7 Rare Extracurriculars That Give You an Unfair Advantage

Summary

The video argues that extracurriculars stand out in college admissions when they involve a real barrier to entry—such as selectivity, demonstrated performance, adoption by others, or a position that only one student at a school can hold. A title or activity that anyone could quickly replicate is less persuasive than work that has been tested and independently recognized.

Seven extracurriculars presented

1. Highly selective academic programs

   • The featured example is MIT RSI (Research Science Institute), described as a free, six-week research program: one week of intensive instruction followed by five weeks of mentored research and a final presentation.
   • The speaker says RSI accepts roughly 100 students from about 3,000–3,100 applicants, making it exceptionally selective.
   • He cites an internal figure that 96% of participants went on to the Ivy League, Stanford, or MIT, but cautions that the program does not cause or guarantee those admissions. Rather, selection signals that participants were already very strong applicants.
   • Other programs mentioned include MIT PRIMES, MIT’s summer science program, and TASP.

2. Competitive achievements

   • Competitions can provide clear, public evidence of performance: students either achieve a result or they do not.
   • Examples include the Regeneron Science Talent Search, ISEF, math competitions such as AMC/AIME/USAMO, USACO for computer science, subject Olympiads, and the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition.
   • The speaker emphasizes that competition results are unpredictable—even years of preparation may not lead to a win—but that difficulty is part of what makes a strong result meaningful.

3. Publication in a legitimate academic journal

   • A credible publication can show depth of knowledge and that experts judged the work to be a genuine contribution.
   • Suggested outlets include the Journal of Emerging Investigators, Columbia Junior Science Journal, Journal of Student Research, and, for history, The Concord Review.
   • The speaker warns about predatory or fake journals that charge students for publications that merely look impressive. He recommends being careful about where work is submitted.

4. Adult professional certifications or licenses

   • Passing an exam used by working professionals can demonstrate ability beyond a high-school-specific activity.
   • Examples include actuarial Exam P, the FAA Part 107 remote-pilot certification, and AWS or Cisco certifications.
   • The speaker says these credentials are not a complete transformation of an application on their own, but can validate and strengthen related interests and experience.

5. A project or organization that spreads beyond its founder

   • Starting a club or organization is only the beginning. A stronger signal is creating a clear, repeatable system that people at other schools can adopt.
   • The example is a student-founded consulting club that helped local businesses analyze metrics. Its model was documented so others could replicate it, eventually spreading to 15 states.
   • Adoption by people who do not know the founder is presented as evidence that the work is useful and trusted.

6. An outside organization uses your work

   • This goes beyond creating something: an institution with no obligation to the student incorporates the work into its real operations.
   • Examples include a school district using a student-written curriculum, a nonprofit relying on a dashboard, a city department using a dataset, a lab continuing to use an instrument, or strangers depending on open-source software.
   • The key point is that an organization is taking a real operational risk by relying on the student’s work, making this an especially meaningful form of recognition.

7. Student council president

   • The role is distinctive because there is only one president at a school, so it creates a clear comparison among students in that school.
   • Unlike selective programs or competitions, the speaker presents this as a more predictable path: students can join the council early, take on responsibilities over several years, build relationships and trust, and become a credible candidate by senior year.
   • He acknowledges that elections can involve popularity and that voters can reject a candidate, but says the step-by-step path is more visible than for the other options.

Overall advice

• Students do not need all seven activities—or any particular item on the list. One substantial achievement is better than several activities pursued superficially.
• Choose the option that fits your interests and goals, then check its deadlines promptly.
• The speaker notes that strong college applicants can succeed without any of these specific activities; the broader value is having work that earns a credible outside vote of confidence.
• The video also promotes the speaker’s free admissions roadmap, covering topics such as essays, extracurriculars, course rigor, testing, and college selection. For students already in 11th grade who have missed some deadlines, he recommends focusing on what can still be changed rather than dwelling on missed opportunities.

Speakers and sources mentioned

• Shinwoo Lee — the video’s presenter and narrator.
• Nathan — a former student whose consulting-club example is discussed; he is not presented as a speaker.
• An RSI participant from the previous year — said to have sent the presenter a screenshot of internal instructor information; not heard directly.
• RSI instructors — cited as the source of the reported 96% figure, via that screenshot.
• ProPublica — cited as having investigated questionable student-publication outlets.
• An unnamed admissions committee representative — quoted secondhand as describing the issue of questionable publications as a rapidly spreading epidemic.
• Organizations and programs named as examples or sources of opportunities: MIT RSI, MIT PRIMES, MIT’s summer science program, TASP, Regeneron Science Talent Search, ISEF, AMC/AIME/USAMO, USACO, subject Olympiads, the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, the Journal of Emerging Investigators, Columbia Junior Science Journal, Journal of Student Research, The Concord Review, and the FAA, AWS, and Cisco certification programs.