<p>Almost all of my ECs are overlapping and interdependent. That's good, because it shows that i'm focused and not spreading myself too thin but I'm not sure about how I am supposed to put it in the common app's activities section.
I'll ask specific questions to keep it organized.</p>
<ol>
<li>
Example: One of my EC is "Developed XYZ app for iPhone" which was a success. As a result, I came on front of several magazines and newspapers. My app also won international awards.
But this is not the only app that I developed. I created several other apps. So, am I supposed to put different apps in different activities?
Like:
Activity 1: Developed XYZ App
Activity 2: Developed ABC App
etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>2.
What should I fill in the "Position/Leadership description and organization name, if applicable"?
As I individually developed the apps, I can't think of anything that I can put it up there as it is not actually an "organization".</p>
<p>3.
If, as a result of the success of the apps, I am invited to conferences around the world to give speeches and/or hold workshops, do I put these as individual activities? Because the "Details, honors won, and accomplishments" textbox is too small to cover up all my accomplishments. And even after I EXCLUDE relatively insignificant achievements, I am still left out with a LOT of really important achievements that cannot fit into the box. I</p>
<p>Like:
Acitivty 3: Spoke at XX conference
Activity 4: Held a workshop for XX</p>
<p>4.
Not related to the activities section:
Is there a way to attach newspaper/magazine articles to the application to let the admission officers know?</p>
<p>5.
Is there a way to attach videos to the application (small clips of national TV channels featuring me & clips of me appearing on national TV documentary shows)?
If not, then is putting a YouTube link in the additional section okay?</p>
<p>6.
Where do I put MOOC online courses? Activities section, additional info or "colleges & universities" under "Education"? Do I only need to "type out" the names of the courses or upload actual certificates?</p>
<p>I’m sure others will have practical advice for you…but just wanted to note that your ECs are amazing! </p>
<p>This sound like it’s all related to one EC, developing apps. You have space for a short description in the Activities section. You can summarize all this collateral info in Addl Info. </p>
<p>@SouthernHope Thanks :)</p>
<p>@lookingforward You mean I should just fill 1 activity? </p>
<p>.looks like no one knows </p>
<p>Two thoughts:</p>
<p>1) This might be a good use of the Common App’s “additional info” section. Perhaps you could very briefly -in the space allotted- describe the app developing, recognition, etc, and put “see add’l info”. There you have a paragraph or so to expound. This is DEFINITELY something you want to make sure is seen!</p>
<p>2) Another rather major part of your application is the guidance counselor’s section. Have you met with your GC? Does he/she know about all of this? If I were you, I would print out a summary of what you’ve done, including all accolades and speaking, etc, and arrange a meeting with the GC. Ask them to please make sure they mention this in their notes section. (If your teachers have not yet written teir letters of rec, you might do the same with them.)</p>
<p>Also, I would not be worried that this only fills one slot of the ECs. It is a very major one. And my feeling is that colleges would rather see an intense passion and dedication to just a few things rather than a laundry list of ho-hum ECs.</p>
<p>Finally someone helped :)</p>
<p>Thanks @staceyneil
- Thanks, really nice idea!
- I haven’t met with my GC. She doesn’t know anything about me! But I have good relationship with my teachers. They know almost everything about me, my achievements, speaking, awards I’ve received etc. I’m pretty sure they’ll include them in their LORs. Do you think I should still meet up with my GC and make sure she knows about all this too?</p>
<p>I am thinking of filling up my activities section with individual software development projects, like:
- Developed XYZ, funded by company ABC
- Developed XYZ during a Hackathon sponsored by Microsoft etc.</p>
<p>Even though I can fill up all the 10 activities section if I use the above style, I still don’t have enough space to add ANY significant and important honors/achievements. So, I’ll definitely use your advice about additional info.</p>
<p>Regarding filling one slot, you said colleges would rather see an intense passion. Don’t you think the same intense passion can be shown by filling up all the 10 acitivity section with the same base activity (soft. dev)?</p>
<p>Figure out how many things you want to list and then if they are over 10 look for ways to combine. For instance my son plays 4 sports but did not want to use 4 spots so he used the title for one and the description to mention the others. </p>
<p>Yes, absolutely you need to tell your GC about this. Type it all up for her so that she has it in front of her when she is filling out that form on the Common App. The GC section has a lot of weight so I would make SURE she gets it :)</p>