Are extracurricular activities important in graduate school?
485948
Yes, in addition to what the first respondent answered, it also provides a lot of valuable skills and activities to include on your resume. By engaging in these types of activities you are demonstrating drive, self motivation, discipline, and showing areas of interest to prospective employers.\n\nYou are also balancing your life by engaging in activities which may provide entertainment, and fun, which is important in life. Balance is an important way to avoid burn out. By demonstrating an ability in this area prospective employers will see in you a candidate for a position who will last long term rather than burn on in a few short years. \n\nEmployers expend a lot of effort and resources in training employees. They do not like to have high overturns. Of course I am referring to those employers who are in fields which offer much more secure, well paying, and rewarding careers than fast food, construction, retail, etc. If you are in graduate school then you are looking at a field which corresponds to your level of education. The higher the education the better employment opportunities available. In general of course. LOL \n\nIt is also important in a personal stand point as well. Those who learn to balance life are much happier and healthy overall than those who don't.
325889
Absolutely not.  Sure, athletes spend a great deal of time outside of school practicing; but so do musicians and actors and academic nerds.  No math team was ever excused from homework to prepare for a competition; no musician is excused from a test to play a gig; no thespians are allowed to slack to rehearse.  They all work just as hard as the athlete.\n\nIt's entirely possible. The captain of the track team at my school was also valedictorian; I'm rank 1 in my grade and I play varsity volleyball.  All students should be expected to perform well in classes, since, let's face it, most of them do extracurriculars anyway, and it's unfair to rank athletics as a more important extracurricular than any others.
729716
I was in your same situation...\n\nWhat I did was take some graduate classes as a non-degree seeking student, and in the meanwhile really concentrate on getting good scores on the GRE, this shows the graduate program you are interested in that you are serious and want to study there.  Some people was not fortunate to grasp on to doing exceptional during undergrad, like me...Look at the school and maybe call them and see if they offer assistance to non-degree seeking students.  Best wishes!
1118240
In order to pursue a Master's degree in ANYTHING, a student must have both strong undergraduate preparation in the subject or in a closely cognate area, and a passionate interest in that area of study.   If you cannot imagine your life without further study in some area, then you should be looking into graduate schools.  If not, there's no reason for you to attempt to pursue graduate study.  \n\n(Unless you're just looking to increase your income potential, in which case you should consider getting an MBA.)
1050310
as long as you focus on what's really important to you & you do the best you can in anything you do,then it's ok.but,i think your teacher knows the real potential in you,that's why she insisted on you coming for reviews.taking part in extra curricular activities is fun & necessary,but if it clashes with your schoolwork,then,that's a problem...if you really want to get higher than 78,i think you should focus more on your studies rather than your sport.never mind the past,you still have lots of chances,even in getting an 'A'!so,just give it your best shot & see what happens.good luck!
961599
While grades may be important to some extent, I suspect at least if not more important will be to show how much original research you can do. Recommendation letters are especially important at this stage so try to work closely with some of your current faculty if at all possible. Show them that you are really interested. \n\nWhen you apply to other schools, make sure that you have read up on the faculty in those departments very carefully so you can show why you are an extremely good fit for their program.
454929
If school and education is important to what you hope to do in the future, you should take these very seriously. That said, it is important that your life have balance. When you are applying to colleges, they want to see that you have activities and passions outside of the classroom. Whether it's sports or clubs or volunteer work, you should spend at least five hours a week doing something constructive that isn't school work. And you should have down time as well -- time to hang with friends or family and have fun. You do need to have a life, but it doesn't mean you have to give up on your long term goals. Work hard but schedule some time in your life for stuff other than school work.
5566
No. What's more important is that you learn things that interest you. If you learn how to learn, then you can change what you do throughout your life. I know an economics major developing software, a political science major managing a multimillion dollar division of a corporation... what's more important than what these people studied, is that they learned how to pick up new skills, and they jut kept learning things that interested them.\n\nLife will take you lots of interesting places, and you don't need to plan them all before your freshman year of college.
671576
self discipline. \n\nYou'll have plenty of opportunity for all kinds of extra curricular activities. However, for the most part, no one will be there to see that you do your assignments and get good sleep and exercise. So you need to have some discipline about managing your time and energy.\n\nWhat I've noticed from my nieces & nephews, too, is that much is to be gained by supporting your school sports/teams. You get a strong sense of "spirit" and belonging and being part of a group. There's a great deal of stress in college and your friends will be important. And some will be your friends for the rest of your life.\n\nCongratulations, Graduate! And All the Best!
