What Are Super-Curricular Activities

To stand out in personal statements or compulsory essays, as well as interviews, university admission applicants must extensively investigate the disciplines they wish to apply to through super-curricular activities, as admissions officers tend to select students with strong interest and curiosity for the chosen subjects.

According to the University of Cambridge, "super-curricular is different to extra-curricular. Extra-curricular activities are those outside of your chosen topic, and unrelated to your studies (for example, voluntary work, community service, etc) whereas super-curricular activities take the subjects you study further, beyond what you have learnt at school or college…they can help you make a competitive application, and prepare you for a challenging academic environment".

In addition to helping students delve deeper into their subjects, super-curricular activities can strengthen their personal statements and CVs and prepare them for interviews and admission tests.

We encourage students to actively seek out online resources for wider reading (such as books, journals and articles, websites, podcasts, and TED talks), enroll in college-level or pre-college courses, participate in internships and job shadowing, and enter subject-related competitions to build their portfolios. Students may check the super-curricular activities suggestions by Cambridge https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf and Oxford https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Preparing-for-Oxford-Resources-Pack-.pdf for reference.

Every aspect of the college application process, including the selection of subjects and universities, participation in extra- and super-curricular activities, and the composition of personal statements, is crucial. Please feel free to contact us if you require professional guidance or suggestions.