<p>A few years ago, Katherine Cohen (Ivywise founder and super private college counselor), wrote a book on college apps. In it, she suggested eschewing the standard miniature space provided for listing ECs and awards and instead always providing an attachment that listed the full name of the EC or award (no need for creating bizarre abbreviations in those little spaces provided), as well as a short description of the activity and your involvement in it. </p>
<p>I thought this was brilliant, as so many of these ECs are often nothing but weird acronyms to people outside of your own school. Also, simply listing your hours per week/per year might not properly explain what the heck it was that you did. </p>
<p>Problem: Her suggested format almost certainly led to a lengthy attachment -- multiple pages. </p>
<p>I know that things change rather quickly in college admissions circles, almost like fashion and music. Is this lengthy but very informative method of describing ECs and awards no longer in vogue due to its sheer volume? Or is it still cool?</p>
<p>I don't think it was ever in vogue. How many pages do you mean when you say "multiple"?</p>
<p>I myself used an attachment, but it was 1 - 1 1/2 pages. Use a smaller font, and your description only needs to be 2-3 sentences, not a huge long thing, and you should still only put 7 EC's. Not 15.</p>
<p>No, I would call it much longer and formatted far differently than a resume. I believe the book was called something like "Killer Apps," and again, came out around 2003.</p>
<p>dchow's description is not exactly a resume, it's more like a list of activities, or an "activity sheet" (if such a thing exists), where you list your activities and give descriptions. as he said, I think that you shouldn't elaborate like you write essays or make it like multiple pages.</p>
<p>Plus most people do fine without multiple pages and just the plain commonApp...</p>
<p>Yes, I believe "activity sheet" is much more on point. And yes, as Cohen's book explained it, the descriptions would only be a sentence or two -- three at most. The thing is, you would have a sheet (or sheets) for ECs, another for awards, and possibly another for summer and/or work experiences. If, say, that went onto a second sheet per category (all of one sheet and, as dchow08 said, part of a second), it might end up being as many as 6 additional pages. </p>
<p>So back to the original question -- is this overkill or is this cool?</p>
<p>Overkill, unless it's REALLY necessary (which for most, it's not). Seriously speaking if I was one of those admission officers I wouldn't want to read 6~7 pages of extra information in addition to the application; it would depend on the school but usually they probably don't spend/don't want to spend too much time on one student.</p>
<p>Oh, 4th House, you've been looking at "Rock Hard Apps," haven't you? Oh yes, I have read that book and many more books on college admissions. </p>
<p>What's she's saying is perfectly fine, but the example she used was way overboard. I mean, how many kids do that many different things? I was involved in National Honor Society for an insignificant amount of time, and I didn't even bother putting NHS on my extracurriculars.</p>
<p>What she's advocating is fine, but mine was a bit over a page. My extracurriculars took up about 3/4 a page and the work experience took up the rest. Try to fit it all in one page if you can. I made my font small but still legible and made the table sideways (landscape, not portrait).</p>
<p>@ ivycmm: No, not really so much like a resume. Mine was more like a table, like the table that you're given on the Common App, except extended to include a description. That was basically the only difference. Resumes are way more professional and frankly unnecessary.</p>
<p>@ Invoyable: I agree, the list should probably be around 1-2 pages. The table should be formatted so that it's 'sideways.' How many people do 6 pages worth of extracurricular activities anyway?</p>
<p>My daughter's GC says it is ethical for parents to type their kid's activity resume. So I am...but want to be very honest about the "hours spent per week" Some are zero to 15 minutes a week except for some weeks where it's 20 hours (like prom committee, for instance). I wanted to explain honestly how many hours per week but that takes up way too much space and most college admissions people would probably understand how much time varsity sports or Scrabble Club takes up without me saying. </p>
<p>But not every college she'll apply to asks for hours. So I did a first page with just activity/years/comments and then a second page only for the colleges that want to know hours spent where I write a sentence about each activity's time consumption. Except that took an entire page, because I'm being so honest..."Star Trek Club usually meets every other week for half an hour; however, in my sophomore year my school hosted a weekend conference on Vulcan Culture which took approximately 50 hours of intense planning and research..." The first page looks really good though! I don't want to leave the hours off completely if they specifically ask for it. Maybe they'll just read the really awesome first page and appreciate the honesty that went into writing the second?</p>
<p>Muffy, I'm still confused by what you mean. So the first page does not include hours, and the second page does? I don't quite understand.</p>
<p>The college expects applicants to average the number of hours. Although I don't quite get what the situation is, I'm sure that it's not a big deal and that you can leave whatever you've written there. When they ask for hours a week, they're just looking for a rough estimate to see how much dedication your daughter puts into the activities. </p>
<p>Also, why are you completing your daughter's application? She's the one applying. So why are you doing this? I suspect that she has difficulty typing or writing?</p>
<p>dchow-first page is traditional activities resume, but without the hours spent (not all colleges ask for it). Second page is JUST hours; i.e: "Varsity sports are all about 15-20 hours/week; Prom committee is 15 min/wk most of the time but 20 hours a week in May..." (she wouldn't send the second page if the school app doesn't ask for hours) It's very hard to do a "rough estimate" of hours when they vary a lot in a very tiny space; makes her look like she never sleeps.</p>
<p>Our guidance counselor told the parents it was ethical for them to type the activity resume to help the kids out. Maybe you don't think that's right and I understand that opinion.</p>
<p>I'm assuming that you're applying online. If you were applying on paper, you could just use the first page for those colleges that don't want hours, and use both for those that do.</p>
<p>Do the colleges that don't require hours say that it's unncessary, or do they actually not want to see them?</p>
<p>The point is not the length: it's the Wow. If the attachment is not Wow, the length will be the impression left, so any potential Wow will be diluted by yawns or repetition. If any aspect of the application is impressive, than an attachment is practically mandated, i.m.o. I'll PM you.</p>
<p>4th House, I would say it is not overkill based on the outcome this year
for my apps- admitted to all six colleges I applied to this year.</p>
<p>I did send in 4 pages as "additional information" with my common app.
It included sections on "Math and Science Awards," "Other Awards,"
"Summer Activities," "School Year Activities," and "Extra-Curricular
Academics."</p>
<p>I worked with Dr. Cohen and Ivywise when I was applying to college. My activity sheet wasn't too long--maybe two-and-a-half pages. I really recommend attaching your own activity sheet, so that it's personalized and reflects your strengths.</p>
<p>Dr. Cohen's actually got a new project now called Applywise, which is an online college counseling program based on her books. One very helpful feature: it formats your activity sheet for you...you just have to input the activities. Check it out if you're applying soon.</p>
<p>Hey – noticed I started this thread way back in 2008. Well, S2 used the Cohen example from Rock Hard Apps, despite most everyone who commented here saying that it was too long – his ended up being around 6 pages with all the awards and activities he had. </p>
<p>Final result: 16 apps, zero rejections, attending Princeton this fall.</p>