<p>Hi guys, I have some questions about the Extracurricular Activities and Work Experience Section:</p>
<p>1) If you began an activity after the summer of 10th grade, is that considered "11th grade" under "grade level"? </p>
<p>2) How do the hours per week and week per year calculations work? Say I worked at Starbucks for a year. There are 52 weeks in a year. I only worked for 45 weeks though. In total, I got 300 hours in the time I worked there. Do I get my answer for "hours per week" by doing (300/45) or is it (300/52)? </p>
<p>3) Is there a certain way that we should be arranging our activities? Do the most important ones go first?</p>
<p>4) When it says "if applicable, do you plan to participate in college?" does that mean participating in the activity in general? I obviously wouldn't be able to work at the same Starbucks if I attend college out of state. Therefore, by checking that box I would just mean working at <em>some</em> starbucks, right?</p>
<p>5) Are we supposed to provide a brief description of the activity in the space provided? </p>
<p>6) How should we format the optional resume? Is it just a list of all of these activities with in-depth explanations of them?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>p.s.
Sorry if I asked "dumb" questions... just starting to realize how much work these applications entail!</p>
<p>Hi Researcher,</p>
<p>Not dumb questions at all. Let me see if I can help you:</p>
<p>1) Activities after you "graduated’ from 10th grade (including the summer between 10th and 11th) are 11th grade activities.</p>
<p>2) Weeks per year would be 45. Averaging the total hours you worked (300) over the weeks per year (45) would give you the hours per week.</p>
<p>3) Yes, activities should be listed in the order of importance to YOU. Common App also gives you the option to “Feel free to group your activities and paid work experience separately if you prefer.”</p>
<p>4) Yes, that means participate in general.</p>
<p>5) In past years, there were two description sections. One said “Position Held, Honors Won, Letters Earned, or Employer,” and the other said “Details/accomplishments.” Each section gave you 100 characters maximum (including spaces). This year’s preview seems to have changed “Details/Accomplishments” to “Activity.” I’m assuming you will still have 100 characters available for this section, but we won’t know for sure until the Common App goes live on August 1. I would plan to provide a brief description using one or both spaces. I highly suggest starting to gather this material now (as you seem to be doing), before Aug 1. Calculating hours, remembering all your activities and which years you did them, and arranging in order of importance to you can be time-consuming.</p>
<p>6) The optional resume is…optional! The admissions people don’t want you to bombard them with stuff. If you feel that you can’t fit important activities or details on the Common App list, by all means include the resume. But if the Common App list does a good job of representing your activities and employment, leave it at that. As far as a format for the resume, that’s up to you. The simpler and more easily read, the better. I wouldn’t go too in-depth.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. Good luck with your apps!</p>