To break it down in hrs/week:
-sport and job w/sport (~28hrs, most on weekend)
-piano (~5hrs)
-newspaper internship/writing (~5hrs, a lot of hours coming from internship over summer)
-photo club (~4hrs)
-improv/acting (~4hrs)
-student gov (~3hrs)
-community service (~3hrs, mostly from summer)
-astronomy club (~2hrs)
Obviously I don’t keep exact track of how much time I put into each activity, but I think my estimates were pretty accurate. My question is this: will the sheer amount of time I dedicate to ECs raise a red flag in my application?
@happymomof1 can you elaborate? A lot of my hours come from summer which I was told to average out for year round activities (like piano, work, and community service). I’m not lying, but I hope colleges will believe me.
The hours don’t raise a flag for me. The CA format throws off a lot of kids, because they don’t always work consistently X hours/week on each activity (it adds up and divides oddly, same as you find.) A bigger issue can be showing how, for what you want to study, you pursued that interest area,outside classes.
@lookingforward thanks! Yeah the numbers are weird because I averaged out a lot of them.
That is a different issue. You aren’t spending 40 - 50 hours each week in ECs. Separate your summer activities from your school year ECs. They are two differnt categories.
@happymomof1 oh what I meant is that the ECs are year round but I do many more hours over summer than during the year for those ECs. Thanks for clarifying!
And was your first response to the red flag question or the title of the post?
Colleges may think that you put ECs before academics unless your GPA is very high AND your curriculum is rigorous
The more important metrics from all those ECs are substantive activity and actual results. Standing around, observing, monitoring, planning, practicing, “participating” hours on end don’t matter if nothing happens. Goals need to be blocked or scored, games need to be won, theatre productions need to be staged, art needs to be exhibited, homecoming dances need to be organized and well-attended, writing needs to be juried or published. And so on. These are the things that matter. If you can prove that the hours yielded something of course you’ll be believed. Otherwise you were spinning your wheels for nought which is so unproductive.
@mom2collegekids 4.0UW most rigorous coursework possible
@Oregon2016 thanks for the insight. I have yielded results for everything, but I have only published writing in my city’s newspaper and haven’t independently published anything. I mean, I do these things because I truly enjoy them, not because they would look good on an app.
If they don’t look good on the app then omit them.
@Oregon2016 I think it looks better on than off (I put internship/ writing, general together and talked about both). I also mentioned being a yearbook language editor. I didn’t have space to separate them so that’s why I did it that way. I think it works and I showed my GC and she said it was “perfect.”
I think you are fine. And don’t omit them… but order them with the most important on top. Colleges know that the Common App has this oddball way to enter data that requires averaging and can result in unusual looking numbers sometimes. Don’t worry about that.
@intparent thanks! And I ordered them from most to least important (although it was hard to choose for some).
Agree not to omit them. Each shows a different aspect of your interests. But do try to view this list from the perspective of the major or concentration you list.
@lookingforward I applied to Brown with a primary interest in Literary Arts and a secondary interest in architecture. My common app list is as follows:
-sport/coach/ambassador for sport’s company
-piano
-community service (350+ hrs)
-writing
-photography
-student government
-improv/acting
-astronomy club
I applied to Brown ED and wrote one supplement about writing and how I found interest in architecture through my sport. My GC told me to put my community service high on my list since a lot of it involved teaching my sport to others as a volunteer. However, to be honest, I don’t know what I want to do for a career and I applied to Brown because of its academic freedom. I hope the order in which I put my activities won’t be a factor for my admission/denial. Do you have any suggestions for the order or does it seem fine?
