<p>"Of the extracurricular activities, personal activities, or work experiences you have described, which has meant the most to you and why?" - what do these people want to hear? Can anyone post his/her answer to this question? I need some ideas. Also, if I had a drop in my GPA (from 3.9 in HS to 3.2 as college freshman), should I send them a letter, appart from the application to explain my situation? Or should I use the "Add aditional information" part of the online application?</p>
<p>For this question I elaborated on my work experience since my extacurriculars are somewhat self explanatory. I focused on how working was not all about getting extra spending cash. Instead it was meaningful for me because I truly enjoy working with different kinds of people, and working allowed me to do this a lot more than I had throughout high school. Working also allowed me to become more outspoken and helped me understand how I could best verbalize my own ideas with others that I may be unfamiliar with. </p>
<p>I hope that helps...I didn't feel like finding my actual response.</p>
<p>I picked two or three activities that stood out to me as important, such as tutoring elem school kids during high school, then working in my college's SGA, then raising money for breast cancer. In addition, I sent a resume because I have wayyy too many other activities to leave out.</p>
<p>I wrote in a short essay style about what I learned from one of my volunteering positions and how I helped other people through it.
I tried to focus on only one, since they already have a list.</p>
<p>I wrote about why I enjoy playing my instrument. You want to convey why you have a passion for something, or at least why it was important to you--even if (especially if) it is not the most mind-blowing activity (a menial job, maybe) or you aren't the greatest at it (I'm not the best at my instrument, by any means). I also wrote mine in a very shortened essay form (it probably started out at 300 words and got cut in half). </p>
<p>The types of things I said were that playing the clarinet helped me feel a unique connection with other people and that I felt like my mind was clear and I was able to think without distraction while I play. Maybe a little cheesy, but hopefully that is offset by true passion and strong writing ability. </p>
<p>I don't know that you need to explain a 3.2 college GPA, unless you have a really good reason why it isn't as high (serious illness, death in family, etc.) as your HS GPA. You didn't tank out, and college is tougher than HS. If you really want to explain, use the additional info section--that's what it's there for.</p>