<p>On the common app persay, it says to list out the years you've done particular activities.</p>
<p>For my example,</p>
<p>I was only on the school JV swim team for 1 year, should I just not list it at all----as it signifies my lack of commitment which colleges DO NOT like to see?</p>
<p>Same goes for a volunteer program. I just started doing this summer of junior year, which I would have to put down as "12th grade" on the application. Again--lack of commitment.</p>
<p>What should I do?</p>
<p>“Lack of commitment” is a problem if you don’t commit to anything. It’s a huge problem not to be in any activities for more than a year or two. Your two examples sound more like “trying new things,” which is hardly frowned upon. High school’s a time to discover things, and discovering that you didn’t like competitive swimming or that you did like this volunteer program are perfectly valid expressions of that. If your main activities look like you have a commitment problem in general, I could argue for leaving them off; if, as is more likely, you’ve been committed to some other things, feel free to show that you experimented and learned about yourself as a normal high school student should.</p>