Project Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Project Management - Assignment Example It also develops ways to integrate these resources within the organizational context and the wider company strategy for management of wide-ranging interpersonal issues that might crop up in the organization. The given business is that of a car manufacturing company that is undergoing a scale improvement in business practices. From a regular business of buying from the manufacturer and selling cars on a retail basis, the company is transforming into full scale car assembly and manufacturing business along with the selling strategy. This transformation involves a number of hiring and recruitment processes of individuals with different skill sets so that necessary resources are well utilized with a strong human resource team. For the purpose of business expansion, the human resource management decides to recruit staff that shall have specific skill sets at each level of the manufacturing process, so that the entire production line has specialized and skilled employees (Cole, 2002). In case of this project, the company shall need to hire about 40 new people at various positions and different levels of the employee hierarchy. These employees shall be distributed within the Purchasing, Receiving, Manufacturing and the Sales departments. It is believed that the highest recruitment shall go towards the sale team because it is an enlarged part of the business team. The car manufacturing process is highly automatic and hence, shall not require many people in the manufacturing task (Harrison, 2000). The revamped business has been started afresh and the team shall make use of existing staff as higher level managers while hiring staff posited below them. This activity will recruit one person who shall be responsible for overseeing well-functioning of the manufacturing activity and assure that all different activities in the process of manufacturing are well aligned. Another twelve individuals shall look into goods transfer to point of sale and

My Childhood Days Essay Example for Free

My Childhood Days Essay It was a green world where I was born. I was born and raised in a small town which could almost know as countryside. Now, the small town has already collapsed and turned into a developing-city. It is so sad that I can only recall my childhood days in my mind instead of visiting the small town. It was a small town with warm-hearted villagers. We were all friends and always share our foods and games. Mak Kwan had the most famous cooking while En. Chong could fly the kite highest. Hmm†¦ I could still smell the curry in the air! My brother and I, we used to rush to Mak Kwan’s home and asked for curry when we smell it. Mak Kwan never decline and always offers us a big bowl of curry to share with our family. The satisfaction is so hard to describe. In my childhood days, I loved to fish in the rivers. Especially hand-fishing! I never like to fish with the rods because it is too messy. Although I like to fish, I am not good at it. So, it was always a big surprise for me when I succeeded to catch a fish. It made me smile all the day because I was over the moon! I usually went fishing with my brother. Not like me, he was good at hand-fishing. He could always catch a basket-full of fish. But, we only chose a fish to bring home and let the others go. Brother said that this was to make sure that there are always fishes in the rivers. One day, I watched â€Å"Recess† and I was so impressed by the tree-house. I asked for permission to build a tree-house, and my father promised to make me one! God is so good to me! My dad said that it was his dream when he was small too, so, he tried to make his and my dream came true. Then, we started to proceed. First, we selected a tree which was suitable to build a tree-house. After that, we drew a simple blue-print of the tree-house. We chopped down some trees and cut them into boards (it was not encouraged to cut down trees at that time, but no one stopped us because everyone was excited to see the tree-house). After three months, it was done! Not as luxurious as the one in â€Å"Recess†, but it was pretty good. At that time, I thought that I would become a good architect because I could design and build. Now, I learned that I was naive and stupid. In my childhood days, it was not only my playground, but also my safe haven when I was scolded by my parents. It use d to be my home to home. In the small town I lived, there was a small jungle. My brother and I enjoyed jungle trekking and explored some new things in the jungle. We had an album named ‘Jungle Diary’. We wrote down all the interesting incident during the exploration. We also collected the unique leaves, sticked it in the album and did some notes. We also liked to observe the animals’ lifestyle. We had an old digital camera, we shot the photos of the birds and wrote down the characteristics. It was fun. One time, we followed a deer along and accidentally went in too far into the jungle. We got lost! It was a terrible incident, I absolutely don’t want to recall it. In my childhood days, all the children in the village loved to fly kites. As I said before, En. Chong could fly the kites highest. So, he taught us how to fly the kites high in the sky. It was all about control. If the string is too tight, It breaks, but if it is too loose, it can’t go high. Just like our life. In a windy season, we organized a small kite-flying competition. Although it was small, everyone took it seriously. Because the design and beauty of the kites would be judged, we had to do it on our own. No shop would sell the kites at that time to prevent us from cheating. Of course, En. Chong was the busiest person because everyone asked for his help to make sure the kites could fly. En. Chong is a selfless person, he never declined to teach. He said that he was happy that many people tried to learn the way of making a good kite. It was not easy as what we thought, I failed three times before I got it. It was a big day, the competition. I didn’t win the first p lace, but it was a very memorable incident. I am not going to forget it. There were else more funny and wonderful memories in my childhood days. Unfortunately, kid nowadays can’t experience these funny things anymore. In the city now, people don’t even bother to know their neighbour’s name. The river is polluted, the tree with tree-house is gone, no more jungle for us to explore, and how often can we see the kites in the sky? They said it is the inevitable price for the modernization and industrialization. Yes, thanks to the development, and the pollution. I am glad that I was born in the 90s. Shame for the 00s, all they have is the internet. In the time comes, we will learn that how much hurts we had brought to our Mother Earth.

