国际升学，哪些活动“含金量”高？

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In recent years, as the competition for applications to overseas institutions has increased, students are not only striving for academic excellence, but are also seeking to diversify their academic activities to strengthen their applications. Activity organisations in the market constantly emphasise the importance of activities and even use terms such as  ‘value’ to measure the relative value of different activities, which brings anxiety to students and parents. 

What kind of extracurricular activities are considered ‘’high-value‘’?

Do ‘’high-value‘’ extracurricular activities guarantee admission to top schools?

Should we use ‘value’ as the only criterion for measuring and selecting extracurricular activities? 

Today, we will explore the true meaning of extracurricular activities, objectively analyse their roles in personal development and university applications, and help you get rid of unnecessary anxiety and make more informed choices.

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经常会有家长问：

其实，课堂以外的所有活动都算课外活动，可以简单分为学术类和非学术类。

美国大学普遍采用“全面评估”（holistic review）的方法来决定申请者是否适合他们的学校。在申请过程中，除了提交学术成绩外，学生还需提交活动列表。

根据哥伦比亚大学招生要求可知，活动是非常看重一个内容。

从招生官的视角来看，课外活动经历能够让他们从多角度了解申请者的学术热情和综合能力。此外，参与过课外活动的学生们在撰写文书时，往往能写出更加吸引人的内容。对于那些在撰写文书时感到内容匮乏的学生，活动经历可以提供了丰富的素材，使他们的学术历程和个人能力得以充分展现。

当然，课外活动并非多多益善。招生官更倾向于看到学生在某一垂直领域内深耕细作，这些活动与申请的专业有一定的相关性，而不是单纯追求数量。他们更看重学生在活动中的深度参与和个人成长，以及这些经历如何与学生的学术和职业目标相契合。

It is often asked by parents: 

In fact, all activities outside of the classroom are considered extracurricular activities and can be simply divided into academic and non-academic categories.

Universities in the United States generally use a holistic review to determine whether an applicant is a good fit for their school. During the application process, students are required to submit a list of activities in addition to academic grades. According to Columbia University admissions data, activities are highly valued.

From an admissions officer's perspective, extracurricular experiences give them multiple perspectives on an applicant's academic passion and overall ability. In addition, students who have participated in extracurricular activities tend to write more engaging essays. For students who feel that there is a lack of content when writing their essays, activities can provide a rich source of material to showcase their academic journey and personal abilities.

Of course, there is no such thing as too much extracurricular activity. Admissions officers are more interested in seeing students working in a particular vertical that is relevant to the major they are applying to, rather than just looking for quantity. They are more interested in the depth of involvement and personal growth in the activities, and how these experiences fit with the student's academic and career goals.

哈佛大学官网这样描述活动：

“我们更关注学生活动的质量而非数量。我们对学生为中学、社区和家庭所做的贡献非常感兴趣。因此，请向我们说明您在课外活动、当地社区、工作经历和为家庭提供的帮助方面所花费的时间和所做贡献的性质。”

并且建议学生在做活动列表前应该先思考自己最关心，并且花费大量时间的活动。

哈佛大学给出的活动案例：

帮助家人照看小孩、承担家务、餐厅打工帮助家庭这些都是重要的课外活动。

斯坦福大学官网这样描述课外活动：

“事实上，在一两个活动中积累的丰富经验可能比参加五六个俱乐部更能体现你的热情。你可能还有工作或家庭责任。这些与其他课外活动一样重要。”

斯坦福大学更希望通过活动列表了解学生在工作、家庭、俱乐部、学校或更大的社区中产生的影响。

The official Harvard University website describes the activities this way:

‘We are more interested in the quality of student activities than the quantity. We are very interested in the contribution students make to their secondary school, community and family. So please tell us about the amount of time you spend and the nature of your contribution in terms of extra-curricular activities, the local community, work experience and the help you provide to your family.’ 

And it is suggested that students should think about the activities they care most about and spend a lot of time on before making a list of activities.

Examples of activities given by Harvard University:

Helping your family with childcare, taking on household chores, and working in a restaurant to help your family are all important extracurricular activities.

The Stanford University website describes extracurricular activities this way:

‘In fact, the wealth of experience gained at one or two events may reflect your passion better than joining five or six clubs. You may also have work or family responsibilities. These are just as important as other extracurricular activities.’ 

Stanford prefers to use the list of activities to understand the impact students are having at work, at home, in clubs, at school, or in the larger community.

留学机构中常提到的活动”含金量”其实是一种营销策略，意在促使客户消费。实际上，课外活动并无所谓的“含金量”，也不应以功利的角度来衡量。这些所谓的“含金量”通常是基于项目的名气、难度和结果来评定的。但国外大学并不以“含金量”作为评判学生活动的标准。以普林斯顿大学为例，他们更关注的是学生通过活动对学校和社区产生的影响，而非活动本身的名气和难度。因此任何活动都不能单纯用“含金量”来评判好坏。

并不建议以“含金量”来挑选活动。那些所谓“高含金量”的项目也并非适合所有学生。建议学生根据自身能力以及学术目标去选择相应的活动。对于9-10年级的学生，可以尽可能多的参加实践类活动，探索学术方向。对于学术方向比较明晰的同学，可以利用假期参加相关的课题、竞赛或夏校补充课外学术研究。这些研究项目在升学过程中都是学生在某个学术领域里兴趣与能力的一种体现形式。但这些不同的体现形式所需的时间和完成的难度存在差异，因此它们在展示学生能力时的效果也不同。在申请高选拔性的学术项目之前，参与相关的学术实践性活动是非常重要的，因为我们需要基础才能走向更高，需要理论才能开展研究。

