Listing Extracurriculars

Applying to College
1

I have a question on how many extracurriculars you all think I should list on the Common App. I have started the activity section and have begun to list all of my activities. I listed them in order of importance to me and so far I have about six activities that I have really cared about through high school. However, I still have 4/10 slots that are blank. So my question is, since I have already filled in everything that matters to me, should I just stop?

I still have several other activities that I could put in but they all seem pretty meaningless (most of the others outside of my top six take up a minimal amount of time/ I only did them for a year or two). My school college counselors had all of us complete activity charts to attach for colleges that allow it, so all of my activities are listed there.

So, long story short, should I add in the activities that don’t matter as much to me since I did them during high school? Or should I leave them out so admissions officers can focus on what activities have been truly important to me?

Any and all advice is appreciated-- thank you!

2

Leave them out. Admissions officers do not want a grocery list of all the things you have done in high school; they want what is most relevant to your character. It’s great that you’ve already participated in so many activities, but ask any admission officer and they’ll say they’ll take a student who has been very involved in three extracurriculars over the student who has been superficially interested in eight.

3

Thank you! I do have a follow up question if that’s okay:

So if I put down my top five or six activities that I have really invested time in and valued (and leave the other spots blank) but then upload my activity chart, will it be okay that some of the activities on there weren’t listed on my common app, even though I had space?

4

@perridot