<p>I have a concern regarding the extracurricular activities section on the Common Application. I have listed Competitive Tennis as my number one activity with a commitment of 40 hours per week for 45 weeks of the year. Most of this time is spent during the summer in which I am traveling for national tournaments and always practicing. I was advised to factor in travel time, leading to the 40/45. Even though I practice year round including indoor practice in the winter, does the 40 hours/45 weeks raise a red flag? I hope not because I am very dedicated to tennis. Also I decided to leave out the "laundry list" of tennis accomplishments in the additional information section. I also did not include it in my essays as I believe that my time commitment shows my dedication. </p>
<p>I also have other activities that I included as participating in 50 weeks a year. I am also very dedicated to these activities (volunteer position at hospital, research position, and job), but should I explain further that this is in fact my time commitment?</p>
<p>your numbers are not adding up. 45 hours/ week is a full time job (which makes sense for the summer, but not for during the school year). if you also include other activities, you would have to be superman to get everything done. i think that you need to have some explanation somewhere. is there a way to specify summer hours vs. school year hours. and why leave out a “laundry list” of accomplishments? at least include them under honors and awards. just because you are committed to tennis does not automatically mean that you have awards. include them, this is the one place you have to “brag” about yourself. the schools have no other way of knowing.</p>
<p>If you do tennis year-round, I would average it out to make the numbers more reasonable. For example, if you do 20 hours a week during the school year and 40 a week during the summer, put down 30 hours for 45 weeks (unless you are actually doing 40 hours per week, year round). They know that the numbers are estimated, and it’s still clear that you are extremely dedicated. Also, if it were me, I would include major awards you’ve won for tennis. You don’t need to list every single award you’ve ever won, but definitely show them the highlights. That way they know you’re actually accomplished and good at it!
Just my two cents!</p>
<p>I actually did average it out already. I was advised to count travel time which led to counting many “24 hour” days in the summer as a result of many tournaments, thus increasing the hours dramatically. </p>
<p>I originally calculated the hours by counting all the hours I had spent all year, 1600 including travel time, and dividing by 40. </p>
<p>I already submitted my Common App unfortunately. Would it detract greatly if I had to email the admissions officer to clarify? Should I include a mini resume and explanation of my hours or should I call first?</p>