More Isn't More: What Hong Kong Parents Get Wrong About Extracurriculars for International School, IB & IGCSE Students (And What Universities Actually Want)

SEAIEA Education Fair - Anson Chan

"Is my child doing enough?"

"Should we add one more competition?"

"Everyone else seems so far ahead — are we falling behind?"

I hear these questions a lot from Hong Kong parents. And I get it, the pressure is real. I've seen Hong Kong students with schedules fuller than working adults — tutoring, sports, music, clubs, competitions, volunteering — and somehow they're still expected to find time for homework and sleep.

But here's what I've learned, both as a student and now as someone who works with hundreds of families: when it comes to extracurriculars, more is almost never more.

Recently, I had the privilege of sharing the panel stage with school professionals from Thailand at the SEAIEA Education Fair in Hong Kong. Together, we explored one of the most misunderstood topics in Hong Kong education: extracurricular activities.

I'm Anson Chan, Co-Founder of Dialog Education, and a graduate of HKUST. I attended high school in Malaysia, and I've spent years helping Hong Kong parents and international school students who are doing IB and IGCSE to navigate the confusing gap between "what looks good" and "what actually matters." when they are choosing their extracurriculars

Let me share what we discussed — and what I wish every Hong Kong family understood about extracurriculars.

First, Let's Be Clear: What Are We Even Talking About?

Before the panel, many parents asked me: "Does tutoring count?" "What about extra math classes?"

So let me be very clear. For our discussion, we defined extracurriculars as enrichment activities outside of schoolwork — but NOT tutoring.

That means:

• Piano lessons

• Math competitions

• Sport teams

• Volunteering

• Student clubs and leadership roles

• Research projects

Tutoring, however valuable, is academic support. It's not an extracurricular. And one of the biggest mindset shifts I've seen in successful students is understanding that distinction.

What Are Extracurriculars Actually For?

From a school's perspective, the real purpose of extracurricular activities isn't building a CV — it's building a person. Confidence. Leadership. Collaboration. Career exploration. These are the real outcomes.

When I reflected on my own experience, attending high school in Malaysia — I realised that the activities I remember most aren't the ones I did to "look good." They're the ones where I failed, learned something about myself, or worked with people I wouldn't have met otherwise.

The school professionals and I agreed on this: the goal isn't a longer list. The goal is a more thoughtful one.

Quality vs Quantity: This Is the Core Debate

Let me be direct with you.

2–4 serious commitments, pursued with depth and consistency, are always more impressive than 10 superficial ones.

The moderator asked our panelists about their experience in Thailand: How many activities do high school students realistically pursue on average, and what are the most popular types?

They shared that most successful students focus on a handful of activities — often in sports, performing arts, or student leadership. The key isn't which activity. It's how deep the student goes.

From my own experience as a student, I've seen peers join six different clubs in Year 10, drop four of them by Year 11, and have nothing meaningful to show for any of them. Meanwhile, a student who stuck with one debate team for three years, became vice captain, and mentored younger members — that student has a story.

Depth > breadth. Every time.

Different Types of Activities: Is Academic Competition Really King?

This is a sensitive one in Hong Kong. Many parents here equate:

• Math Olympiad > sports

• Research > volunteering

• Academic awards > artistic achievement

So we tackled this head-on.

The view from the school professionals was clear: Academic competitions are not automatically more impressive than sports or arts. It all depends on authenticity. A student who genuinely loves mathematics and competes because they're curious — that's powerful. A student who does competitions because their parents signed them up, with no real interest — admissions readers can smell that from a mile away.

Conversely, leadership in a drama club can be incredibly powerful if the student revived a failing theatre programme, directed a play, or raised funds for new equipment. Team sports show resilience, collaboration, and the ability to handle pressure — all things universities value.

I added a comparative perspective from my own experience. Malaysian students tend to pursue fewer activities but deeper ones, often connected to community needs. Hong Kong students, under immense pressure, tend to spread themselves thinner. The difference in outcomes — both in university admissions and in student wellbeing — is striking.

There is no hierarchy of activities. There is only the hierarchy of genuine engagement.

Using Extracurriculars to Actually Explore Career Paths (Not Just Build a CV)

Here's something I rarely hear Hong Kong parents talk about: extracurriculars can help your child figure out what they don't want to do.

I shared my own story on the panel. Looking back, the activities that helped me choose my major and career weren't the most prestigious ones. They were the ones where I learned something about myself — my strengths, my limits, what kind of work actually energises me.

The school professionals then shared something I found incredibly valuable: how students can use extracurriculars to test potential interests rather than just build a CV.

Examples we discussed:

• A research internship → tests academic curiosity for a specific field

• Volunteering in a hospital → tests genuine interest in medicine (before applying to medical school)

• Debate → tests interest in law, policy, or argumentation

What Universities REALLY Look For

This is perhaps the most important section of our entire discussion. We explained what admissions officers are actually looking for when they read an activity list:

• Initiative — Did you start something, or just join?

• Impact — Did you make a measurable difference?

• Leadership — Not just titles, but actual responsibility

• Commitment — Did you stick with activities over years, not months?

• Personal growth — Can you reflect on what you learned?

From a school’s recommendation letter perspective, our panelists added that the students who stand out are the ones where teachers can write specific stories. Because extracurriculars are structured with coordinators and term‑based tracking in many schools, teachers and coaches can observe students over time. They see who shows up week after week to gymnastics or taekwondo practice, who takes on extra responsibility in a service‑learning project, who helps younger students learn the rules of chess.

That allows a recommendation letter to say: “Anson didn’t just attend the robotics club. He stayed after sessions to help his team debug code, and he volunteered to demonstrate the robot at the school exhibition.” That’s a story. That’s what matters.

I then added the Hong Kong university perspective. From my experience working with local institutions, HKU, CUHK, and HKUST are increasingly looking for the same things: authentic engagement, not inflated lists. A student with three deep activities and a clear narrative of growth will consistently outshine a student with ten shallow ones.

Practical Takeaways for Hong Kong Parents

Based on everything we discussed, here's what I hope you'll take away:

Common Mistake	Better Approach
Joining 10+ activities superficially	Choose 2–4 activities and go deep
Choosing activities based on prestige	Choose based on genuine interest
Adding competitions for the CV	Use activities to explore possible careers
Prioritising academics over everything	Recognise that sustained extracurriculars build skills universities value
Asking "is this enough?"	Ask "is my child growing through this?"

The One Question Every Student Should Ask Themselves

If you take nothing else from this blog, please take this.

Before starting any new activity — competition, club, volunteering role — ask your child to sit with this question (and answer honestly):

"If no university ever saw this activity, would I still want to do it?"

If the answer is no, reconsider. If the answer is yes, that's an activity worth pursuing — because genuine passion will always, always show up in your application, in ways that box-ticking never can.

A Final Word

Sharing this panel with school professionals only deepened what I've seen firsthand: the students who get into their dream universities are rarely the ones with the longest lists. They're the ones with the clearest stories.

So please, give your child permission to do less — but deeper. Give them permission to explore, fail, learn, and choose activities that actually matter to them.