Hey everyone!
As I narrowed down my activities for the Common App there were still 4 I couldn’t fit that I had spent considerable time with - 4 year varsity sport, we the people debate (regional champions), a small volunteer group I started, and academic olympics (captain, district champions 10,11). Although they’re nothing spectacular by any means, would it be worth mentioning in the Additional Information section or would it simply irritate college admit officers who already have enough to read through?
The same idea applies for a few extra pedestrian honors - AP Scholar w/ Dis, NHS Vice President, State Science Fair 2nd Place etc.
Are these something I should add to my common app? Any feedback would be appreciated!
If these are extracurriculars #11-14 which you can’t fit on your Common App, I can’t imagine your ECs will be a problem.
@NotVerySmart so you wouldn’t suggest adding them?
My kids put their extras in the Additional Info section. Be concise, clearly label them, and include the same fields/info they ask for in Activities. I would definitely include them.
^ I favor @intparent’s strategy of grouping activities under the Activities section and then expanding them in the Additional Information section. I think it allows for a more coherent presentation.
You should frankly combine some of your 1st ten items. No offense but your 6th or 7th activity isn’t that important to the readers – much less your 11th 12th or 13th. You need to edit and compress. Really. This isn’t a race on who can put down the most stuff. Your goal is to assemble a cohesive picture of yourself and what you’re motivated to do. The 1st three should be your absolute strongest ECs – measured by how much they mean to you. Everything else is simply fluff or will water down your application. 14 is WAY too much IMHO.
I agree…try to compress the 1-10 items…
@T26E4, that was my point, though you stated it much more clearly. I think that having more than 3-4 major areas of activity is hard for adcoms to digest, and many ECs can be grouped, and some minor ones eliminated.
Thanks for the advice! How do you suggest compressing or combing two different activities? @T26E4
So I think what they mean is if you have a lot of music activities, for example, create an activity called ‘Music’ and say “See Additional Information” in the description. Then have a header in Additional Information called “Music”, and bullet out activities and major awards under that. Like this:
- Symphony Band, 10-12, first chair and section lead 11-12.
- Clarinet and oboe in pit orchestra for high school production of Oklahoma! (10), Les Miserables (11), and community theater production of Gypsy (11)
- Concert Choir alto (9-12)
- Marching Band MVP (12)
My kids did this and still went over 10, though. And had very good admission results at some top schools. At a smaller school especially, kids are sometimes encouraged to do a lot of activities. And they had a lot of interesting summer activities, too. The admissions officers WILL read your whole application. But grouping and clearly labeling things can help.
Thats a great idea, thank you! @intparent