The Extra Mile

International school students have a head start in the university application stakes, especially where personal essays and interviews are concerned. However, while going to school in Beijing is definitely a conversation starter, resting on your international laurels won’t guarantee you entrance into your university of choice. Four recent graduates from Beijing’s international high schools tell us how they chose and managed their extracurriculars in addition to an already demanding course load. And more importantly, they reveal whether all those extra hours after school helped or hindered them in the long run.

Your Particular Curricula
Rachel Wang, a recent International School of Beijing (ISB) graduate, says that extracurriculars should “outline how the student is willing to contribute to their community as well as their hobbies and interests.” But synthesizing your personality into a few activities is a daunting task. Students who’ve graduated from Beijing’s international school system recommend doing something you’re genuinely interested in, rather than what looks good on a university application form.

Students should try relating a few extracurriculas to their intended major. This will show a dedicated, consistent interest in a particular field of study.

An All-Rounder
While dedication is a wonderful quality in a university applicant, if a student’s high school resume is beginning to look increasingly one dimensional, try mixing and matching a few complimentary activities.

ISB student Toni Lehtonen wanted to demonstrate his personal range of interests, so he took on a mixed bag of extracurriculars that included junior varsity swimming, AMIS jazz choir, Model United Nations, as well as volunteering at Root & Shoots. Despite the large workload, Lehtonen insists that it was his extracurriculars that kept him focused and sane in the lead up to his graduation. “I have a huge amount of extracurriculars, but because all of my extracurriculars are something I really enjoy, they are a form of rest, a stress-reliever.”

Building On Your Strengths
Loading up your after school hours with oddball activities is not the aim of the game, rather students should find something that compliments their demonstrated areas of interest. For example, rather than adding another play to their acting credentials, a dedicated theater student can try teaching drama at a migrant school during weekends.

Sherry Zhang from Beijing World Youth Academy has a collection of volunteering positions on her resume, but she chose to focus primarily on her role as editor in chief of her school magazine, @BWYA. She supplimented this with an editorial position at Mangabullet.com.

Practice to Paper
Whether a single-minded student or an all-rounder, universities want to see that a student’s extarcurriculars are meaningful to them. Simply doing an extracurricular activity is not enough – you have to be able to communicate your experiences to the admissions officers in a personal statement. “The main body of my personal statement was about the hardships I faced as editor in chief of my school magazine club, and my successes in dealing with a number of [those hardships],” says Zhang. Her application was so well written, Zhang was accepted into UC Berkley, but turned it down so she could attend her preferred college, New York University.

Not In It For the Grades
Not all universities require extracurriculars as part of their entrance criteria. However, extracurriculars are not just there to help you get into a course – they’re designed to mentally prepare you for life outside the classroom.

A recent graduate from Harrow International School Beijing, Saikiran Adapa says that although “UK universities don’t put much value on extracurricular activities and are more concerned with academic studies, the type of activities you participate in can show the university if you will break down under pressure or not.” True to his word, Adapa participated in the International Award – a three-day trek where he learned to cook, camp, and most importantly, realize what he was capable of.

Balancing It All
It goes without saying that to make all of these extracurriculars worthwhile, they need to be balanced carefully alongside a student’s schoolwork. Wang believes that her extracurricular activities actually motivated her to finish her schoolwork faster and forced her to be an excellent time manager. Her large workload meant there was “no time to waste.” Despite Wang’s busy schedule, she made sure she slept eleven hours a night so she could be well rested and at the top of her game.

Lehtonen admits his extracurriculars took up a lot of his time, however,
like Wang, he credits his good grades to his busy schedule. “I would emphasize the importance of truly enjoying the extracurriculars,
and not doing them because you have to. That is why I’m never stressed,” says Lehtonen.

Resume Padding
Extracurriculars sometimes get a bad rap as being mere window dressing – a way to spruce up boring exam results. Not so, says Wang. “There is a misnomer that the extracurriculars are just for building the outstanding resume for college. I cannot stress how untrue that is. I can’t imagine what college life would be like without my extracurriculars tagging along. In fact, I probably will experiment with more.”

