Activities section on Common App.

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm applying to several schools as a junior transfer for 2014 and I have some questions about listing my activities.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>For one of my classes last semester, I was paid to take notes for a couple of other students in the class with disabilities. I would take notes on my laptop as usual and deliver copies of the notes to the office. It took place during class so I guess it wasn't "extra curricular," but should I mention it? It was technically a paid job...</p></li>
<li><p>I was briefly sort of apart of this one student organization for a few weeks last semester...I'm not sure how to explain it. I asked the students in charge if I could join and they said yes. I began attending meetings, signing the attendance sheet, etc. It was a big group and all I really did was sit around a big table, listen to people talk about issues I knew nothing about (because I joined so late in the year) and all I ever did was raise my hand to vote. I never really got to know the other students in the club - not even the ones who ran it. I eventually stopped attending meetings. I'm not sure how many hours/weeks I spent in the club. It never really felt like I was a true member of the club, but should I mention it? If so, how? </p></li>
<li><p>I only did one EC in high school (World Language Honor Society) and I can't for the life of me remember exactly when we met and for how long. Meeting times kept changing...what do I do?</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>Your note taking job, even though done concurrent with a class, is still an activity you can and should report on your application.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t bother mentioning the club where you didn’t play any role or feel connected in any way. </p>

<p>Specific hours spent aren’t critical to your application. Just estimate to the best of your recollection.</p>

3

<p>But if I don’t mention the club, does that count as lying/misrepresenting myself on the application?</p>

4

<p>Certainly not. You are under no obligation to report all your activities. It wouldn’t even be possible to do so. Activities can be anything you feel might be relevant to an admissions decision including hobbies, family obligations, I’ve even seen people include an especially long commute. Leaving something off just means it’s not relevant to the college app process.</p>

5

<p>Thanks. Another question - as a requirement for one of my classes, I had to perform volunteer work. Should I include that, even though it was for a graded assignment?</p>

6

<p>I think not, but it’s up to you. It sounds like your activities section is pretty thin, so in your case you might want to include it.</p>

7

<p>I’m full of questions today, sorry. Does “weeks spent per year” mean how many weeks I’ve spent involved up to this very point, or do I include the rest of the current academic year? (I know I had to fill out this section when I applied out of HS but I don’t really remember how I did it :/)</p>

8

<p>You can estimate weeks per year through the academic year. For any activities, you project through the year, then if there are changes and you don’t do the activity, you send an update. If it didn’t work this way, it would penalize people who have spring activities/sports/etc.</p>

<p>For activities, rank them by their strength/importance/involvement. Start listing them with the strongest ones first, and if you still have room for the club, then list it.</p>