Practice makes Perfect Essay -- Essays Papers

Practice makes Perfect As I look back on my schooling I can’t believe how many papers I’ve written throughout my life. Naturally as I’ve grown up, my writing has developed from learning how to write sentences all the way up to the pages of essays that consist of deeper criteria. I know for a fact that I’m a better writer now than I was before. College writing is more challenging and I’ve had to learn how to adjust to it. Over the semester we have written papers that have helped me develop my skills. Before we did the first two papers of the class, I really didn’t know much about paraphrase and summary. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to learn these skills, but I soon realized that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Ultimately, I think t...

Modern World Affairs

In Modern world affairs, diplomacy is less and less important in shaping relations between political actors. Do you agree? If so, why? If not, why not? The process of globalisation has affected the role of traditional diplomacy, which was originally confined to predominately deal with issues of war and peace between two political bodies. Traditional diplomacy is as a result, in a state of anachronism and is deemed losing its influential power in post-modern international relations (Leguey-Feilleux 2009, pp. -2). Despite this, traditional diplomacy is still relevant in that it is capable of broadening and deepening the content and conduct of its role in current international affairs and in shaping the relations between different political actors. The art of diplomacy has undergone an evolution in scope and dimension in order to be used as a versatile tool to adjust to the current global environment, despite being a useful tool even in its traditional capacity (Leguey-Feilleux 2009 p. 14).Therefore, although the narrow classical mode of diplomacy is being challenged, diplomacy in the modern world is as important as ever, if not more so, and has developed the ability to adapt to today’s turbulent modern world. This paper firstly defines diplomacy with a brief historical evolution of the art and investigates how globalisation impacts on diplomatic roles. It then discusses and analyse the importance of diplomacy in the modern sphere. DEFINITION & REVOLUTION OF DIPLOMACY (BILATERALISM-MULTILATERALISM-POLYATERALISM)The conventional definition of diplomacy, that is, â€Å"the peaceful way of relations between political entities with their accredited representatives such as envoys and ambassadors by communication, interaction and negotiation† (Siracusa 2010, p. 2), has been around for many centuries and has been evolving over time. Traditional diplomacy was primarily considered to be â€Å"the art of managing bilateral relations between states† (Sir acusa 2010, p. 6) and was viewed as a very rigid institution.Although diplomacy is still holding to the traditional practical grounds in the current international political realm, diplomacy is no longer limited to war and peace as in previous centuries and needs to been extended to deal with many issues which would be difficult to do under traditional diplomatic methodology. The traditional institution was characterised as bilateral diplomacy, and greatly focused on making treaties between two sovereign-states with its diplomatic norms typically embodied by professional diplomats (Sirasa 2010, p. ). This diplomatic method was particularly recognised during the periods of the Italian city-states in the fifteenth century when Italy appointed the first permanent ambassadors (Saner & Yiu 2003, p. 9). A sovereign state would traditionally send an envoy to other political entities that had equal powers to conclude treaties and prevent wars (Rana 2007 p. 23). Then came the modern era of di plomacy, which is said to have started with the Peace of Westphalia, the Westphalia peace negotiations, at the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648.This event saw diplomacy officially recognised as a profession (Siracusa 2010, p. 2). The major turning point in diplomacy however, was between 1914 and 1918, when many nation states began to proclaim that ineffective traditional sovereignty such as the bilateral and secret system of diplomacy was a major cause of the First World War (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, p. 28).Woodrow Wilson, as a result of these claims, insisted that diplomacy should be more open and democratic in order to involve multiple states, which led to the emergence of a new style of diplomacy embedded in an open and multilateral system under the League of the Nations (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, pp. 28-29). These changes allowed new international institutions to emerge (Pigman 2010, p. 23). Diplomacy since then has further evolved as a result of globalisation and can no longer be c onsidered only in terms of relations between states (Wiseman 2004, pp. 40-41).The definition of diplomacy itself has