My recommendation(s) for extracurriculars are always some combination of “do what interests you” (what you are passionate about) AND “do things that will teach you stuff.”
I know the last is vague, so I’ll clarify a little on both:
“Do things that will teach you stuff”
- you joined Toastmasters to work on your public speaking skills and delivery
- you joined French Club because you wanted to work on your French language skills and to learn about France
- you joined a calligraphy club to work on your penmanship and/or to learn and/or to practice calligraphy
- you joined a Debate Club to learn how to think critically about issues and also to learn how to debate
“Do what interests you”
MIT has alumni who have exhibited all kinds of extracurriculars. Cheerleaders? Yes. Recycling? Yes. Olympiads? Yes. Really good at athletics (and after graduating from MIT, went into professional sports)? Yes. Music? Yes. Tutoring students? Yes. And everything in between.
Do not think that you have to have STEM (or whatever) extracurriculars or research projects to demonstrate you belong at MIT.
Let’s talk about a buzzword that gets tossed around when talking about MIT (and Ivies and Stanford): Leadership
Leadership means many different things:
- you can demonstrate leadership through charisma, being elected to the top positions in student government
- you can demonstrate leadership through showing initiative, say starting a club or clubs, and organizing meetings
- you can demonstrate leadership through seniority: if you were part of a club for several years, you would likely be the member with the most institutional knowledge and possibly responsibility (e.g., “lead by example” and de facto leader)
- you can demonstrate organizational ability (say, arranging events)
Playing piano for yourself is a hobby, not an extracurricular.
You’ve got a lot different hobbies and interests – and you admit: “Japanese culture, cybersecurity, and the arts and music” –
- What do you spend the most time doing / thinking about?
- Is this what you are most interested in / most passionate about?
None of these is particularly unique for MIT (plus there are other specialized cybersecurity programs in other colleges) so I hope you spend some time thinking about your fit with MIT.