<p>My son started filling his out yesterday, and we already have some questions/problems:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There only seems to be space for seven activities...unless he saved too soon. But now, when he clicks to add an eighth, it say he needs to put it in the additional information section. Does this sound correct?</p></li>
<li><p>At the beginning of the app, where it asks you what your intended career is, is this supposed to represent the school within the college to which you are applying? Since it is a drop down menu, it doesn't always seem to list a certain thing (such as business)...very confusing!!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Anyone having problems as well?</p>
<p>Ds worked for 2-3 hours on July 1. Had multiple questions. I’m told that there’s a function where you can print it out to check it? That’s where I figured I’d get involved, fixing things that didn’t sound right or that he didn’t know the answer to.</p>
<p>Ds has a pretty good, single-page resume going, so I’m guessing he just used that info to plug in to the CommonApp. I don’t know what exactly you/it means by “activities” but I’m pretty sure he won’t have seven to put down. He’s just concentrated on his four-five big ones.</p>
<p>Good luck to us all!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. Where do you put that resume anyway? </p>
<p>S has seven very big activities which were either elected positions (i.e. student govt.) or positions where he earned honors/varsity letters, and since his grades are so-so he really wants to fit them all into the application. He did a resume to get himself organized, but I don’t know how you actually get that to the schools now since everything is on line!</p>
<p>Not there yet. He did a resume last year for a job interviw, and one of us has been updating it since. Because I feel strongly about a one-page resume I realize that his info probably could be fleshed out a bit. I thought I read that you can attach an official resume though.</p>
<p>FYI, there is an official CommonApp subforum in college admissions.</p>
<p>We were hoping our son would start his today, but his girlfriend is coming over for the afternoon…oh well. I can’t really complain, she’s been a good influence, unlike his last couple (all nice girls, just unhelpful on the time management front; this one actually reinforces our do-the-work-first messages…it’s great to have an ally in that quarter). </p>
<p>We will at least download and all take a look at it together before the weekend is out.</p>
<p>Based on my son’s experience with last year’s version…
Yes, you’re limited to listing the 7 activities most “important,” so he must prioritize. More activities can be listed in “Additional Information” or a supplemental resume (my son’s resume was much longer than one page, partly because it included enough white space to be easy on the eyes - didn’t seem to hurt his application). You can attach a resume (or practically anything else you want to include) by uploading it in “Additional Information.” Either Word or PDF format, if memory serves. The resume will then be included at the end of the application.</p>
<p>As to career interests, everyone knows an 18yo’s career is not cast in stone. The categories are general. He should just pick what sounds closest to what interests him and not worry about it. “Undecided” is ok to pick, too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help. One of the reasons his activities are taking up so much space is that he broke them out as I will describe below. I’m wondering if he should combine them and then have more room.</p>
<p>For instance:</p>
<p>9th, 10th, and 11th grades he was vice president of the grade.</p>
<p>For 12th grade, he has been elected executive vice president, which is basically vice president of the school. (There is still a vice president for 12th grade but someone else now has that position. Obviously the exec. position is more prestigious.)</p>
<p>So, he broke out the regular vp and the exec vp into two separate slots in the activities section because he wanted to highlight the exec. position and also it was too hard to combine the two titles. But this made student government take up more than one slot.</p>
<p>This happened for another activity as well. Same club, two different positions.</p>
<p>He did combine his JV and Varsity sport stuff, since the category in the drop down menu is the same.</p>
<p>What do you all think?</p>
<p>I think you can definitely combine the first two into Student Gov’t, and then in “Positions Held” name them both and then describe them both in the space alloted at the bottom. Also, he could always use one of his activities like that, one that’s more complex, for his writing sample about one of his activities.</p>