人文社科涉及的方向特别广，能参加的课外活动也特别多，比如志愿活动、社团或实践活动等。近期生涯规划中心联合光芒音乐现场举办了一场音乐人文学术实践项目。其中有位学生未来大学专业方向是历史，通过参与这个活动，学生也有了更多的研究方向，考虑结合音乐出发进行深入研究。另一位参与此项目的学生考虑将音乐与心理学结合起来进行跨学科研究。因此人文社科的学生可以打开思路尽可能多的去尝试不同类型的课外活动，去积累素材、丰富自我、主动思考。这些经验未来将会成为学生进行研究的一个引子。

近期也有很多学生家长询问夏校申请相关事项，其实夏校申请与大学申请流程类似。今天以申请录取率仅为4%-5%斯坦福人文夏校为例，学生申请时需要提交几篇essay来展示其在人文领域的兴趣和能力。此时，如果学生参与过相关活动，如生涯规划中心组织的越秀文化探索项目、清华人文课题研究项目或海外教授线上课程等，将大有帮助，使学生在申请中脱颖而出。

这些经历在申请大学时，能够连贯地展现学生如何长期关注人文话题，并通过实际行动体现学术热情和能力，从而获得名校招生官的认可。

对于申请理工方向的学生，生涯规划中心组织的联油化工学术实践项目或湛江红树林学术实践项目提供了实践基础，激发新创意，推动他们走向更高的学术领域。比如学生们可以以红树林湿地保护作为出发点，进一步设计更有效的湿地保护与经济结合的方案给政府提出有效建议报告，这将鼓励他们走向更高的学术方向，甚至获得丘成桐科学奖。因此大家不要用“含金量”来衡量活动。活动不论大小，只要学生参与并积极思考，就一定会有所收获。

The ‘value’ of activities is often referred to by study abroad organisations as a marketing strategy to drive customers to consume. In reality, extracurricular activities do not have a ‘value’ and should not be measured from a utilitarian perspective. The so-called ‘value’ is usually assessed on the basis of the reputation, difficulty and results of the programme. However, overseas universities do not judge student activities on the basis of their ‘value’. Princeton University, for example, pays more attention to the impact students have on the school and the community through their activities rather than the fame and difficulty of the activities themselves. Therefore, no activity should be judged solely on the basis of its ‘value’.

It is not advisable to select activities on the basis of their ‘value’. The so-called ‘ high value ’ programmes are not suitable for all students. Students are advised to choose activities based on their abilities and academic goals. For students in grades 9-10, they can participate in as many hands-on activities as possible to explore their academic direction. For students who have a clearer academic direction, they can use their holidays to participate in relevant projects, competitions or summer schools to supplement their extracurricular academic research. These research projects are all forms of expression of a student's interest and ability in a particular academic area during the progression process. However, these different forms of expression vary in the amount of time and difficulty required to complete them, and therefore their effectiveness in demonstrating a student's ability varies. Before applying to highly selective academic programmes, it is important to engage in practical academic activities, as we need foundations to move on to higher levels and theories to conduct research.

The humanities and social sciences cover a particularly wide range of directions, and there are many extracurricular activities that you can take part in, such as volunteering, clubs or practical activities. Recently, the ISA SEC, in conjunction with Enlightening Music Live, organised a Music and Humanities Academic Practice Programme. One of the students, who will be majoring in History in the future, has also developed more research directions through participating in this programme, and is considering an in-depth study in the context of music. Another student who participated in this project considered combining music and psychology for interdisciplinary research. Therefore, students of humanities and social sciences can open up their minds to try as many different types of extracurricular activities as possible, to accumulate materials, enrich themselves, and take the initiative to think. These experiences will serve as an inspiration for students to conduct research in the future.

Recently, there have been many enquiries from students and parents about applying to summer school, which is similar to the college application process. Today, for example, when applying to Stanford Humanities Summer School, which has an acceptance rate of only 4-5%, students need to submit several essays to demonstrate their interest and ability in the humanities. At this point, it would be helpful if students have participated in relevant activities, such as the Yuexiu Cultural Exploration Programme, the Tsinghua Humanities Research Programme, or Academic Research Programme, to make them stand out in their applications. 

When applying to universities, these experiences can coherently show how students have been focusing on humanities topics for a long time and demonstrating academic passion and ability through practical actions, which can be recognised by admissions officers of prestigious universities.

For students applying for the Science and Engineering programme, the academic practice projects organised by the ISA SEC, such as the Guangzhou Unioil Energy Programme or the Mangrove Forest Academic Programme in Zhanjiang, provide a practical foundation that will stimulate new ideas and propel them to a higher academic field. For example, students can take mangrove wetland conservation as a starting point, and further design more effective wetland conservation and economic integration programmes to make effective recommendations to the government, which will encourage them to move to higher academic directions, and even win the Yau Shing Tong Science Prize. Therefore, we should not measure activities by their ‘value’. No matter how big or small the activity is, as long as students participate and think positively about it, they will definitely get something out of it.

了解完课外活动的意义及目的后，部分家长可能会想问，那马上快到寒假，如何给学生规划假期安排呢？

以下为爱莎国际学校科学城校区和荔湾校区的两位升学指导老师的主题分享：寒假怎样在“躺”的同时实现“卷”，希望大家能有所收获。

After understanding the significance and purpose of extracurricular activities, some parents may want to ask how to plan the holiday arrangements for their students during the coming winter holidays. 

The following is the topic shared by two teachers from ISA Science City Campus and Liwan Campus: How to Spend a Meaningful Winter Holiday, and we hope that you can gain something from it.

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