Mastering the Activities Section of the Common Application. Important note: Make sure that the order you put them in is the order of importance they have for you according to your passions and interests. Let’s move on to the Activity Description. Here’s how to fill out the Common App Activities section for maximum impact. And it’s not uncommon for students to spend weeks (if not months) brainstorming their ideal essay topic and then editing it down to perfection. Ethan helps students write amazing college essays by offering free resources, one-on-one essay sessions, online webinars, and in-person workshops. Examples of great action verbs include:led, managed, coordinated, developed, initiated, (re)designed, achieved, analyzed, authored, trained… You ge… There’s no hard and fast definition for what “significant involvement” looks like, but most people can work it out. Be specific! The main rule for this is to be as detailed as you can within the character limit. My colleague David discusses more tips for fitting more Common App activities onto your list here: You will likely have to make some tough choices about which extracurriculars make the final cut. Never fear! We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. Look at the options for extracurricular activities on the Common … The Common Application used to require a short answer response of 150 words or fewer, and today many schools have retained the short answer in the supplemental essay section. Learn more; Some terminology in Microsoft Dataverse has been updated. If you ran the meetings but didn’t have an official title, still write it down. A description of what you did. Check out our guide with four amazing extracurricular examples. Tags :activities test,common app activities,common app activities list,common app extracurricular activities,extracurricular activities,extracurricular activities for college. List your activities in order of importance (from most to least), and list only your most important activities. Outdoors Club: Member for four years, vice president my senior year. College applicants are infamously known to stress about their essays. This is because you want to save as much room as possible in the next section, where you have to describe the activity. So what do you do if, even after fine-tuning your activities list as much as possible, you are finding it difficult to stay within the 10 entry limit? Animal Shelter Volunteer: Freshman through junior year. Instead of taking up two activity slots, you could select the activity type “Music: Vocal” and combine the groups for the title: “Alto, School Choir and Youth Group Choir.” Then, have a description that presents your overall history and any shining moments as a choir singer: “Have been performing at local competitions, charity concerts since 4th grade; at school, was selected out of 20 to sing solo at int’l competition.” (145 characters). They’ll be rolling their eyes if you insisted on filling out this section to talk about the one hour you spent working at the pancake breakfast three years ago. Working with recommenders and advisors. The activities that can be included are limited to ones that a student has done during their high school years (grade 9 through 12 for the US system, and years 10 through 13 for the UK system). Just like Like when writing a resume, you can use “incomplete sentences” in your activity list descriptions to maximize the amount of information you’re able to fit. Even though two activities have been reworked into one, this entry is effective at showing a sincere passion for singing, long-term commitment to different choir groups, and a notable achievement. Now that you know more about how to write about extracurriculars, check out the number one thing colleges wish students knew. Learn more ; This article will be updated soon to reflect the latest terminology. In addition to listing your family responsibilities in the activities section, you may also wish to share more details in your personal essay or the additional information section. What you should not write in this space is a general description of what the club or group does. Too many activities can weaken your application, making you look like a dilettante. Still not quite sure how you should choose from among your many activities? Typo In common app activity name. Even with room for up to 10 activities, don’t list more than nine. Almost everyone will feel like they could write more, but try to refrain from doing so unless you really feel that something very important cannot be described well enough in the space given. Read our guide on How to Write the Common App Essays Types of Activities and Positions Held. For some students, the 10 spaces for Common App activities are just not enough. This includes things like having a job or taking care of family members. The Common Application offers a drop-down menu with the following activities from which to select: Academic; Art; Athletics: Club; Athletics: JV/Varsity; Career-Oriented; Community Service (Volunteer) Computer/Technology; Cultural; Dance; Debate/Speech; Environmental If necessary, you can upload a resumé to cover extracurriculars and achievements that just weren’t able to fit within the Common App. 33 Views 3 Replies 0 points Most recent by RichInPitt November 19 Common and Coalition Application. Next, fill in the number of weeks per year that you did the activity, and the hours per week. How many people joined the club because of you? The Common App does have an “Additional Information” section, and this is the place to let admissions officers know about these really important things that you couldn’t fit elsewhere. You've probably learned different but valuable things from each experience, and having a diverse range of interests shows that you're not afraid to try new things – another thing that will be viewed positively by admissions officers. Share Tweet Post Message. Let’s go through the Activities section of the Common App step by step. Award-winning soloist/first chair violinist. It’s ok to use symbols and abbreviations (&, /, etc.) The Common App instructions say list your activities “in order of importance to you.” Follow this instruction. DO list your most impressive and relevant activities near the … Focus on quality, not quantity. You can often combine multiple activities under one heading if none of them is individually significant enough, or if you need to save space. Feel free to go in-depth and fully explain your involvement. In other words, you need to be looking for quality over quantity. You might have a ton of activities - or not very many - and be wondering how you should write about your activities to impress college admissions readers. You have 50 characters to fill out this section. Dual Enrollment vs Concurrent Enrollment. