High school is not strictly about academics. Extracurricular activities are an integral part of many students' high school experience. They provide a chance for students to develop leadership and teamwork skills while pursuing an interest that may lead to a career or a lifelong hobby. Furthermore, extracurricular activities enhance a college application by showing additional positive attributes of an applicant that might not be as apparent in a transcript or test score. Available activities vary from school to school and district to district, but most schools have at least a few of the activities in these categories.

Athletics

• Students can typically participate in a variety of team sports. There may be a single team for a sport or teams with different skills levels, from intramural teams that play against each other within the school to junior varsity and varsity teams that play against other schools. Teams are often separated by sex, although some schools may field coed teams for certain sports. Athletic programs may include football, basketball, baseball, softball, hockey, swimming, field hockey, lacrosse, diving, gymnastics, volleyball and wrestling. In addition, schools often have cheerleading and pep squads to support the teams and rally the crowds at games.

Arts

• Music programs includes concert band, marching band, jazz band, orchestra and choir. A drama society puts on plays, musicals, one-acts, musical revues or student-created performances. Some schools offer clubs that focus on painting, drawing, sculpture or other visual arts. There may also be dance troupes or step clubs.

Academics

• Some schools provide the opportunity for students to further explore a subject that they particularly enjoy in after school clubs such as Math Club, Spanish Club or Science Club. Some of these clubs are more specific, like Robotics or Ecology clubs. These clubs often allow members to compete against other schools in quiz show type formats.

Service Organizations

• High school students may participate in groups like Key Club that volunteer for a variety of activities like assisting in a blood drive or fund-raising for a specific cause. Some clubs provide a service for the student body, like peer mediation.

Literary

• Literary activities include yearbook staff, school newspaper, literary magazines and poetry journals. Students create and edit the content of these publications, decide on layouts, manage the publishing process and distribute the publication to their peers.

Interests

• A high school club can be the ideal way for students to share interests from role-playing games (RPGs) to chess or photography.

Social Justice and Political Groups

• Students participate in clubs that address social justice issues, such as the Gay-Straight Alliance or Amnesty International. These types of clubs can also center on a current issue, like a political campaign for an upcoming election.