<p>Short answer: "Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below or on an attached sheet (150 words or fewer)."</p>
<p>vs. </p>
<p>Personal Essay: "Topic of your choice."</p>
<p>I'm wondering if this means that you shouldn't write your personal essay about one of your extracurriculars?
I'm on two sports teams - Archery and Curling and I was considering writing my first short answer about Archery and my personal essay about Curling.
So:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is Curling a "unique" sport? I mean, I would write it eloquently but I'm not sure if it's as good of a topic as I currently think it may be.</li>
<li>Would writing about two sports in two statements be a little repetitive? (Even if they're different?)</li>
<li>In the "short answer", are they expecting an essay style response, or more as an informative paragraph?</li>
</ol>
<p>Nope, it doesn’t mean that. You can (and many people do) write about their most significant EC in their personal statement. You can write about any EC you want in the short answer–I chose to write mine on an important hobby of mine, actually.</p>
<p>And to answer your questions, (1) it’s certainly not banal! (2) I guess not; it’s up to you to decide your topics, and if the two sports hold the most significance to you, go ahead, and (3) while I’d say it’s more informative, feel free to put your own spin on it. Personally I’d take a more essay-styled approach and include things not listed anywhere else on your app, because they probably don’t want to hear “I do this sport. It involves this. I do it X hours every day.” That’s what your EC section is for!</p>