How to Have Impressive Extracurriculars When You’re Busy

Originally published on April 19, 2019. Updated on May 21, 2026.

Keeping yourself involved in extracurricular activities while also gunning for that next promotion or trying to learn Python for your day job is no easy feat. That said, your MBA extracurricular activities are an important piece of your overall profile. They show the admissions committee who you are beyond the office, highlight your values, and serve as an excellent way to demonstrate leadership.

It is incredibly common to feel stuck here. You might not have the time to dive headfirst into a long-term, demanding leadership commitment, but you also know that simply being a passive member of an organization isn’t going to move the needle on a top business school application.

Fortunately, there is a strategic workaround. You don’t have to chair a junior board or co-found a non-profit from scratch to show you are an engaged community leader. (To better understand how admissions committees evaluate these roles, read our guide on demonstrating leadership in your MBA applications).

Instead, there are flexible, high-impact ways to build your profile that allow you to make a real difference on a schedule that actually works for you.

 

 

 

 

 

Catchafire

Catchafire pairs you with a nonprofit project need, and the work you do is both very valuable for the organization and extremely beneficial for your MBA applications.

Consider this: before writing this article, I quickly searched for projects available for finance professionals on Catchafire and found a request for a one-hour phone conversation with the Laguna Canyon Foundation to discuss how to allocate indirect costs properly.

If you are a consultant, financial analyst, or corporate strategist, you can provide massive value in just sixty minutes. That project goes directly onto your resume, and it gives you a tangible, real-world story to discuss in your admissions interviews. For many young professionals, it is incredibly eye-opening to realize just how much your daily corporate skills can impact a cause you care about, even with just a few years of experience.

When pursuing a project on Catchafire, you could treat it as a one-off project when you have free time, or as a gateway to more sustained remote involvement with an organization. Either way, it’s a strong leadership and community engagement story for your applications — and a fantastic way to give back to organizations doing meaningful work around the country.

Taproot

Another excellent resource for developing impactful MBA extracurricular activities is the Taproot Foundation. Like Catchafire, Taproot matches volunteers with specific professional experience to nonprofits in need of support.

They offer a wide range of remote, discrete projects, as well as local, team-based opportunities. If you have a bit more time, you can even sign up to manage a group of other volunteers, allowing you to easily practice project management and cross-functional leadership.

On any given day, you might find a posting to design a remote social media strategy plan for an affordable housing non-profit, or lead a SWOT analysis for an organization preparing a large-scale fundraising event. Most corporate professionals could run a strategic assessment like this in their sleep. The beauty of Taproot is its flexibility: you can start with a single remote project and scale up to a team leadership role whenever your work schedule opens up.

Once you’ve identified the right extracurricular opportunities, make sure you know how to present them effectively. For tips on highlighting these experiences in your materials, check out our article on how to make your resume MBA-ready.

Why are These Better Than Just Attending Alumni Social Events?

To be clear — absolutely attend your undergrad’s alumni social events.  But completing high-need, skills-based projects for nonprofits allows you to demonstrate real, tangible impact, which is far more compelling.

Unless you are organizing the events or playing a significant role in the planning or execution, it’s hard to spin attendance alone as leadership. You can’t just be on the mailing list and attend a few socials or galas and call it an activity — most admissions officers will see through that (and HBS might even press you on it in the interview).

If alumni events are all you can manage, do them. But if you can get involved in something even a little more substantial — even just over the next few months — it will go a long way toward helping you build your overall brand as a leader and engaged community citizen.

These are just a few of many options but hopefully this gets you thinking about some of the possibilities out there. If you want to brainstorm ideas for MBA extracurricular activities, request an  initial consultation with our team today.