been expanded in recent years as a result of the complexity of the current international environment, which has required that the role of diplomacy be broadened in order to be more suitable to modern governments and other political bodies (Black 2010, p. 254). Indeed, in order to survive modern diplomacy has had to embrace multilateral and polylateral relationships by engaging more non-traditional diplomatic entities such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs), local and city governments, and transnational corporations (Wiseman 2004, p. 6). Diplomacy has the potential to play an important and integral part of relations between different political actors in this new role, and will in doing so regain some of the importance it held in previous eras. Wiseman (2004) insists that diplomacy has indeed adapted to a global world and mo ved beyond multilateralism to â€Å"Polylateralism†, which further layer of diplomatic interaction and relations between states and other entities (p. 41).Supranational, subnational and transnational actors such as European Union, Quebec, and Microsoft are indeed currently engaging in complicated activities of diplomacy (Pigman 2010, pp. 18-19). The incident on September 11th in 2001, for example, occurred in the United States (state) in New York by non-state actor, Al-Qaeda and there were various alliances and networks around the world involved to solve the resulting conflict (Saner & Yiu 2003, p. 10).The twenty-first century has undergone serious globalisation, meaning that diplomacy in its traditional but narrow capacity can no longer always solve the complex multiple boundary issues that frequently present themselves and therefore must expand its institutional capabilities in order to deal with non-state actors. In many senses diplomacy has already achieved such an evolut ion in practice however it still holds to its traditional guidelines as a baseline and in a theoretical capacity.The scope of the practice of modern diplomacy has certainly increased in recent times and is now without a doubt capable of dealing with complex issues. It has been developed in such a way that it will be easily adaptable to a changing world and can therefore be a tremendously relevant and potentially essential tool in modern world affairs. GLOBALISATION IMPACTS Diplomacy in the twenty first century has become more than the diplomacy of states and government, although the sovereign state remains as a key actor (Siracusa 2010, p. 06). Globalisation is constantly changing the nature and conduct of diplomacy and as a result it is becoming more rapidly deepened and broadened in current world affairs. Diplomacy today is used to deal with concerns about much broader subjects such as terrorism, human rights, economy, law and climate change, which were not issues in previous cent uries and therefore as a result new actors and advanced information technology (IT) have been introduced into the role of diplomacy (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, p. 182).One such example is the speed of the conduct of diplomacy which as a result of IT and electronic communications has increased dramatically and brought international organisations, governments and civil societies much closer together (Murray 2011, p. 726). This, as a result, has diversified the nature of diplomacy to be less state-centric and to have a system that is less state-hierarchical (Chatterjee 2007, p. 111). The wider availability of knowledge available through the internet, has helped one of diplomacy’s key activities, that of gathering information for decision-making purposes.Information is not only available to diplomats but also to non-state entities and to the general public and as a result, diplomacy has become less state-centric. Particular types of information however, cannot be obtained without pers onal contact by the diplomat, nor can computers accurately analyse, interpret and report this information. The advancement in IT has therefore by no means replaced the need for this diplomatic activity (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, p. 189).Ambassadors today do not simply represent a particular entity, although that is a main part of their role; their primary function is to tactically apply their technical skills in order to promote their home countries image and to nurture good relationships with their host countries (Kerr & Wiseman 2013, p. 29). Satow (1979) also asserts that human nature and national character have not altered to any remarkable extent meaning that diplomacy will always be a required part of affairs and diplomats’ roles cannot be replaced by IT (Gore-Booth 1979, p. 442).The new age of IT also improves the negotiation role of diplomacy. It boosts larger participation in policy discussion by members from different departments within a state and also with IGOs as disc ussion can take place without the necessity of being in the same physical location (Hamilton & Langhorne 2011, p. 233). This form of discussion