Like in the movies you play ball games, do cheerleading, doing plays in the theatre, go to robotics club etc. Or it is exagerated? Like i always wondered that you must do some of these or there are some people who just goes home after classes?

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  3. There’s always a decent amount of people that don’t do any extracurriculars, but most schools will encourage everyone to try something.

  4. It’s heavily encouraged for students who want to present a competitive application to impacted universities, because it’s one of the main ways you can differentiate yourself from other students aside from test scores and grades.

  5. You don’t have to, but most people do something and a lot of kids do multiple extracurriculars. It makes things more fun (unless there’s absolutely nothing offered that you like).

    Extracurricular activities don’t strictly define you the way TV and movies often show, though. You can be a football player who is a shy nerd. A cheerleader who is also in orchestra. A swimmer who also does quiz bowl. Or whatever.

  6. Most people I knew were either in an extracurricular or working after school. You *could* skip all that, but many didn’t.

    Might be because it was a rural area, it was hard to see friends once you went home before you had a car so a lot of people it was just something they did to hang out.

  7. If by “extracurricular activities”, you mean “go to work after school and smoke a lot of dope” then, yes, I had a lot of extracurricular activities in HS.

  8. There are clubs and those same activities in classes in school. My kid is just signing up for his next years electives (he gets 2) and they have survival skills, adventure sports, maker spaces, theater, robotics, piano, sculpture, engineering, etc.

  9. Not everyone, but a lot of students take part in extracurricular activities, in large part because these activities are often highly encouraged so that students can make their college applications look good. This is especially true for applying to highly competitive colleges. Students are often told that colleges look for those who are “all-rounders” who are competent in academics, sports, and other activities.

  10. There’s always some people that don’t do anything. But there’s also lots of people who do. I think it might also depend on the school. My school had a lot of options but I can imagine some schools simply don’t have the budget for a large extracurricular program.

  12. If you want to go to a good college, you gotta do extras. Even if you know you won’t touch it on a collegiate level, admissions want to know you’re at least social enough to engage in a sport or club or something. It’s somewhat involved to get anywhere worth going.

    I did volleyball and model UN, and went on a few trips. I think the colleges could tell my heart wasn’t in it and I ended up only getting into the C-tier northeastern engineering schools :/

  13. In wealthy areas like the Bay Area where many students are pressured into attending prestigious colleges after high school, many motivated/overachieving students participate in sports, clubs, volunteer work, and things that would improve their chances of getting into a prestigious college (think top 50 schools). Some of the people in the same grade as me even did internships during summers while in high school (and some multiple internships too).

    Some high schoolers work on the weekends or even after school on some weekdays just to earn some spending money.

    However, I would say that 70 percent of students go home right after school (my rough estimates). My experience might be skewed because I attended a high school in a wealthy, STEM-centric area.

  15. No. That’s why they are called *extra*curricular – they are optional. Not everyone does them.

  16. My high school was very encouraging of everyone doing one or more extracurriculars. It was uncommon to not do anything beyond the standard classes and electives.

    Personally, I was in orchestra, jazz band, choir, student council, team jeopardy, and on the soccer team. I was at school from 7:30 to 5:30 every single day. It definitely helped on my college apps.

  17. It’s pretty accurate about how common it is. The exaggerated part in TV and movies is the clothing – cheerleaders don’t wear their uniforms every day for example. Also the cliques in highschool have a lot of overlap that movies and TV don’t show.

    I did football, weightlifting, and soccer. In middle school I did football, chess, soccer, and track.

  18. I was in football, wrestling and band. I’ll bet that more than half my class was in an extracurricular activities.

    We also had 90% of my class go to college. The purpose of a classic liberal education is to develop well rounded individuals who become engaged in their communities. Participation in extracurricular activities is a good indicator of future engagement.

  19. Not exaggerated at all. There are plenty of options for extracurricular activities after school and it’s heavily encouraged. It can even help you get into better colleges. Some choose not to do it but most kids in my high school and middle school did.

  21. “Everyone” is a strong word, there are folks who didn’t engage in sports/clubs etc.

    I personally was in the marching band, science olympiad, and took flying lessons after school. In college I was a member of the college’s sport flying club.

  22. Most people do, some people don’t. And if you want to get into a good university it is highly recommended.

  23. I’d say like 1/4 to 1/3 of my high school would stay after school to do sports or clubs. Most people left on time. But if the ones that left, I don’t know how many had jobs, or were taking care of younger siblings while their parents were at work. Probably a lot.

  24. I would say most kids do something. Some high schools have a fit for everyone, while others aren’t as good about it. My high school was very sports oriented so most of the extracurricular activities were sports related. Unfortunately that left some of the unathletic or just uninterested in sports kids out. But my kids now go to a school that has just about everything you could think of. Chess team, fishing team, they even do a Dungeons and Dragons game night twice a month. I think extracurriculars are a very important piece to turning high school kids into adults, but not every kid likes sports. I think competitive activities are important, but that doesn’t have to be football. Chess and bowling are also competitive, hell from what I know about DnD it can be competitive lol.

  25. It looks good on your record it terms of standing out for colleges but it’s not that important

  26. I had considered going out for sports but they expect you to commit everyday after school and weekends to it so fuck that.

  29. My kid does nothing. I did nothing. My husband did nothing.

    I was too busy being working, being a social butterfly, and spending every moment I could with my boyfriend.

    My husband was a stoner.

    My son is just a lone wolf kinda guy. He focuses on grades. He also loves playing video games so that is his thing.

  30. A lot of these clubs might just involve sitting in a meeting once a week for lunch period. I would say most students had a hand in something over their 4 years, but it wasn’t a ton of involvement. Sports could have been a huge commitment, but then like, some clubs were pretty minor.

    Maybe 10-15% of the student population was in multiple clubs and multiple sports to where school civic life was a huge part of their high school life. Then perhaps 60% will have their hand in something, at some point. Then maybe a third will do nothing.

    Most club activities are not daily, some might only be a few times per month.

  31. I briefly was in the creative writing club, but I didn’t stick with it very long.

    I was very active in the local music scene, which was mostly various punk/emo/hardcore type bands. None of that was school-related though.

  32. Depends on the district. Some places fund their extracurriculars better than others.

    My district was pretty good about it, so a lot of people did some sort of club, but idk the percentage. There was definitely some encouragement to experiment. I myself did band from fourth to 8th grade, and Chorus until I graduated. Enjoyed that a lot more tbh. We also had an anime club, which is odd in the States.

    I think most kids at least tried out some clubs at some point, but idk how many stuck with them. I’d say a good deal of kids were in some club or another for a bit, but the percentage that had after-school activities, like the band, the choir, the student council, sports etc. were a bit smaller. Collectively they were around half the student body. Smaller clubs in highschool usually happened in study hall instead.

  33. I worked 20 hours a week. My best friends were not in extracurricular activities but taught themselves to play guitar and things like that. Some people worked on fixing up old cars. Rather than extra curricular activities many people participated in hobbies with their friends.

    Personally I think there is great value in doing things yourself rather than just following instructions from adults at that age. There’s nothing wrong with sports but it’s nice to develop hobbies and interests one can pursue after graduation.

  35. I did a crap ton of extracurriculars, but it beat my home life and I could use the excuse that I needed to do them “for college.” I just didn’t want to come home and take care of little siblings, and I’m betting I’m not the only one like that.

    Not all extracurriculars are created equal BTW. Sports give you way more social clout than say robotics.

  36. I’m sure there are some students that don’t do anything, but most students probably are involved with some club or sport.

  37. Most people at my school did some sort of extracurricular though it wasn’t always through the school.

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