<p>I have quite a few and also important ones that I did prior to high school. How far back in my history should I list these?</p>
<p>Absent a truly compelling reason to do otherwise, ninth grade.</p>
<p>Is there something that you did in middle school that you have not continued to do in high school? If so, then its importance probably keeps diminishing over time.</p>
<p>Are these pre-high-school activities things that you have continued to do in high school? Then in general, you should report your high-school activities and accomplishments. If you were in the all-state orchestra in the ninth grade, it will be assumed that you’d been learning your instrument for some time before that. If you were in the all-state orchestra in middle school, but you weren’t during high school, it might be better to avoid raising the question whether you peaked in the eighth grade.</p>
<p>If you did something really extraordinary before high school–e.g., you were a nationally competitive figure skater, or you played the young Princess Fiona in Shrek on Broadway–you probably have grounds to make an exception to this general rule.</p>