was successfully applied in the negotiations with Bosnia and led to the Dayton agreement (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, p. 187). Modern technology can make diplomacy conduit a much faster process, which means that issues can be resolved quickly.In matters of international safety and other significant and urgent matters, IT has become an essential tool for negotiation in modern international diplomacy (Chatterjee 2007, pp. 114-115). Another example of the effects of globalisation to diplomacy is the role played by intergovernmental organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and transnational corporations. These entities play a large role in the complex international economic and political system of the modern world and affect diplomatic relations in a unique way (Saner & Yiu 2003, p. ). Diplomats usually promote their home interests to other countries in relation to commerce and trade and invite private investors but state and private sector relations more often involve complex negotiations that handle the terms of private foreign investment and trade (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, p. 184). Exxon Mobile for instance put efforts to obstruct the United States from signing the Kyoto Protocol agreement in order to avoid its additional liabilities and taxes.Similarly, Microsoft tried to protect its software by influencing the Philippines government to pass a new intellectual property law with the United States government (Rugman 2008, pp. 98-99). These examples show how state entities and private corporation relations affect world and domestic foreign policy. Kerr and Wiseman (2013) assert however, that the involvement of corporations is confined to making international business deals, while nation-state governments ultimately make the decisions regarding the rules of trade (p. 9). The role of the state actor is still very ess ential to assess the political consequences but they may need to enlarge their capabilities in terms of diplomacy in order to deal with the non-state actors and to learn to manage the multiple boundaries of today’s complex economic and political realities (Sancer &Yiu 2003, p. 2). A final example of the effects of globalisation to diplomacy is illustrated through the issue of the rise of terrorism and localised wars.Global governance institutions (intergovernmental organisations) such as the United Nations (UN), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have developed the appearance of holding importance international status (Siddiqui & Alam 2010, p. 184), but in reality may not be as productive as dealing with such issues as publicly assumed. The UN’s ability as an effective mediator is unfortunately somewhat exaggerated, mainly due to a lack of military or significant cash flow of its own. It can hardly be a successful med iator without adequate resources.The Somalia intervention from 1992 to 1995, for instance, was a UN and US arranged Unified Task Force (UNITAF) that resulted in disastrous consequences because of a lack of humanitarian aid and other resources that were originally promised (Ketcher 2010, p. 20). Berridge (2010) asserts that intergovernmental organisations are â€Å"free-booting amateurs with limited usefulness† (p. 254). State actors such as official diplomats therefore should be in a key and immensely important position to monitor and regulate global governance institutions in order to ensure the maintenance of appropriate operation (Chatterjee 2007).CONCLUSION Diplomacy as a professional institution is constantly evolving its definition and its practices while still remaining loyal to the key principles that were forged at the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in 1961. Globalisation and the technological revolution have speedily changed the nature of diplomacy in ter ms of; technology-based international relations, complex internationalisation problem solving, changing the international system of trade and commerce and the holding a crucial involvement in IGOs and transnational corporations.Diplomacy today is as a result becoming more rapidly depended and broadened in the world affair. Furthermore, it also has made it possible for non-state actors to establish supra-territorial relationships so that while state actors still hold a crucial status, they are able to actively cooperate with non-state actors to secure position and expand knowledge (Saner & Yiu 2003, p. 29).Despite contrary opinions diplomacy has clearly and successfully adapted to the modern world and as a result plays a very significant role in the relation between different political parties, albeit a slightly different and expanded role that is traditionally filled. In view of this it is likely that diplomacy will continue to be a very effective tool, capable of shaping and mouldi ng modern world affairs between the different political partners and in doing so will continue to control the forefront of international relations in the future.

