Family Responsibilities on Commonapp

Applying to College
,
1

Hi there!

I am bit uncertain on what to do on part of my commonapp profile. In the extracurriculars section of the commonapp, there is an option for “Family Responsibilities”. For me, this would be helping my family to care for my younger sister, who has Down Syndrome. Generally, this has included babysitting, playing with her, and other ways I help her daily. Should I include this on my application? For reference, the extracurricular that it would be taking the place of would just be the membership (but not overwhelming involvement) in either a club or intramural school sport. I am also planning to write my main essay on how my own outlook on life has changed after living with someone with Down Syndrome and meeting and seeing other people with disabilities at Special Olympics events or otherwise.

Thank you so much for any help! Sorry if it’s a bit convoluted, kinda just word vomit :stuck_out_tongue:

2

In my opinion, your family responsibility is an excellent thing to include. Please make sure you tell what you have learned. This is a big part of who you are!

2 Likes
3

You can definitely include family responsibilities/caring for your sister in the Activities section of the common app.

There is room for 10 activities on the common app…are you saying you have more than 10, counting your family responsibilities? How many hours do you spend per week, on average, caring for your younger sister?