You’re trying to get to the end of junior year, hanging out with friends and working hard in your classes. In the meantime, you overhear a friend talking about all of the extracurricular activities she’s involved in: captain of the volleyball team, running a Red Cross blood drive, playing the viola in a quartet.

Panic mode
The next day, you get to school extra early and go on an activity sign-up binge—from the chess club to the acrobatics club—and you have no intention of doing any of those activities once you finish high school. Come to think of it, you don’t even know how to play chess.

“I have a friend who does six clubs, all of which she has no interest in,” says Fiona Hees, a senior at Staples High School in Westport, Conn. “She only does them because she thinks she will have a better chance of getting into a good college, which is not necessarily the case.”

How much stuff should you do?
It used to be that students who excelled academically were shoe-ins for the “best” schools in the country. Now, college admissions reps look for candidates who not only excel academically, but who have also actively pursued extracurricular activities.

But how much “stuff” do colleges expect you to do, and how much is too much?

“The focus should be on three or four meaningful activities,” says Thomas Maxwell, who worked as a high school college placement counselor for 34 years in Wilton, Conn. “I’ve seen students who have 12 extracurriculars on their résumés, some that they were involved in for as little as a few weeks. It’s best to leave these off of a college application, since it doesn’t show longevity or dedication.”

Colleges would rather see you take chess club and basketball off your résumé, for example, if you really wanted to excel in a different interest, like singing. Join the choir, sing the national anthem at your school’s football games and compete in statewide talent competitions. This makes it obvious that you have a genuine interest and passion for whatever you’re doing.

Whatever that passion is, it should help you develop your character and leadership skills for college and in life.