If you’re a current high school student, you don’t need us to tell you that electronic games are an extremely popular activity among young people today. From dedicated gaming consoles to elaborate computer games, to the simple but engrossing games that have become popular among smartphone users, everyone seems to be playing something.
Electronic gaming doesn’t always have the best reputation—there are many popular stereotypes about gamers, and not all of them are positive. However, the reality is that gaming is popular among students in an incredible range of different situations, including high schoolers contemplating the process of applying to competitive colleges.
If you’re one of these students, and you’ve invested considerable energy into your gaming pursuits, you may be wondering whether you’ll be able to include your gaming activities in your college application under the heading of extracurricular activities. The short answer is that it’s possible you can do so, but it depends on how you approach gaming and what you’ve gained from participating in that activity.
In this post, we’ll explore how gaming can count as a valuable extracurricular, and offer some advice on how to best present your gaming involvement and accomplishments when it comes time for you to apply to college.
A brief introduction to gaming and the eSports world
As we’ve mentioned, electronic games are extremely popular, and their popularity extends not only to teenagers, but to people of all ages, interests, and skill levels. Plenty of people play games casually and have fun doing so, especially given today’s proliferation of smartphones.
The terms “gaming” and “gamer”, however, are most commonly reserved for those whose interest in electronic games is on the more serious end of the spectrum. Gamers are people who have dedicated substantial time and energy to their gaming activities and who are committed to working toward certain goals, whether it’s a high score, a speed record for getting through a tough game level, or some other challenge.
You may have also heard the term “eSports” used when people are talking about competitive gaming. ESports usually refers to gaming competitions that are organized and that take place in front of an audience, whether this audience isobserving physically or digitally. These competitions, which often focus on multiplayer combat-focused games that include elements of strategy and planning, have even spawned opportunities for people to become paid professional gamers.
If you’re in high school, you’re most likely not a professional gamer. However, if you’re interested in gaming, you’re likely also interested in competing with others in one way or another, discussing your interest with like-minded people, or even sharing your gaming experience through services like Twitch.
With all these possible avenues for engaging with your interest in gaming, you may find that you’re devoting a significant amount of time to that pursuit. If you’re preparing for college application season, it’s very reasonable to consider whether this investment of time and energy could be credited as one of your extracurricular activities.
Does gaming count as an extracurricular?
First, it’s useful to go over what constitutes an extracurricular activity. As we describe in the CollegeVine blog post What Counts as an Extracurricular?, in its most general sense, the category of extracurricular activities covers things you do that aren’t schoolwork, paid work, or time spent interacting socially with friends and family.
A typical extracurricular is an activity to which you devote an appreciable amount of time on a regular basis and in which you’re significantly invested. Extracurriculars could include hobbies, sports, clubs, volunteering, and many other types of activities.
Most importantly, for the purposes of the college application process, a high-quality extracurricular activity is one that is demonstrably valuable to you. This value could be personal, professional, or academic, among other categories, but either way, your activity needs to be something that has had a real impact upon you in your high school years.
The impact of your extracurricular activities can come in a variety of forms. Some activities teach concrete facts and skills that will be valuable to your future pursuits. Others help you develop less tangible personal characteristics that colleges nevertheless value, such as commitment, leadership skill, and achievement under competitive pressure.
Under these criteria, does gaming count as an extracurricular? The answer depends upon the nature of your involvement in gaming. If you casually play console games with friends now and then, or try a new phone game while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, your gaming experience most likely doesn’t count as an extracurricular activity.
If your involvement in gaming is more substantial, there’s definitely a case to be made that it should be considered an extracurricular. Gaming offers the opportunity to put in hard work and dedication in order to succeed competitively in quantifiable ways. Multiplayer games can also involve a great deal of strategy, leadership ability, and commitment.
You might have used your interest in gaming as a springboard for creative personal projects, such as writing for a game review blog, creating art based on a game, or building a game of your own. You could also start a gaming club at your school or in your community. Independent projects like these reflect your ingenuity and ability to think creatively, so they’re valuable additions to your college application.
If you intend to pursue a career that’s related to gaming in some way, of course, your experience as a gamer is even more valuable, as it is a way to learn skills that are directly relevant to your intended career path. This doesn’t mean you have to dream of being a professional gamer or even a game developer—you might also be interested in digital art, computer programming, or other technology fields.
However, you’ll likely need to put in some effortto make your case for gaming as an extracurricular. There are many people in the world who still think of gaming solely as entertainment, and some of those people might be college admissions officers. You’ll have to demonstrate that your gaming experience has given you the opportunity to develop useful skills and advance your goals for the future.
