Should I put current ECs on common app

If I plan to participate in a certain EC in the 12th grade, should I put the number of weeks I have participated in the EC or the number of weeks I plan to participate in the EC?
Also if I do put the EC down on the common app, but then stop participating in it, would I have to update the colleges?

My daughter did not put projected ECs on her application. Only what she had done up until the application.

Not sure if that’s the norm though?

At my D19’s school, the GC said to include expected 12th grade participation in Activities list. So, for example, my D had her sports and Model UN activities show as 9-12 with the average amount of hours/weeks. It shows that she had sustained, continuing involvement all four years of HS. She also included theater for 11-12 as she was in the spring musical in 11th and hoped to be for 12th but auditions hadn’t taken place at the time she submitted her app. If you don’t end up participating, it’s not likely to sway your admissions decision one way or the other so I don’t think there would be a need to let your AO know. You might ask your GC what he/she suggests.

However, if you are planning to start something new that hasn’t started by the time you submit your app (up until Jan in some cases), I’m not sure if you should include it under Activities. You might mention a brief explanation under Addl Info (e.g. My intention is to be a new and active participant in our school’s Model UN this spring because my interest in global issues was sparked during my 11th grade history class). A side note: this type of late-start activity won’t add much, if anything, to your application so there might not be a point to mentioning it at all.

D19’s GC and IEC both recommended an estimate of each EC’s 12th grade hours (I don’t think there were any new activities), as well as highly likely awards, e.g. state scholar, all-conference in sport where she had been all-conference for previous 3 years.

If a student ends up adding/dropping ECs, or hours vary from what was reported on the app, I do not think an updated to the AOs is warranted.

@Mwfan1921 even if you drop the EC? But what if an AO checks and sees that you dropped it, wouldnt that be counted as lying on your app?