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: © PrepScholar 2013-2018. It can seem like the Activities section of the Common App gives rise to the most questions, and for good reason. Take advantage of common abbreviations when appropriate and use phrases instead of sentences. With 150 characters, you have no space to waste. If information is mysteriously missing (problems have been reported in the “Activities” and the “Current Year Courses” sections) or if your essay doesn’t look right, go back and delete your previous entries and try reentering the essay or data. With careful planning and a little creativity, it is possible to make everything fit. Most Common App colleges either require or allow for you to have a number of recommendations submitted on your behalf. For the Common App, you'll need to reflect on what you have learned from your activities and how they have helped you develop. Understand these constraints and you’ll be ready to fit more activities in. Just make sure they really are important! This article provides tips for how seniors should go about completing the activities list for the Common App and other college applications. In fact, college admissions advisors would prefer to see a few activities that you've made a significant dedication to than several activities that you've had lesser involvement in. Some students are “pointy." Admission officers will value anything you share on this topic, and they will treat your personal story with respect and confidentiality. In this box, you can use 150 characters to talk about details of your activity. What were the dates that you participated in the activity? The reality is, admissions officers may just skim an uploaded resumé for the sake of time. It’s important to brainstorm ahead of time to make sure that you'll be able to make the most of this section. Read on for a step-by-step explanation of how to pick what activities you should write about, and how you should list them on your application. In addition to listing your family responsibilities in the activities section, you may also wish to share more details in your personal essay or the additional information section. Write down any leadership roles you had – meaning any time you were responsible for the actions of other people, or had responsibilities beyond just being a participant. Did you organize any activities? After all, having too much to say is a better problem than having nothing to say at all! You've been on the JV team at school for four years, you play club volleyball in the off-season, and every summer you both do volleyball camps and help coach camps for younger players. The Common App is a valuable application tool but there's a lot to it – find out how to use it, key deadlines, essay prompts and more in our guide here. We can help. Even more importantly, they love to see students who are developing their talents and passions. While that’s true, that doesn’t mean that they are only looking for well-rounded students. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. You may have heard that admissions officers are looking to create a well-rounded student body. And does it show what kind of contribution you will be making to a college community? A Comprehensive Guide. Before thinking about how to squeeze in more than 10 activities, familiarize yourself with the way the activities list is formatted. Next Essay. Don’t just try to guess what the admissions officers want to see, because the whole point is to show off what is important to you. When the most impressive part of your activity culminated in a single award, place this in honors instead of activities. Eliminate the club you only participated in during 9th grade and the community service project you’ve done for a couple hours because your parents forced you to participate. How to Write Your Common App Activities List This is a guest blog post written by Ethan Sawyer, The College Essay Guy . Use action words and small phrases to describe what you've done. The Common App Activities Section is an opportunity to demonstrate to the Common App colleges your talents, skills, and specific examples of extracurricular activities you’ve participated in … The more specific you are, the better picture you are painting for the admissions officer about what you actually achieved. These will be sure to help you stand out from the crowd! Common App Activity Entries: The Analysis . Universities like to be known as hubs of activity, charity, and culture, and it’s largely the students that make them that way. When you reach the Activities Section on the Common App, know that you're not limited to the designated space. Common Data Service has been renamed to Microsoft Dataverse. If you still have 13 activities you hope to include, we have more tips for you…, Use the activity categories to your advantage. Always get someone to check it over and ask for anything they can contribute. What if you legitimately have more than ten activities you have been significantly involved in, and you feel your application would be incomplete without them? Remember that almost anything that you are actively and productively involved in can be considered an extracurricular activity. Order of Activities on the Common App One of the biggest mistakes I see on the common application is the order of activities. Ask students to make notes on the following: Can they demonstrate the ability to put an idea into action? Get to know the Common App and how the application works. This is especially true when your list of activities exceeds the limit set by the Common App! Admissions officers tend to like “pointy” students because their great focus shows that they have potential to make a big difference in the future of a certain field. The assumption of the admissions officers reading the application will be that the activity listed first is the most important. Common App Activities: How to Fit More Than 10 Extracurriculars on Your List. Congratulations! There are 30 activity categories, ranging from “Academic” and “Athletic” to more specific types like “Debate/Speech” and “Social Justice.” In the 2020-21 version of the activities list, Common App now provides 50 characters for the position you hold in an activity and 100 characters to list the organization or club's name. Leadership & entrepreneurial activities. But our college admissions experts would like to point out another section of the Common Application that also … Admissions officers are going to be particularly interested in seeing how you have been involved in leadership positions and that you have dedicated a significant amount of time and energy to your activities. Classes? For the Common App, you'll need to reflect on what you have learned from your activities and how they have helped you develop. Because of this, the activities section of the Common App is very important. To do this, start each line with an action verb (rather than “I”), using the present tense if it is something that you’re still participating in (e.g., “lead”) and the past tense if you are no longer involved (e.g., “led”). All rights reserved. Exactly how much money did you raise for that cause? Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. You don’t need to panic or try to make up activities just to fill in the blanks. But if you have volunteered at the hospital for 10 hours a week every week for four years, that definitely counts as significant involvement. Preparing your Common App activities can be just as stressful as completing the personal statement and college-specific supplements. For example, imagine all your extracurricular activities are related to biology. Emphasize the numbers of what you did. