In the common app, the activities section allows space to place honors/accomplishments (in the box under position/leadership) for each activity. In addition to that, there is a separate section that allows you to name your top five honors. Most of my major honors are related to my activities, so I was going to list them under each activity. The only problem is, the honors section then would be filled with five honors that aren’t really special (school awards, small competitions, etc.) Would it be a good idea to repeat the most important awards in both my activities and honors section or is that too redundant?
Redundant
Honors are those recognitions given to you related to academic achievements.
Activities are typically extracurricular. There is a field within listing each activity that allows you to put any special recognition that you received associated with that activity.
All of my daughter’s activities related to one, broad field. She listed her volunteering, clubs, work, etc in the activities and then her local, state, and national awards for this work in this field in the awards section. These were not academic awards. (She did not put the award in the activity description, though. She used that space to describe the activity.)
This may or may not be the right way to fill out the app, but she did this and it was fine for her, fine with the school counselor, and fine for Berkeley, Smith, and other good schools. It did not make sense to list “National Honor Society Member” when she wanted to highlight, say, being one of 10 students nationally to win a specific, well- recognized award. She needed those character allotments in the activities section to explain her work.
All the honors should be academic. Definitely don’t be redundant.