26. Limit the maximum number of extracurriculars and letters of recommendation reviewed and listed in college applications.

Admissions 09.6.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • The U.S. Department of Education should collect, conduct, and disseminate research about the ways that students spend time outside of school hours and how those experiences lead to readiness for or create barriers to higher education.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • Higher education institutions should limit the maximum number of extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation that they will review in the admissions process.

Public and private higher education institutions should reduce the number of extracurriculars and letters of recommendations they will review in the admissions process in light of differences in the availability of extracurricular opportunities and barriers to college advising.[i]

While extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation can contribute to a holistic understanding of a student’s unique talents and gifts, allowing students to include unlimited examples creates a disadvantage for students with fewer options and inadequate access to college advising and extracurriculars. Considering these barriers, reducing the number of extracurriculars reviewed in the admissions process may offer greater equity in admissions for students who often are excluded from being able to participate in such activities. A review of 5.9 million Common App applications, shared with more than 800 institutions, found that white applicants reported an average of 63 percent more athletic, academic, and art activities than Black applicants. This study also found that continuing-generation applicants reported participation in 71 percent more activities than first-generation applicants. [ii] In addition, students at schools without guidance counselors who have received professional development in college and career advising may be limited in their access to strong letters of recommendation. Nearly a third of high school counselors have also reported that they did not receive any training in graduate school about the college admissions process, and an additional 32 percent believe the training they did receive was inadequate.[iii]

[i] College and career advising refers to the process between students and an academic advisor, or counselor, to support them through their educational and career decision-making plans.

[ii] Park, Julie; Heseung Kim, Brian; Wong, Nancy; Zheng, Jia; Breen, Stephanie; Lo, Pearl; Baker, Dominique; Rosinger, Kelly; Hoa Nugyen, Mike Hoa Nguyen; & Poon, OiYan. “Inequality Beyond Standardized Tests: Trends in Extracurricular Activity Reporting in College Applications Across Race and Class,” April 2023. https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai23-749.pdf.

[iii] Bruce, Mary, & John Bridgeland. “2012 National Survey of School Counselors True North: Charting the Course to College and Career Readiness,” The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center National Office for School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA), October 2012. https://securemedia.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/nosca/true-north.pdf.