<p>I'm a little perplexed as to the nature of this question. It basically asks you to "elaborate" on one of your ECs, but it only gives you 150 words!! Am I really expected to expound upon one of my EC's deep effect on my life in that amount of space?! Ok, maybe I'm just naturally long-winded, but could someone who knows how this game is played please PM me your answer? I'll PM you what I've got so far if you want.</p>
<p>The EC question on the Common App confused me--it said 150 words but the character limit was 5,000 (I think), which would be way more than 150 words.</p>
<p>Ah well. I'm long done with it, but I'd stick to the 150 word rule (that's what I did).</p>
<p>Just curious, where did you end up going?</p>
<p>I did get into HYPS (the only schools on the Common App that I applied to), and am going to Stanford, but I will say that my activity essay was my weakest, simply because of the space constraint. I wouldn't make any judgments re: its relative importance, though, since my other essays were much stronger. I suppose they expect that essay not to be the most informative, given the length limit.</p>
<p>"I would have written a shorter letter but didn't have time"
(Blaise Pascal)
:)</p>
<p>Yeah, it's hard to write about an activity in <150 words, but it’s not impossible. Just keep going over it, and take out everything that isn’t 100% necessary. I wrote a short sentence or two about what I did, and then a little about what made the activity special to me. I remember all too well the tortured process of cutting every last possible word, but in the end I think the essay was better because of it.</p>
<p>Can I send either of you guys what I have for editing?</p>
<p>Of course, go ahead (make sure it's Star*, because clicking on my name can link to Star131).</p>
<p>Another option is to completely delete it. I did this accidently with mine, and had to completely re-write it. In the process, I cut it down to 153 words from 241. :)</p>
<p>should it be straightfoward, or can it be more creative?</p>
<p>^ Either. Mine is really creative, but a lot tend to be more straightfoward.</p>
<p>The way I have written mine, I'm elaborating my ec without trying to seem like that's what I'm doing. I give details about what I do but the whole thing is in this past perspective. i teach 4th graders at this school about nutrition so the way i describe it is that I've just had my first lesson and it wasn't very good but at the same time i'm saying this is what I do and where i do it and how. I'm not sure if its what they wanted or if my essay works. </p>
<p>Any comments on my way?</p>
<p>Anyone else wanna read my final product? (preferably college students/alumni)</p>