<p>I'm filling out the Common App and I came upon the elaborate on one of your activities space. I began to think, could there be a more useless part of the application? If it simply said elaborate, then I could understand its purpose but to complete that in under 150 words is ridiculous. It only makes it seem more and more unneccessary...who's with me.</p>
<p>i'm with you... but I think the whole application process is useless. Everyone should take an IQ test and get into schools by that way. Oh well, maybe when I rule the world.</p>
<p>Yes, 150 words is ridiculously short. We will have to be very concise. One hundred and fifty words will be a little less than twice the length of this 3 post thread as soon as I finish typing.</p>
<p>I agree that the 150 word limit does make this section pretty pointless. I haven't started on my apps yet, and by the way I decided not to use the Common App anywhere where there is an alternative, but I've been helping out my friends who are applying early and their essays for this section are ridiculous. A lot of people are most passionate about the sport they play so they "elaborate on that" and in 150 words you can pretty much say "yes, I learned to be part of a team, I pushed myself harder than I ever could go, I learned the meaning of perserverance, sometimes it was too tough to imagine, the feeling of unity was amazing, etc." </p>
<p>I think that this part of the app can be looked upon as a challenge, though. Not many people can write something truly meaningful and original in only 150 words.</p>
<p>My DD is struggling with this section as well. Can those CCers who completed the Common Application share what they placed in this section?</p>
<p>I don't think it's useless. Some activities are not self-explanatory, and sometimes, the role of the applicant within an activity needs to be clarified (yes, you were vice president of this club or did an internship at that organization, but what did you DO?)</p>
<p>You might want to consider using the question as an opportunity to explain your least obvious activity. It does not have to be your most important one. Even if soccer is your life, you might want to take advantage of the opportunity to explain your volunteer work at church, since nobody needs to take 150 words to explain soccer.</p>
<p>I must admit, though, that if all of your activities fall into the easy-to-explain category (varsity sport, marching band, part-time job that everyone understands like supermarket cashier), this is a tough question to answer.</p>
<p>i wrote about orchestra since we just won two awards. it's one of my most important activity, but i don't plan to write about it in my essay.</p>
<p>question: the instruction says 150 words or less, but you can fit in 6000 characters in that box (i tested). would it be a problem if the elaboration is, say, 160 words or so?</p>
<p>you know what I hate? A school that asks you to explain in less than 500 characters why you want the major you want. It takes way more than that for me to say how interested I am in chemistry</p>
<p>500 characters?!!! Jesus. What I hate most about the common app is its SIMPLICITY. It is SO ANTIQUATED! When it asks you to put in more information about your ECs (awards, positions held, etc), you can only input the space available in the box they provide. So instead of being smart and inputing the information you give it into a new form with nice formatting, it's stupid and prints out what you see instead of producing a new PDF file that schools like MIT produce!!! I really appreciate only having to fill out one app for many schools, but in many cases, if you get an award for something, it's likely that you'll probably get another for the same thing. Everyone wants the app to be organized, the common app just makes everything STINK. Yes, I'm being negative. Sue me!</p>
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i'm with you... but I think the whole application process is useless. Everyone should take an IQ test and get into schools by that way. Oh well, maybe when I rule the world.
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<p>IQ tests won't tell college admissions officers who has a better chance of success, they just say "I'm smarter than you."</p>
<p>though you could even argue IQ tests don't even test intelligence.. but let's not go there :P</p>
<p>Ugg, common app is lame.</p>
<p>I can't even fit the title I hold for one of my clubs (environmental committee co-chair), and could only fit one thing for gymnastics</p>
<p>Additional info section here I come.</p>
<p>I read a news story about these innovative brain scans emerging on the scene today that could take the place in determining college entrances by testing one's intelligence. Kind of different, but it would make the admissions process a whole lot easier!</p>
<p>I only said IQ tests because they would make things 10x easier. Everyone takes one test and get admitted on that. Simple. You cold substitute the brain scans that HMC said and it would be even more simpler becuase people wouldn't even have to take a test; just sit there and get their brain scanned. What could possibly be easier?</p>
<p>okay for the 150 words part its okay to write out a small paragraph right? they dont want just a list of all the stuff you do..lol i wish the commonapp was just a tad bit more specific</p>
<p>Some colleges have to go through tens of thousands of applications. Be thankful that they're even giving you to elaborate on your ECs at all. 150 words can tell a lot more than one line that simply lets you write out the name of the activity. In China there are so many people applying that the college admissions process is based on one test. I'm sure most of you wouldn't want that.</p>
<p>You might also want to check with the colleges that you apply to with the common app. I applied to Swarthmore a few years ago with the common app, and I called and asked about 150 word section. The woman I spoke too t
that most kids turned in a full blown essay! I ended up writing a 600 word piece about one of my activities. I got in, so I guess it worked!</p>
<p>Why is college admissions in the US so complicated? I understand how they need to look at the whole person and all that mumbo-jumbo, but they could hold interviews instead of opting for stupid essays....and besides, you get to know the whole person better in and interview, not an essay. Anyways I kinda got mad when I logged on to McGill's site to apply and they said it would take 20 minutes.</p>
<p>Screw all this, just get a brain scan.</p>