Daughter and I are sitting down to fill out the Common App but are stumped on this particular thing. Several of her activities are also potentially honors. For instance, All State Choir is an activity, however, it is also an honor because you are selected by the state to participate. Same with GT Honors Chorus; she was nominated by teacher but it is also an activity. Or would it be listed in both sections?
We are struggling too! In our case, we are thinking we should list All State Choir under awards/honors, since she was only eligible to participate because of taking Chamber Choir as a class, so it could be considered an academic award.
List it one or the other, but not both, IMO. Colleges are well aware that there can be some grey area and will certainly not ding an applicant if they put it in a section different from what the AO would have chosen.
FWIW, in these examples, I would list as an activity. Now if DD were, as an example, selected as a soloist, or if the choir won Nationals, [b[]that** would be an honor.