch the next Sun Microsystems or Google (to name two tech companies that were started by Stanford alumni). They join groups like the Stanford Venture Capital Club, the Business Association for Stanford Entrepreneurial Students and the Unofficial Blog Group.

Other students, meanwhile, join the Students Taking Action Now: Darfur or Students for a Sustainable Stanford.

Overload: Type A personality undergrads burn the candle at all ends

The main thrust of the article is just how overloaded some of the students on campus are today. They don’t just want to join an organization, they want to lead one. They are not just interested in one social justice issue; they want to help with many. The result is sometimes a visit to the campus counselor by a stressed-out student suffering sleep deprivation trying or keep a class load and fill every spare hour with extracurriculuars.

On the one hand, this might be a response to the wide range of issues facing the world today: from AIDS, to genocide to discrimination. On the other, it might be a perception of the competition to land a top job when they graduate and the need to stand out from the pack.

Either way, today’s high school seniors who are set to graduate in a few weeks and take off for college in the Fall might want to spend the Summer catching up on their sleep. Once they get to college they’ll need a good few hours in reserve.