Hey guys, so I was going through the Common App recently and was surprised to find that there is a 100 character limit on describing an extracurricular activity!
I was wondering how people described an activity they were invested in? My big one is debate, and info I’d like to share in the EC section for debate includes:
-Team Captain
-Winner of several national forensics competitions (I’m not in the US)
-Recruited for country’s national Debate Team (again, not in the US)
-Organizing and planning a Debate tournament for my school, the first in ~2 decades
I’ve been told it’s “bad practice” to enter a single activity (debate, in my case) in multiple slots on the EC section of the Common App. So how do I fit this effectively in 100 characters!??!
Is is frowned upon to attach a resume or something to more accurately show what your EC’s have been in high school?
Thanks so much for the help!
Use the single line. If you post some of your attempts to describe it, I’m sure some members can help you refine it.
There is an Additional Information section on the CA. I think it’s perfectly acceptable to use that to explain EC’s in a little more detail, particularly if they involve international awards/competitions. My D was a debater (in the US) and used the additional info section to expand some on her debate involvement, responsibilities and awards.
Thanks for replying! I’ve been told the additional information section should only be used to explain serious personal circumstances, such as family situation that adversely affected your GPA, and not for more EC’s. Is that incorrect?
That’s correct. Corinthian’s daughter may have used it differently, but generally it’s not for that purpose. You can condense even an important EC into one line usually. There is also a ‘short answer’ on the application which gives you room to talk more about debate if that’s important to you.
Usually something like “Debate 9-12, team captain grade 12, organized school debate tournament, on National Team-12, numerous awards” or similar will cover it and then list the awards in the award section.
I know it’s repeated frequently on CC that you should only use the Additional Info section to explain serious personal circumstances, etc. But my D used a private college counselor who recommended she use it. Actually, D used most of the 650 word allotment to expand on her top 3 EC’s. She got into her ED1 school (Pomona) so I can’t say how she would’ve done at the other schools. I agree it should be used judiciously. For a debater, saying “numerous awards” doesn’t do much to distinguish one debater from another since some tournaments are much more prestigious than others. Even a mid level debater could probably fill up the awards section listing local awards. Since the OP is an international debater, his activities and awards merit a little more explanation since the AdCom will likely be less familiar with them. One of the things my D mentioned in the Add’l Info section was that her team didn’t have any professional coach (just a faculty advisor), so all of her accomplishments (3x national qualifier, TOC qualifier, etc) were achieved without any coaching assistance.
Another point: I think the Additional Info section, unlike the essays, can be edited each time you submit an application. Some colleges have more short answer opportunities than others. So had D not gotten into her ED1 school, she would’ve shortened what was in the Add’l Info section where it was repetitive of info in answers to other specific questions.