Admissions Insight: Building Extracurricular Impact for Middle Schoolers

About Joanna

A proud alumna of Georgetown University, Joanna has decades of experience in the college admissions and standardized testing space. She’s a longtime admissions interviewer and current member of the Board of Governors at Georgetown, has worked for standardized test agencies (the Graduate Management Admission Council and HR Certification Institute) and prep companies (Veritas Prep), partnered with a great many admissions offices, and served as a college admissions consultant for hundreds of applicants to elite programs. As a nonprofit marketing executive, she focuses her efforts on educational technology and higher education, and volunteers her spare time at a variety of athletic and military organizations including Dog Tag Bakery, Team Red White & Blue, the Ironman Foundation, and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

About the class

Colleges look for extracurricular involvement that shows leadership, impact, and commitment - making middle school an ideal time for students to begin working toward that kind of extracurricular profile. That is when students have the time and freedom to try out an array of interests without seeming flaky, learn how to join and influence teams, develop their talents and passions, and enter high school with a running start toward leadership and impact. In this live, interactive session with college admissions expert Joanna Graham, middle school families will learn how to balance individual and team pursuits, identify and create leadership opportunities, seek out meaningful community service, and find avenues for involvement both inside and outside their school.