Professional Nursing Synthesis Portfolio

In Appendix __ and ___ (Case studies and Rhabdomyisis), I have been able to exhibit   critical thinking. I have been able to undertake analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of data gathered from observation, experience, reflection, or communication as a guide to belief or action. I have also been able to acquire substantial clinical reasoning which entails a capacity to remember facts, organize them in a meaningful whole, and then apply the information in a clinical patient care situation. As a nurse, I can make use of reasoning to help in formulating principles or guidelines as a basis for my nursing practice judgment decisions. II. Decision Making Skills In Appendix ___ (Ethical Dilemma), I have significantly enhanced my decision making skills. As a novice, I acquire clinical judgment and skill over time. Knowledge is refined through actual clinical experience; this moves me from a rule-based, context-free stage to a more analytical, logical and intentional pattern of thinking. To effectively provide a conducive learning environment, I have been exposed to venues for examining and developing my problem solving and reasoning skills towards making clinical judgments. These venues transpire through numerous learning experiences, one of which are ethical dilemmas. III. Nursing Care and Management of Clients In Appendices __ and ___ (Case studies and Mariners Harbor project), I have effectively enhanced my skills in nursing care and management of clients. These experiences can help me in developing the learner from the novice phase to being an advanced beginner in nursing. Experiences such as this enable the formation of meaningful related information on the basis of what I have learned in the classroom. There is an expectation that with more experience, I can move from the level of advanced beginner to the level of competence by program completion. Clinical judgment is defined as nursing decisions about which areas to assess, analyzing health data, prioritizing which task to do, and who should carry it out. For clinical judgment to be assessed as sound, it should be arrived at using critical thinking and logical reasoning, that will enable the deduction of valid conclusions, and the decisions that may be borne from these. IV. Effective Communication, Collaboration and Negotiation In Appendix ___ (Visiting hours in the ICU), I have been able to appreciate the importance of working with multidisciplinary professionals. I realized that synergy and collaboration are important for the ultimate welfare of the patient. This set-up also allows for his holistic healing. V.   Professional values and behaviors In Appendix __ (Nursing Philosophy), I was able to hone my professional values and behaviors. I believe that while technical competence is a core requisite to becoming a successful nurse practitioner, being values and ethics driven are equally important. In the absence of policies or concrete guiding principles, values are the only guideposts on which decisions may be hinged or anchored against. I am thankful that I was taught ethics and have also had the opportunity to make ethical decisions on the basis of such knowledge. I realized that deciding with a clean conscience makes for competent and sound nursing practice, which substantially determines nursing effectiveness. VI.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Teaching and Learning My experience in being a nurse educator has further been honed through Appendix __ (Mariners Harbor Outreach) where I was able to instruct indigents and minority patients about palliative care. I felt that this has brought me a step closer to my aspiration of being a nurse educator. As a future nurse educator / coach, I would like to conduct research projects, participate in professional associations and interact with other nursing academics and practitioners. I would also continue to practice my profession in the clinical setting. This is an effective tool in ensuring that I continue to be clinically competent as I train future nurses. VII.     Research Through integrated literature reviews and critiques (Appendix __ and ___), I have been able to hone my research skills. I have learned how to critically analyze both quantitative and qualitative data to be able to draw meaningful conclusions from them. These exercises on critical thinking and analysis have forged the theoretical foundation of my nursing practice, which is applied and honed in the clinical setting. These have taught me how to read and understand statistics, as well as data drawn from qualitative methods. Critiques have also allowed me to point out the limitations of research studies and ascertain the validity of research results. VIII.  Ã‚   Leadership Through Appendix __ (Nursing Philosophy paper), I have been able to strengthen my resolve in being a transformational leader-nurse. I have learned that being a charismatic or transformational leader entails articulate a realistic vision of the future that can be shared, stimulate subordinates intellectually, and pay attention to the differences among the subordinates. By defining the need for change, creating new visions, and mobilizing commitment to these visions, leaders can ultimately transform organizations. In effect, the ultimate goal was to make a real dent in the lives of people that I come in contact with by helping them authentically. IX.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management In Appendices ___ and ___ (Nursing change paper/ Visiting hours paper), I have come to appreciate the importance of working within a multidisciplinary setting. Such appreciation has also helped me appreciate diversity and synergy in working with other professionals. X.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lifelong learning and professional career development In Appendices __ and ___ (Alziheimers project/ Does advanced practice†¦ nursing paper), I have broadened my career horizons. Through these, I have manifested how I have progressed in the practice and have also been able to open new doors for learning and for sharing these wins with my colleagues.

