How do you gain the best knowledge and experience? An important question when determining one’s personal priorities. Oftentimes throughout one’s academic journey one of these aspects would be prioritized, Grade Point Average (GPA) or extracurriculars. GPA is often the priority for many as it has a great effect on your chances with many academic opportunities, and can assist with job opportunities when trying to start out one’s career. On the flip side to this we have some who prioritize gaining experience in their field with extracurriculars that give students hands-on learning opportunities. Both of these being highly important, but which one I myself prioritize is the question.
Before we delve into these two critical aspects of academic and professional growth one must ask what does the industry that we are in favor? Tiffany Sorenson of U.S.News states that “Extracurricular activities are not the most important factor in a college application. Coursework and GPA, for instance, bear more weight.”(Sorenson, U.S.News). It’s generally widely accepted that more weight is put into GPA when analyzing applicants to various academic opportunities. The logic behind this being that GPA is a great metric of one’s academic performance over a long period of time.
With this in mind it seems to be an obvious decision to prioritize GPA. However as the founder of two world class competitive robotics organizations, with over a dozen awards to my name, I have an appreciation for the experience that is gained by anyone who dedicates themselves to extracurriculars. These organizations provide a great atmosphere to develop the knowledge and skills that are needed for one’s chosen field by testing their skill in a way that you can’t in a classroom. They manage their own projects and develop their own strategies while learning from the outcome. This gives the students a very thorough understanding of what will be required in their career. While the amount of experience that is gained is spectacular, perhaps the greatest argument for extracurriculars is the soft skills that you gain in addition. Skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership, and much more. This builds a very well rounded skill set of someone who not only has the knowledge, but knows how to use it in an uncontrolled environment.
This begs the question, if these extracurriculars are so effective then why is one’s GPA deemed more important today? Simply put, the effectiveness of an extracurricular activity is very subjective to the choice of extracurriculars, while GPA is an objective measurement of one’s performance. An organization that does not take their objectives seriously will not benefit from their activity. While I am certainly an advocate of extracurriculars, and their effectiveness when taken advantage of, the importance of maintaining one’s GPA cannot be stressed enough.
When considering the information that we are going over it is apparent that a balance is needed to truly receive the best of both aspects on one’s academic journey. When one takes the principles they learn from the classroom and applies them to their extracurriculars, it gives one a truly thorough understanding of these principles. However the stance of prioritizing one’s extracurriculars still stands. From personal experience with the organizations that I have founded and participated with, I find the skill sets that I resort to when exercising my STEM prowess, originate from these extracurriculars. While I can’t stress how important it is to maintain the balance between these two aspects to truly receive the greatest benefit from your academic journey, I will always prioritize my extracurriculars due to the hands-on experience, and the many skills you gain from them.