Overcoming a lack of recent extra cirriculars

Question

I am planning on applying for 2008, and I feel that most of my profile is pretty solid (760 GMAT, good work experience, decent non-managerial leadership, I am a good essay writer). However, the gaping flaw is my lack of recent extra cirricular activities.

I was very involved in high school, and pretty involved in early college. However, my last year of school I ended up working 40 hours per week, and taking 17-20 credits per quarter. I didn't have time to sleep more than 4 hours a night, so any extra activites were out.

Once I graduated, I told myself "once I get my career underway, I will get back to that stuff." Well I was trying to break into IT during a horrible IT crash, so that was tough. Soon it became "once I get my CCNA", then "a job in networking", then "CCNP", GMAT, etc. There was always something else to do. I still did little things, particularly around the holidays, but nothing ongoing.

Is it too late to strengthen that aspect of my application? I have a couple of activities that I plan to get involved in within the next couple of weeks, but they are things I have wanted to do for a while anyway whether they help me get into an MBA program or not.

aaudetat · Answer

You're not alone. It's good that you had extracurriculars during college, and you also worked quite a bit. You've got that going for you.

Also, extras don't need to be community-service oriented, or even particularly organized. I think the schools are mostly interested in well-rounded applicants who have more to them than just making major bank on Wall Street. Do you have other interests and hobbies? (More than watching Lost or nursing a pint while watching the game is good.) I think some applicants are too narrow in their definition of ECs. 

As for starting something now, the adcoms are likely going to view it as a last-minute attempt to strengthen your app. If it's something you want to do for you, then do it.

dabots · Answer

how do you capture activities that aren't particularly organized? a large number of my weekends each year is going to football/basketball games of my alma mater. I don't think it adds much to my application, but is an activity I enjoy and lets me connect with alumni. Do adcoms just assume you do nothing if you don't write it into your app?

bherronp · Answer

I think this is very similar to my problem. Maybe I am too narrowly defining ECs as aaudetat says. I love to go to Husky football games, I like to hike and camp. Every year I organize Mariners games outings for a large group of my friends. 

However it seems that the interviews that I read stress community service/involvement. The activities I have still been involved in are more "group recreation activities," and I feel that they are not what schools look for. Maybe I am wrong.

Being on call 1/3 of the last 2.5 years officially, and more than that unofficially, has made it difficult to committ to activities where people depend on me to show up no matter what.

aaudetat · Answer

It's all in how you spin it. 

 Interview/App Question:  Tell me about something you particularly enjoy.

  Your Answer:   As you know, I am a graduate of College University. Since my college days, I have been a huge fan of our sports teams. I go to as many games as I can, and really enjoy following the football and basketball teams. Not only do I cheer on my favorite teams and support CU, I also stay in touch with a lot of alumni. In fact, I recently ran into an old friend at a game, and we ended up collaborating on _________ project. 

Ok, this isn't amazing, but it shows you don't spend all your time thinking about work, you know how to maintain and use a social network, and you are a supporter of your school. Adcoms like friendly, outgoing networking types who will stay connected and be a part of the school's alumni network.

aaudetat · Answer

You don't need to be knitting socks for the homeless. This question is not about finding the next recipient of the Mother Theresa Award - it's about showing you are a well-rounded person with a range of interests. From your short answer, I see that you are organized and like to pull people together to accomplish something. You can build on that.

I would also say what you pick to discuss should depend on your profile. I already have a community-service job, so I talked about other things. If you are an investment banker, your hobby should not be managing your stock portfolio and reading Buffet biographies. 

Also, I've heard that if you have one of those jobs that everyone knows is an 80-hours-per-week job, the adcoms expect less outside activities. Saying so, however, doesn't give you permission to whine about how much you work!

johnnyx9 · Answer

I think extra-curriculars are important for two different reasons, and it's important to keep this in mind when writing your essays.

PURPOSE #1: Extra-curriculars shows that you're not boring. You're someone who has depth, someone with interests. Multi-faceted people are more fun to be around, and schools want a class of fun people who are "people persons." Good business persons are not boring number jocks, and they're not humorless accounting whizzes. 

You should include extra-curriculars that serve purpose #1 in all of your applications, because all schools are looking for well-rounded people.

PURPOSE #2: Certain extra-curriculars demonstrate that you are a very assertive leader, and that you are someone who gets involved in things, so you are likely to be a business leader, and you are likely to get very involved with school, even after you graduate. So if you've been leading up the local United Way chapter, or you organize annual trips to Africa to breastfeed starving babies, then this will serve purpose #2. Only ultra-elites are really concerned with extra-curriculars that serve purpose #2. They have tons of great candidates to choose from, so they choose those with purpose #2 EC's if they can. They know that altruistic people with these sorts of EC's will likely donate back to the school too. 

EPILOGUE

So anyways, we've come to the end of this post. And in summation: Purpose #1 EC's are easy for anyone to come up with, and they're important to include. Purpose #2 EC's are difficult to "fake" or come up with at the last second -- I mean it's pretty transparent when someone joins a charity organization or assumes some sort of leadership position in the year or so leading up to a b-school application. If you have Purpose #2 EC's then that's great, if not, don't try to fake it.

Overcoming a lack of recent extra cirriculars

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