How to Write an Essay for College

How to Write an Essay for College How to Write an Essay for College Learning how to write an essay for college can bedifficult and a time consuming task. Of course there are some useful tips and sources that can help you write a perfect essay for college. You just have to focus and follow the basic key steps in writing an essay for college. How to write an essay for college? First, understand what exactly is expected from you; afterwards, make a careful and extensive research on the topic. Pick all the pros and cons on the material and choose the topic of your essay wisely. The most important thing when picking a topic for writing an essay for college is that you have to be able to defend it and make an argument. That is why research is so important. By researching the material you will actually separate and find out all the relevant arguments that will prepare you to argue and defend your thesis. Analyzing a topic gives a good base to debate on it because while you have analyzed the topic you actually have found out its strong and weak sides. This will help you develop your essay for college in a logical and well organized manner. Do not only analyze the material, but also brainstorm it, ask yourself different questions from different points of view. Give yourself some time while researching; check different sources, critics’ opinions, literature reviews, etc. Once again, we will stress on the importance of picking the right thesis; a well-chosen thesis is, after all, a half written essay. Make a small plan in which you will outline different arguments, ideas, quotations, paragraphs, etc. In other words, the plan will be a map of your college essay. Structure and body of a college essay The structure of a college essay is like any other essay. You start with an introduction. The introduction has to be strong. The most important thing, in fact, the purpose of the introduction is to acquaint the reader on the topic you are going to write about and state your thesis clearly. The length of the introduction depends on the length and word count of the whole essay. Do not undermine technical details given to you by your instructor when writing an essay for college. After that, continue with the body of the essay; i.e. with the exposition of your thesis. Write different paragraphs on different arguments defending your subject. In the body of the essay present arguments, state quotations and statistics that prove your subject. In the introduction part, grab your audience’s attention and state your thesis. In the body of the essay advocate your thesis with all the information, facts and arguments you have gathered during your research, analysis and brainstorming. Write in active, logical and well-organized manner. Pick criteria when listing your arguments, start with the strongest one and gradually list out the one of lesser importance and conviction strength. The essential thing in writing the body of your essay is to sound logical and convincing because that is the purpose of that part of the essay, to state facts and arguments which prove your thesis and to convince the audience in it. Finish your essay with a conclusion. The conclusion has to be strong and should be able to create a sense of closure to the audience. The purpose of the conclusion is to restate your thesis and create a closure on it. If you are not bound by the word limit, you can restate your strongest arguments, which advocate your thesis. At the end, take some time and then proofread your essay, make sure it sounds convincing and written in a logical and well-organized manner with clearly stated and well debated thesis. Check for grammar and punctuation mistakes thoroughly. Make sure your essay is easy to read and has a clear and convincing tone.