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Don’t try to use a full sentence here. A complete toolkit of tips and best practices designed to help your students complete their applications successfully and on time. Looking for more extracurriculars to participate in? Transfer . Only fill out all 10 if you’ve made significant efforts in each of those activities listed. 90 Views 6 Replies 0 points Most recent by Chrane03 November 18 Common … Instead of a full-blown activity entry, you may want to consider substituting with an activity-related award or honor. For each student, the activities section of the Common App should answer the question “What do you choose to invest your time in?” Volunteered 10 hours a week taking care of cats and dogs, cleaning cages, feeding animals, and interviewing potential owners at my local animal shelter. If you've been accepted and that’s the extent of your involvement, list it as an academic honor. Since each activity must be assigned a specific activity type, why not include related activities under a single, overarching theme? It’s your chance to show the admissions officers how you will become an actively contributing member of their school community. Though you haven’t tried a lot of different things, you can still turn this into a great story about having a strong passion in one area. Common Application Activities List. How many hours per week did you do? We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. According to Common App, “activities may include arts, athletics, clubs, employment, personal commitments, and other pursuits.” In other words, pretty much anything pursued outside the classroom qualifies as an activity. Here are examples from top high school students. Let’s say you are a member of your school choir, but also actively participate in your church’s youth group choir every Sunday. Thematically grouping 1-3 activities together can be a good way to include either activities with descriptions that may have looked too sparse on their own, or those that were short-term commitments but still worth mentioning. Trained 7 state qualifiers; developed fundraising, recruitment campaigns to raise $1200 in 1 year, increase membership from 6 to 40 members in 2 years – 2 of my WHAT I PUT ON MY COMMON APP video, and I focus on the top 10 activities that Common App makes you list on your application. Common App Activities Section Examples. Adding Common App Activities: Brainstorm First If this sounds like you, then consider the following tips for how to fit more than 10 extracurriculars on your activities list. 55 3. This can be a one-time thing (like organizing a food drive) or something more long-term, such as running a tutoring clinic throughout the school year. How many activities can be … But do you know how many of them you need for your application? Admissions officers are going to be particularly interested in seeing how you have been involved in leadership positions and that you have dedicated a significant amount of time and energy to your activities. Your activities should be listed in order of importance to you, starting with the most important and moving down to the least important. If you do this, you're making the most of your first 50 characters, and you can then use the Activity Description to elaborate on the points you have already raised in the Activity Name. This is not only to check that you've remembered everything correctly, such as the dates and time commitments, but also to make sure that you haven’t missed out on anything important. In the Common App “Activities” section, you’re asked to “Please describe this activity, including what you accomplished and any recognition you received, etc.,” and each description is limited to 150 characters including spaces. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! JV team two years, Varsity team two years. I love being the “go-to” mentor. It’s time to seriously start looking at the application and what should and shouldn't be included under the activities section. Previously, students were only given 50 characters for both the role and organization's name. Let’s say your activity is that you have spent the past four years playing the violin. The Common App is essentially a standard form that allows an applicant to input basic information, which will then go directly to university admissions.Some sections of the Common App are One of the trickiest parts of the Common App is understanding how to make the most of the extracurricular activity section. Colleges love to see that students are active, contributing members of their communities. Instead of aiming to fill each blank with something inconsequential just to have it filled, make sure that everything you include reflects a significant time investment and an experience that you learned from. When you're finished, click on the “Preview” button. Aside from painting or sketching, you can involve yourself in photography, theater and … Your achievements outside of the class are what make you stand out from other applicants. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? How Many Activities Should You List on the Common App? Ask below and we'll reply! Admissions officers only want to see the activities that you have been engaged in significantly. So now that you know exactly what you’ll be writing about, let’s get into the details of how to actually fill out that application. In it you have the chance to tell colleges more about who you are outside the classroom. The Common App has space for students to list ten activities, but you should not feel obligated to fill out all ten. 55 Views 3 Replies 0 points Most recent by Meddy November 18 Common and Coalition Application. Get valuable advice from students who have been in your shoes. Want to build the best possible college application with a real expert? Common App Ready. Is it a good representation of how you've spent the past four years outside of the classroom? Example 1. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. If so, what specifically did you do? Here's a sample Common App activities list. While that isn’t bad, something different will definitely get you noticed, so don’t be afraid to include something a bit unorthodox on your list – especially if you’ve had a good achievement in it and it’s an important part of your story. These do not need to be official. It’s important that you put what’s most important to you at the top of the list so that you make it as obvious as possible to the college admissions officers. Left out the least important for some students, the 10 spaces for Common App colleges either require or for... Better problem than having nothing to say at all did you raise for that cause you your... 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Of activities doesn ’ t modest been renamed to Microsoft Dataverse with up to nine other activities President my year... Became as you different from the 2019-20 cycle especially true when your list of hundreds of extracurricular activities should!
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