I’m working on the Common App right now, and the activities section is really a point of stress for me. I typed up all of my activities on a word document for organization, but I’m having a difficult time figuring out how to enter everything in. Here are my activities (and then I’ll explain why it’s so difficult):
-I’ve investing in stocks since I was 13. I’ve never made a bad trade, and I’ve averaged at least 20% on all of my investments.
-I’ve sold stock analysis articles for a site called SeekingAlpha.com, one of the highest ranked investing news sites on the Internet. I’m one of about five minors that have been allowed to write for the site.
-I hired and managed a team of developers to build an iOS app that allows people to sort tasks into step-by-step sub-tasks It runs ads and has been downloaded in 7 countries.
-I coached a 6th grade youth basketball team.
-I’m President of a club on investing at my school. We’re the only club or class on campus that gives students the chance to participate in the Stock Market Game, which is a nationwide stock simulation competition. We’re planning to sponsor 10 teams this year.
-I participated in an internship program at Wadell &Reed, a financial advisory firm. I learned about what it takes to be a successful financial analyst and adviser and worked with the advisers. I was the only high schooler in the program, which was designed for college students.
-I was one of three students chosen at my school to attend the HOBY Sothern California Leadership Seminar, which was a 3 day event at Chapman University.
-I wrote an e-book (I’m not going to give the name) about how the ancient principles of Stoicism can be used to make better investments in today’s markets. It’s been featured on Medium.com. (I’m working on the marketing right now.)
-I’m the Sports Copy Editor at my high school newspaper.
I have a few problems:
- How are they supposed to trust me about my investing record and other things, even though I’m completely truthful. I mean, I’ve not won an award for my investing record.
- The Common App asks me about how much time I spend on the activities every week, but what do I do for the app and the book? I spent a lot of time on those things in junior year, and they’re still up on the Internet making money, but I’m not really working on them anymore. And I quite frankly don’t know exactly how much time I’ve spent on my Seeking Alpha articles (and I only write one when I’ve found a stock I love), my book, and my app.
- Does the HOBY seminar count as an activity? The school chose us because of our previous work in the school (I was chosen because of my investing club), but the seminar was only 3 days long, meaning I don’t have exact figures for how many hours I spent on the event every week because I didn’t do it every week.
- How do I find the right balance between being a show off and showing the reader my accomplishment? It seems kind of vain to me to tell the applicant that I am one of the only kids actually allowed to write for Seeking Alpha, or that i was the only high schooler at my internship, but these aspects of the activity add to the value, don’t they?
I really have no idea what to put down for these things. Sorry for the long post, but if someone can give me some insight, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!