<p>I am confused about this instruction on the Common App. On the app "in their order of importance" is in bold but then it says you can group your activities and paid work experience separately. What the heck do they mean???</p>
<p>"Please list your principal extracurricular, volunteer, and work activities in their order of importance to you. Feel free to group your activities and paid work experience separately if you prefer."</p>
<p>Meaning to order the ECs that your student finds he is drawn to most, enjoys the most, gives him the most pleasure. So if a sport or a club is on the top of the list, put that as #1.</p>
<p>I understand that part, this is what confused me:</p>
<p>" Feel free to group your activities and paid work experience separately if you prefer. "</p>
<p>What do they mean by grouping things separetely?</p>
<p>LOL I know, they worded things oddly.</p>
<p>For example, my son did his common ap last year. He only joined one club each year as a member. So he used “Clubs” as one line and put the years and club names all as one EC slot.</p>
<p>He also grouped his “individual sports” because he did not participate in team sports. So he put his snowboarding, longboarding, rock climbing all in one. </p>
<p>So, if say your student has done a lot of single day volunteering, then group them and summarize.</p>