<p>I can’t tell you exactly how to do it. Figuring that out is up to you. I CAN tell you that I know students who have done this successfully without coming across as the least bit pretentious. They used different approaches because they were different people. </p>
<p>You may be worrying too much about sounding overblown or pretentious. You DO want to avoid sounding arrogant or know it all. But, while your high school classmates might think you sound pretentious if you talked about the hours you spend reading “The Economist” or philosophy books or the hours you spent reading about the nation you represented at the Model UN conference and how you got so interested that you kept on studying the country for months after the conference, an admissions officer isn’t going to think you are. </p>
<p>If you don’t tell the admissions officer, how the heck will he find out?</p>
<p>See, unless you are a superstar, it’s unlikely that you will be the most accomplished person in any field in the applicant stack. So, it can help to explain how participating in the EC changed you as a person.</p>
<p>See post #9 above–although we’ve said it differently, we’re on the same page.</p>