Putting hobbies on application?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

I don’t have many real extracurriculars. I’m in band, which is very important to me, and I play in a community orchestra. Other than that I’m in one club at school, not an officer or anything. I was in a environmental research program at my school but only for 1 year.

I do have many hobbies, though. The main one is writing, I’ve written one novel, working on a second, and have a blog where I write articles about whatever my current interests are, usually social issues, psychology, religion. Another is learning languages; I’ve taught myself to speak/read/write one language, read/write another, and am currently teaching myself yet another. Also art–other than drawing/painting, I’ve taught myself things like embroidery and basketry and I refashion clothes. There are many others, but for these three, I can think of concrete skills and achievements I would be able to list.

Are these things I could list in the additional info section? Would they make up for having fewer extracurriculars?

Also, the reason I haven’t been able to do tons of clubs and such is 1) lack of transportation, I basically walk everywhere, because my family has 1 car which my dad takes to work and the public transportation in my town has very infrequent timings and sometimes doesn’t function at all in winter, when a majority the club activities I’d like to do take place, and 2) I have to be back home by 3 most days to babysit my little brother until my parents get home. For example, in order to attend a Spanish immersion program at my school this summer, I had to walk 1 hour there and 1 back every day. Which is perfectly fine in summer, but not as easy when there’s a foot of snow on the ground.

Should this be mentioned anywhere? I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses, but it can be problematic.

2

It appears that you believe colleges want to see applicants who have participated in a bunch of clubs and received a bunch of awards. This is not the case. They want to see focused extra-cirriculars that you did not to impress someone but to pursue your own interests.
The “hobbies” you listed should all be included in the Activity section of the Common App. I would suggest you get a recommendation from an English teacher to validate your writing skills and novels. Having fewer activities is not an issue, especially if you can show in essays what those activities mean to you or have spent significant time on them.
You should only mention your personal difficulties (last paragraph) in the Adttional Information section if they have been truly strenuous.

3

Wow, that sounds awesome. I’d say not being an officer in clubs shouldn’t be your issue-- writing a book!! kudos to you, friend.

(sorry this is of no help to you haha)

4

@nammie27 You have excellent extracurriculars (and they are real!) What the colleges want to see is what you do outside of the classroom. It’s great that you have already figured out the skills/achievements for your hobbies. Count up the number of hours you babysit your little brother per week, and add that as an activity as well. You don’t need to make any “excuses” at all as you are interesting and motivated :)