Freshman Sruthi Sivaraman looks at Carlmont High School’s extensive list of 166 clubs with a mix of hesitancy and excitement.
At Carlmont, the variety of clubs offers students the opportunity to explore their passions, connect with peers, and be part of the school community.
“At times it’s a little overwhelming to have so many options, but I also feel that it’s good in a way,” Sivaraman said.
Many students appreciate the diversity of options, but sometimes find it difficult to distinguish between clubs with similar goals.
“A lot of the clubs I saw were STEM clubs,” Sivaraman said. “They sometimes overlapped, and it was difficult to find differences in them.”
This overlap can make other factors, like the social environment, more influential in a student’s decision to join a particular club.
“If someone didn’t really know what they wanted to do, having friends in clubs is a huge way that people pick what clubs they do and like,” Sivaraman said.
Research supports the social benefits of participating in clubs. According to an article from the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, participating in extracurricular activities helps develop social skills, improve self-esteem, and enable youth to discover their own interests.
Building a club from the ground up
Mira Poeta, a sophomore at Carlmont, created her club, Emerging Innovators, this year, to explore her passions. The club meets biweekly and provides students with a space to examine the process of creating their own innovations.
“Creating clubs has a positive effect because if students want to do something during lunch, there most likely is something for them to do,” Poeta said.
Poeta emphasized that her motivation was personal interest, even as she considered college applications.
“When I was thinking about making my club, I realized that colleges would see it, but I wanted to do mine for fun because it’s something I’m actually interested in,” Poeta said.
The role of extracurriculars in college admissions
While some students see creating a club as a strategic move for college applications, Jewel Jurisprudencia, an admissions officer at the University of San Francisco (USF), reflects on what actually makes a college application stand out.
“I always remind students that colleges are looking for authenticity, not perfection. What matters more is why a student gets involved and the impact they have, whether that’s through a new club, volunteering, part-time work, or supporting existing organizations,” Jurisprudencia said.
According to the Admit Report, based on a common data set from the top 60 U.S. ranked schools, 88% of colleges consider extracurricular activities to be an important part of the admissions process.
Extracurricular activities, such as creating a club, influence a college application, but the context and impact matter more than the number of activities.
“Admissions teams understand that not every student has equal access to the same opportunities, so context matters greatly as well,” Jurisprudencia said.
Research also highlights the disparities in extracurricular participation. A study published in the American Educational Research Journal found that students from white, Asian American, affluent, and private school backgrounds reported participating in a greater number of extracurricular activities on their Common Applications, demonstrating how access can shape involvement.
While some students have more opportunities to join clubs, what stands out more is how meaningfully students engage.
“Passion and purpose tend to shine through more than a long list of disconnected activities,” Jurisprudencia said.
