I enjoy a certain type of artistic activity. (To protect anonymity, I’d rather not elaborate on what kind.) I’ve never taken a class in it or anything; it’s purely a hobby. I create fanworks and I have a significant audience online. I’ve won local competitions, and they’re all linked to my online profile, which I’d prefer not to make known to colleges.
To show myself as a well rounded individual, I’d like to include this in my college applications. But I don’t think my work is particularly appropriate for an arts supplement, so I’ve mostly just talked about it during interviews (where I can hold interesting conversations about it) and in supplements where there are multiple prompts. However, this makes me concerned I don’t sound legitimate in my interests.
A few questions:
Should I include this activity in the Common App activities list? (My activities list is 8/10 full, and I don’t want to sound like I’m padding my application. Also, being very busy lately, I don’t think I’ve spent as many hours/week dedicated to it as I’d normally like, so it might sound meaningless.)
If I talk about it elsewhere on my application, do I have to include it on the Common App activities list to sound sincere about my hobby?
Would including it in additional information instead be worthwhile?
Can I include winning local competitions without specifying them to the point of identifying me online, or would that sound suspicious? (There’s nothing in my online profile that would cause my application to be denied, but I don’t really want to share it with colleges.)