Getting In April 13, 2009, 2:34PM EST

Extracurriculars: The Extras That Count

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In his yearbook, friends wrote he should become a stand-up comedian, and for a while he did, even taking a job with Scholastic Books in New York to be closer to the industry and venues where he could perform. From 2002 to 2007 he performed several shows a week and launched and performed in a college tour with comedian Brian Francis.

Stand-Up Student?

In his application for business school, Gallagher wrote about his love of stand-up comedy. While he no longer wants a career in comedy, he feels as though his experiences provided useful transferable skills, made him interesting to the admissions committee, and helped differentiate him from all the other accomplished MBA candidates. In addition, his comedy experience is something he directly brought to the Wharton table as he is now the president of the school's comedy group. While he is shifting gears and looks forward to a treasury position with Tyco Electronics (TEL) during his upcoming summer internship, Gallagher says he'll always find outlets for his creativity. For starters, he's hoping to find a publisher for a humorous novel he recently wrote.

Indeed, sharing your creative side with the admissions committee is one way to impress. Having written his first opera at 14, Amir Satvat breathes music. He says he has no stress, even when he is working 100 hours per week, because as long as he listens to two minutes of classical music, he feels better. But he doesn't want to make music his career. "It's been a major, major love for me," says Satvat. "It's so special to me that I didn't want it to become mundane as a job."

His hobby, even if it isn't a career, provided plenty of opportunity to showcase his creativity, teach and lead others, and build organizations similar to the way a manager would. Satvat first founded the Boston College Fine Arts Society, which put on the first all-student opera at BC. Next, he founded Opera Oxford, a group that organizes performances at Oxford, wrote two compositions for the school that are now housed in the Oxford Library, and has lectured about opera in an adult-learning program in Connecticut. Despite all of his creative work, he says he is most passionate about studying opera as a musicologist and conductor. With a collection of 100 to 120 videos and over 1,000 CDs of classical music, Satvat says he has plenty to study as a hobby.

The Complete Person

Naturally, he wanted to share his passion with the admissions committee at Wharton, where he'll be pursuing his MBA starting next fall. He wrote one full essay on how he launched Opera Oxford and all the obstacles he had to overcome—from finding financing and corporate sponsorship to leading the group. Extracurricular activities help you become more of a complete person, says Satvat, which doesn't only help you get into business school but helps with your whole life.

While these unique extracurricular activities can help you shine, they can not guarantee you a seat at a top business school. There are many pieces to the application, and you have to meet many other requirements. But even typical extracurricular activities—if they're a big part of your life—can help you stand out as much as someone who eats fire or rescues babies from burning buildings. "Applicants must educate us about what they do, why, and how it is relevant to business school and their future career goals," says Dawna Clarke, director of admissions at Tuck.

For those still in the market for an extracurricular activity, you should consider whatever interests you and would be fun, so that you are motivated to make an impact and really get involved. You don't want to fake passion because admissions committees will weed you out, say admissions consultants. Clarke adds that you should avoid solitary activities, such as reading, because they're less compelling and do not involve teamwork and leadership, skills prized by many B-schools. And don't bother mentioning the checks you write for charities, recycling, or anything else that involves little or no effort, she says. These things don't count.

The key to finding the right activity for business school—and just for yourself—is simple really. "Do what you love," says Shinewald. "And the story will follow."

Di Meglio is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Fort Lee, N.J.