709990
It's kind of like band or twirling.  It's not considered a sport really but it is considered an extracurricular activity.  You can still get brownie points for it from colleges if that is why you are asking.
1058907
Being a graduate of a foreign medical school a few years ago, I would say medical school life can be boring at times no matter what is your location on this planet. I would suggest you find some extracuricular activities or entertainment outside your school schedule.Looking forward to do something different at regular intervals (eg weekends) will definately reduce the boredom. Even though people have different priorities in life,I wouldn't quit the medical profession, considering the pros and cons.
835978
most graduate programs want you to write thesis papers, research papers, case studies, etc. THEY all involve writing. Stay away from the medical programs, sociology, psychology, etc.
470984
Importance of Recommendations depends on three factors:\n\n1.The program for which you are applying.\n2.Your aim for applying.\n3.The university you are considering for application.\n\nIf you are having research experience and are applying for a research program or a Research Assistantships than recommendations play an important part.\nSimilarly for Teaching Assistantships.\n\nIf you are considering a top ranked program then also recommendations play an important part. \n\nCorollary of this is your  recommendor's credentials should be impeccable.The recommendations should site some   specific experiences and should not be generic in nature.\n\nAccording to a recent Survey following factors play an important part in an application mix.\n1.Academics\n2.Standardized Test Scores\n3.Recommendations\n4.Essay\n\nAll are important ingredients of the application mix.\n\nI have not mentioned TOEFL because it has a different role to play. For\nadmission if you have a decent TOEFL score it is sufficient.Every university\nor even a program specifies a minimum TOEFL score. If you meet it along with\ngood credentials it is enough.\nHowever it does not imply that if one has  a high TOEFL score it does not\nhave a positive affect on ones application.\nAmong the other credentials the importance of each depends  on the rank of\nthe university you are applying. For Top Universities Academics is more\nimportant and second weightage is given to GRE.As we go down the ranks\nimportance of academics goes on shrinking and GRE starts playing more\nimportant role. This is for a normal student.\nBy my saying this I am not decrying the role of other items in the\napplication  mix i.e. Recos and Essay.\nSufficient it to say that the importance of each item depends on each\nindividuals circumstances.\n\nIf you have a low GRE score it is important that you have good academics.To\nsome extent the negative impact of low GRE score can be balanced by a high\nacademic score.\nThe importance of high academics can be realized when you note that while\nyou can dispense  with low GRE score by taking the test again you cannot\novercome with low academics.\n\nSimilarly if you have low academic score you can be excused to some extent \nfor this by scoring high in GRE. Along with this you should be able to\npresent your case well in your SOP and your Recos should also support your case.\n\nThus you will see from the above that\n\nThe active ingredient in the application mix are\n1. GPA\n2.GRE / GMAT/ SAT\n\nThe supporting ingredients are\n3.RECOS\n4.SOP\n\nThe dormant ingredient is\n5. TOEFL.\nTOEFL comes to play when there is a tie.\n\nIn the case of Business Studies experience is another important aspect. More of it later.\nThe importance of each lies with your circumstances and your choice of a program.\n\nYou can find more details at \nhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADMISSIONSOURCE/\n\nGood Luck\nNBS
272598
if you really like your extracurricular activities, then use time management to catch up.Replace watching TV and playing games with work time.Also, don't talk on the phone for a long time(if you do)or mess around on the Internet if your that overloaded.Oh ya, use the weekend and any other spare time that you see.Remember, get at least a good sleep and eat good enough or better so you don't wear yourself out.One more thing, if some school work is taking too long to understand or complete, you can always ask a friend or teacher for help.
114752
According to extensive research, the GRE is a better predictor of success in graduate school than the SAT for college. Also the GRE is one of many factors for gaining admission into graduate school. Your transcript carries the most weight,  followed by GRE,personal statement, letters of recommendations, and then if you're a science major, undergrad research.\n To concisely answer your question, I don't think one test can determine how someone will perform in graduate school.\nIn fact, some graduate schools only consider the GRE if you are applying from a school that the Committee has never heard of(US News and World Report 2005 ranking of Graduate Schools, Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon).\nYour best bet is to make sure you have a good transcript.\n In all, I think someone's transcipt is the best predictor of success at the graduate level.
992904
It looks like they have as many activities as most -- intramural sports, dorm get togethers, student organizations and cultural evemts.
503874
usually the best undergrad programs are at schools that have strong graduate programs. here are some examples...