How Many Extracurricular Activities Do You Need

How Many Extracurricular Activities Do You Need SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You’ve been working hard in high school to get good grades and test scores, but there’s another part of the college application that many students find more confusing: the extracurricular activity section. How many extracurricular activities do you need for college applications? How many are too many? Will you get rejected from a school if you don’t have the right amount? Many students who have participated in activities throughout high school are shockedto look at the Common App and realize there are ten spaces to fill out. Does that mean you have to be involved in ten different activities? In this article I will tell you: The important things colleges need to see in your extracurriculars The ideal amount of extracurricular activities The minimum amount of extracurriculars you can have What to do if you have no extracurriculars What to do if you have too many extracurriculars What Colleges Want to See in Your Activities Before we talk about exactly how many activities you need, let’s discusswhy extracurricular activities are important in the first place and what colleges are hoping to learn about you through your activities. Extracurriculars are one of the most important ways that colleges can learn about who you are as a person and if you will be a good fit on their campus. Why? These activities show admissions officers many of the â€Å"intangibles† that they are looking for in their students. For example, your extracurriculars show admission officers if you can balance your schedule, if you can commit to an activity, the extent to which you can lead or improve something, and what makes you tick. There are three main things that collegesare looking for inyour activities: Dedication: Instead of seeing you jump around from activity to activity, colleges would far prefer to see you dedicate a significant amount of time over an extended period (a few years) to one particular activity. This showsyour willingness to make a commitment and yourpassion for what you are doing. Leadership: Admissions officers like to see students take control in their activities and show off their leadership skills. This could include things like founding a club, increasingparticipation in an activity, or leading a project like a fundraiser. Universities hope that someday their students will go on to be leaders on a larger scale in the community, and these activities are a good way for them to gauge if you have the interest and ability to do that. Lasting Impact: This ties in with the previous idea. Admission officers like students who are going to make a difference in the world and leave it better than they found it. So if you are someone who has done just that in an activity, they are going to be more likely to think that you are the type of student they want on their campus. Did you do something to improve a club or organization you belonged to? Did you streamline a process or innovate how your activity is done? Did you leave something better than you found it? Now that you understand what colleges are hoping to glean about you through your activities let’s see just how many of them you need in order to show off these qualities. What’s the ideal amount of activities you’ll need in order to impress admissions officers? How Many â€Å"Normal† Activities Should Students Have? The Goldilocks â€Å"just right† number of activities is 5 or6. This is a good amount because it's achievable for most students without being overwhelming. Fewer activities than this can show a lack of willingness to branch out and try something new, while having way more than 6 activities is unsustainable for most students. When colleges see students who have 10 or more activities, they will likely assume that you either padded your resume, or that you only showed up to your activities instead of making a real effort to be significantly involved. In your freshman year, try out a lot of different activities to see what you're the most passionate about. In sophomore year and beyond, start whittling down your activities so that you're left with the ones you can really make an impact in.These activities can be almost anything – clubs in your school or community, sports, art, hobbies, or community service. The key is to choose one or two activities that you will focus most of your time on. In these activities, you should be investing a significant amount of time every week. "Significant time," of course, can be interpreted differently depending on what activity you are doing. In general, between 5 and 10 hours per week for each main activity is a good benchmark, depending on how many activities you are involved in and how much time you devote to other responsibilities. (Remember to never let your academics suffer at the expense of extracurriculars!) Duringyour last years of high school, make sure that you show growth or development in these activities and try to take on a leadership role, or at least lead some initiatives. Take note of some specific accomplishments that you are proud of (don’t be too humble) andcan write about on your application – specific details about your achievementswill make your hard work much more impressive to colleges. Round yourself out with a few secondary activities. You won’t be spending as much time on these, so they should be things that you can have fun with and not have to stress about. On your college applications, these activities will help round you out as a person and show aspects of your personality that may not be visible in your main activities. For example, if your main activities are competing in Science Bowl competitions and doingresearch at a local college, having something like a stand-up comedy club on your application could show a completely different side of you. Keep in mind that the main thing is to pursue activities that you are really passionate about. College admissions advisors care much more about getting a good idea of who you are and why you have pursued certain activities than reading a list of activities you couldn’t care less about but thought would sound good on an application. Though 5 – 6 is the most ideal amount, that’s not to say that some students don’t do