Which extracurricular activities will look best on my college application?

Which extracurricular activities will look best on my college application?

There are so many extracurricular activities that teenagers are involved in today that sometimes I get concerned that they are over programed. Often, athletics is a big one and students will have a sport that they have been involved with since the early days but the colleges really will not look before 9th grade generally. Some ask about 7th or 8th but not many. So that is one piece. Others would be any kind of art or special talent that the students has that they have focused on or any kind of leadership involvement that they have had in a community project. Again there is a little bit of debate here to, because you have students where they may come from more well to do families and their families can send them to Argentina to build a house. Versus the other student whose family can't afford it and they are volunteering at the local community center. So it's really how the student describes what they are doing and the degree of involvements, sincerity, and perhaps recommendations that will really speak to what they are doing.