<p>I am heavily involved in community service/activism as in I was on a governing board that ran a 6 million budget as well as advisory councils for the school board. My question- does/ should my essay have to explain why I am so involved in the community? As in, what fuels my desire?</p>
<p>I already sent in my application and supplements that did not address why I was so involved but showed another side of me--how I think differently and who I am as a person (awkwardly funny, insecure but confident, etc). But now I am thinking that I made a huge mistake in not discussing why I involved myself into these activities. I listed them number one on my activities portion of the common app as well as told my guidance counselor to focus on that in my interview. </p>
<p>Is this okay? Thoughts, opinions, comments, critiques. Any response is welcome.</p>
<p>I hate to say this, but I think you answered your own question. You should have addressed why and who you are. They want to know YOU, not just a list of committees you sat on. Also, address your role on the 6 million dollar budget committee, because I don’t think that any Adcom is going to think that any high school student had an extremely significant role in running a 6 million dollar budget. So you need to define that more clearly just in case in appears far fetched (even if it isn’t). I would make a duplicate of your CommonApp and fix this for any further applications. (But hopefully you won’t need to apply anywhere else)! :)</p>
<p>I often give the advice that the essay should be about something NOT mentioned anywhere else in your application. I think your academics, ECs, etc. speak for themselves. Didn’t you use the short EC essay to explain why you are involved in community service? And an alternative to the small space given on the EC section is to attach a resume.</p>
<p>I look at the long essay(s) as a place for you to show another side of how you think and view the world, something that is truly individual and that only you could write.</p>
<p>I wrote the the short EC essay on band instead. I now really regret this decision especially since I made band ranked 5th on my activities portion of my common app. </p>
<p>I just hope that colleges will see my community involvement as something I did with genuine interest rather than just to boost my resume.</p>