<p>So Common App gives you 12 spots for your EC's. If I have 8 filled in with EC's that I feel are worth mentioning, should I fill out the rest with other things that I really didn't have a full commitment or impact on?</p>
<p>EX: If I played football 9th grade and was a starter, is it worth putting it on since there are spaces left? Or if I volunteered at library concert for a week for one summer?</p>
<p>Some people will say “why not” and some people will say don’t because it de-emphasizes your other ECs. </p>
<p>IMO, fill them in but use your discretion. Something like a 3 hour volunteer gig is not worth mentioning by itself pretty much ever. But playing a year of football is worth mentioning.</p>
<p>the football thing is worth mentioning if you continued playing. If you stopped playing after freshman year, then I wouldn’t put it down.</p>
<p>How many hours did you volunteer for the concert? If it was only around 10 hours, then I don’t think you should put it down, especially if it didn;t mean much to you.</p>
<p>What if the reason I stopped playing football was because I broke my arm, and felt I didn’t want to continue?</p>
<p>The concert was about 30-40 hours. I think it was spread for 4 days. Worth mentioning?</p>
<p>concert, yes.</p>
<p>football, I still don’t think so BUT if you feel you really contributed to the team that year, then put it down(sorry about your arm, that must have sucked)</p>
<p>I really enjoyed football and I want to put it on my app. On the line for details, should I explain that I stopped due to my arm. I don’t want to look like a quitter who tried it for a year and stopped because I didn’t like it or wasn’t good at it.</p>
<p>You should put it down. If a one week concert gig is worth putting down, then a season’s worth of football is worth putting down. The only time I wouldn’t put it down is for the top schools like HYPSM, where something small like that doesn’t make much of a difference.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that you have already sent in this application but incase some future student looks at this forum here is what I would suggest in this scenario.
[Assuming that football was very important to you and assuming that you have no other special circumstances]</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Put the sport (in this case football) on your list of extra curriculars.</p></li>
<li><p>In the description do not mention the injury – it’s a waste of valuable space. Just write that you were a starter, your position, and (only if applicable and if enough room is left) try to fit the responsibilities for said position.
[Example description: starting quarterback: responsible for leading, organizing, and managing the team].</p></li>
<li><p>In the “addition information” or “special circumstance” section, write a 500 word story about the event.
[Example outline: Start off with how you loved football and how you were such a vital part of the team. Then go to how you broke your arm – was it a result of playing football? Next talk about how you continued to support your team by attending games, practices, etc. And finally about how you learned that one doesn’t need to be in the middle of the action to still make an impact and to be a contributor and how you have used this knowledge in life since.]
**And if your grades were not as strong the year you broke your arm, you can try to weave in that the accident effected your academics as well.
[Example: Talk about how it was a confidence blow to watch your football aspirations go down the drain while, at the same time, your grades were plummeting. With what seemed to be a lead-filled cast, you could only work at extremely sluggish speeds. And the lack of accommodations from the administration/your teachers left you with only half-way completed tests and falling asleep at your desk in the wee hours of the night while futilely attempting to complete your assignments.]</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This could be a great use of the “addition information” section if you don’t have any other special circumstances.</p>