So I’m aware that the order of activities put into the common app matters… however somebody told me that some colleges only look at the top three activities -> is this true?
If I was honest in listing which activities were most important to me, the top four or so would all be sports, but of course I want to show that I do activities such as community service as well. Do you think it’s worth it to list the activities that don’t matter as much to me at the top just to show I’m "well-rounded’?
I guess it boils down to: How important is the ordering of activities and how would you recommend ordering them?
Who told you that college adcoms only look at the Top 3 activities? I have never heard of that.
The activities should be listed in order of importance to you, not in the order you think colleges want to see.
That does not mean you should cut activites off your list, however.
My sister told me, however I am hoping she is wrong.
She’s wrong.
Definitely do the order you truly feel, not what you want to appear as. If sports are what you were most passionate about, go ahead and put those all first- just because you like sports doesn’t mean you don’t like community service; it doesn’t make you narrow to have a favorite area.
I don’t think the adcom would set a limit to look at only the top 3 activities, but they may lose interest after reading a bunch of padding or boring activities. So putting up the most important and interesting activities on top may keep the attention of the adcom longer.
No, adcoms don’t look just at the top three. That’s absurd. Just put them in order of importance to you. That’s what is most important.