well with fewer activities – sometimes significantly fewer! What’s the Minimum Number of Extracurriculars I Need for a Competitive School? Surprisingly, you only really need one extracurricular activity, even for a competitive school like Harvard. However, if that’s all you’re going to have, it had better be one very impressive activity that shows your growth, leadership, and impact. You will also need to show that you have been significantly involved in the activity all throughout high school. As an example, let me tell you about a student I knew at college. The summer before her freshman year, she went with her family on vacation to Malaysia, where she was enchanted by the beautiful shawls local artisans made. She realized that many of the artists who produce these pieces were being underpaid for their work. On returning home, she decided to take some classes at the local community college in business and web development and then launched a non-profit company that allows people to purchase these kinds of goods directly from the artisans abroad.Over the next four years, she expanded the business to reach artists in several countries and hired a couple of employees to help her do the work. This kind of activity shows initiative, leadership, dedication, maturity, and passion – which areeach qualitiesthat admissions officers are looking for. Additionally, something of this magnitude would take up pretty much all of your time and not leave a lot of room for other activities. If you only have one activity of this magnitude, you should run with it and not worry about the blank spaces on your application. But is one really the minimum amount of activities you can have? What if you don’t have any at all? Can I Get Away With Having No Extracurricular Activities? The short answer to this question is yes; you can get away with having no extracurricular activities. Some lower-ranked schools completely base their admissions decisions off GPA and test scores. Additionally, there are several state schools that admit a percentage of students entirely based on the same criteria - ignoring extras such as your activities. For example, the University of California system guarantees admission to one of its campuses to all students who are in the top 9% of California high school students. If you have no activities, it's a good idea to check your state school system and see if it has a similar plan. Finally, if you have spent your free time in high school doing something productive such as taking extra classes at your local community college, you may find that schools will also look well on that and be willing to admit you despite a lack of extracurriculars. However,you may not want to go down these paths if you can at all avoid it. While you will almost certainly be eligible for some schools without extracurriculars, they may not necessarily be the schools you were hoping for. Unless you have serious extenuating circumstances, most colleges will look at a complete lack of extracurricular activities with disapproval. A student with no activities often ends up looking lazy, unmotivated, and afraid to leave his or her comfort zone. Therefore, studentswith no extracurriculars will not be competitive at most schools. Furthermore, you will be automatically eliminating yourself from the running for loads of merit- and activity-based scholarships, which are often dependent on your extracurricular activities.If you aren't sure if your after-school activities count as extracurriculars, or if you currently have no extracurriculars and don’t know what to do, see our guide. But what if you have the opposite issue? Is it possible to have too many extracurricular activities? Thereareonly ten spaces for activities on the Common App. What if you have more than that? What If I Have Way More Than Ten Activities? If you have more than ten activities, you do not needto list all of them. In fact, on this part of the application, you can make a good argument that less is more. Instead of having a long list of activities, it’s much more important to be able to show significant involvement in a few activities. Use the Common App to showcase what you consider to be your best activities. Choose the activities that you are most passionate about, have helped you mature and develop skills, have allowed you to make a lasting impact, and that youhave spent the most time doing. This will look different for every student. Some students are genuinely invested in several activities. If that’s the case, then you should list them all. However,most students will only have a couple activities that they have really dedicated themselves to. Keep in mind that colleges will care less about what you have done and more about why and how you have done it. When you're choosing which activities to write about, focus on those that help tell the story of who you are. This means that you probably don’t have to mention the one time you worked backstage on the musical or the ten hours of community service you did freshman year and never thought about again until college applications rolled around. Instead, just focus on those that show growth, leadership, and dedication. If you think about it with that criteria, do you really have more than ten activities? If you are very concerned about making everything fit, see if you can group activities together. For example, if you have participated in several different volunteer activities, you can lump them together as one.The same thing goes for students who have played several different instruments and don’t have room to list them individually. You should also consider not filling up the list. I’ll repeat: It is okay to not fill up the whole list,especially if you're includingactivities that you can’t show to be significant. Why is this a bad idea? Admissions officers may think that you just signed up foractivities to pad your resume, and it may make them doubt your maturity and the sincerity ofyour involvement in the activities you have listed. What’s Next? Check out our list of extracurricular activities if you need inspiration for an activity to choose. Now that you know what extracurriculars arecheck out our guide for how to write about extracurriculars on your college application. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: