text: The first reason our school should continue to require extracurricular activities is because it provides balance in students' schedules. Balance is one thing that is very important, especially when it comes to middle and high school; colleges look at whether a student can manage an activity with all of the school work as a big factor in the admissions process. For example, My older sister applied to UVA last year; She had straight A's, a great GPA and SAT score, but got denied because she wasn't a balanced student. She claims that if she would have had a required extracurricular activity, she would have had a better high school experience because it would force her to have a little more fun, which she needed at the time.