<p>I was looking at Columbia's application and I have a couple of questions.</p>
<p>The application doesn't give you much room to list EC. They also say do not attach additional pages meaning one cannot attach a brag sheet. How would one go about displaying their EC in the most efficient manner...as in, how should one go about showing as much as s/he can? I'm assuming we just list the most important things like the instructions say. Maybe talk about one in an essay to provide more detail?</p>
<p>I saw that there was only one essay. Am I overlooking any or is the personal essay the only essay? I feel dumb asking this, but I have been known to overlook things. :o</p>
<p>Well, one thing I learned from the application process was to follow directions. Just pick your 6 or 8 most important activities, the ones you feel you dedicated the most time to and are most important to your recent life experience. It says specifically they do not want additional materials. Don't send any... I had the same concern you did, but in the end, I like the way Columbia did it -- I wasn't going to list Math League, something I did once a month, as an EC, or French Club VP, which is practically a courtesy title, I ended up picking the activities that took up the most of my time. </p>
<p>You could, however, let your counselor know about some of the activites you didn't have room to mention, so he or she could do it in passing when recommending you. Don't send an extra essay. </p>
<p>There's only one essay. However, there is a brief spot in Part II of the application that asks you why you want to attend Columbia, and I guess that can be seen as a mini-essay (there's a character limit, though). The application struck me as odd, too, from the ones from other colleges -- I guess it's just the way admissions does things, as concise and straightforward as possible. Makes things easier for them.</p>