Rachel Wang

Age: 16
Nationality: US
School: International School of Beijing
Curriculum: International Baccalaureate
IB score: 40 (out of 45)
SAT I: 2,140 (out of 2,400)
Will attend: Northwestern University (US)
Major: Chemical engineering

Extracurriculars:
Roots & Shoots (fundraising officer)
Love and Hope (group leader and English teacher)
Basketball (team manager)
Stage production (props manager)
Model United Nations

Fluent in English and Chinese, Rachel Wang is also an exceptional student (she skipped the seventh grade). Wang’s family moved frequently over the years and after studying at 13 schools, Wang says the experience has made her immune to change. In Beijing for the past eight years, Wang will study chemical engineering at Northwestern University in the fall. In her college applications, Wang emphasized her artistic side to show admissions officers that she was not your typical engineering applicant. Teaching English at the Love and Hope center (a charity school for Chinese migrant workers) taught Wang to “cherish everything I have.” She hopes to one day own her own fashion label and invent materials that she can incorporate into her designs. Wang’s motto is, “What doesn’t hurt you can only make you stronger.”

Toni Lehtonen

Age: 18
Nationality: Finland/Colombia
School: International School of Beijing
Curriculum: International Baccalaureate
IB score: 42 (out of 45)
SAT I: 2,160 (out of 2,400)
Will attend: Stanford University (US)
Major: Music (composition) and physics

Extracurriculars:
Honors choir (choir representative)
Symphony orchestra (section leader)
Concert band (section leader)
French horn (soloist)
Musical production (lead role)
One Act festival (lead role)
Talent show (arranged music for three acts)
Concert band (composition)
Junior Varsity swimming
Model United Nations
AMIS international honor choir
AMIS jazz choir
Track and field (participant and coach)
Roots & Shoots
Charity fashion show

Toni Lehtonen speaks Finnish, Spanish, and English. He has been accepted to Stanford University where he will study physics and music, but before he heads off to university, he will spend a year studying Chinese followed by another year in the Finnish army. In high school, Lehtonen was involved in a range of performance arts, which he believes showcases his love for music. He hopes to further his artistic endeavors in college. While nervous about life beyond high school, Lehtonen says he will “definitely make use of all the opportunities that appear on the road ahead.”

Sherry Zhang

Age: 17
Nationality: US
School: Beijing World Youth Academy
Curriculum: International Baccalaureate
IB Score: 39 (our of 45)
SAT I: 2,000 (out of 2,500)
Will attend: New York University (US)
Major: East Asian Studies

Extracurriculars:
@BWYA magazine club (editor in chief)
Model United Nations
Dance club
Homeless animal shelter volunteer club
Peer tutoring service (taught English and Chinese)
Mangabullet.com (editorial staff member)

Sherry Zhang is fluent in English and Chinese and will be attending New York University in the fall. Before moving to the Big Apple, Zhang will travel to Taiwan and Korea. A future East Asian Studies student, she hopes to take advantage of the study abroad programs offered at her university and travel to Japan and Korea as part of her course. While Zhang is excited about living away from home for the first time, she’s trying to maintain a level head. She often reminds herself that after university, she’ll have to find a job, a place to live, and jokes that she’ll miss her parent’s cooking.

Saikiran Adapa

Age: 17
Nationality: India
School: Harrow International School Beijing
Curriculum: A-Levels
A-Level grades: Maths (A), Physics (A), Chemistry (A), Further Maths (A)
Will attend: University of Cambridge (UK)
Major: Engineering

Extracurriculars:
International Award (bronze level)
Running club
Beginners Spanish

Saikiran Adapa speaks Telugu, Hindi, and English. Recently accepted into University of Cambridge, he hopes to pursue his dream of studying aeronautics. Before coming to China, Adapa lived in India, France, and Malaysia. Coming from an academic family, Adapa’s older sister is currently finishing her chemical engineering degree at Oxford University. As extracurriculars aren’t required by most British universities, Adapa was free to focus his full attention on his A-Levels. Adapa’s motto is, “Everything happens for a reason.”

This article is excerpted from beijingkids August 2011 issue. View it in PDF form here or contact distribution@beijing-kids.com to find out where you can pick up your free copy.

CORRECTION: Saikiran Adapa is a graduate of Harrow International School Beijing. On page 55 of the August 2011 issue, it incorrectly states he is a graduate of the British School of Beijing.