Should I use up all 10 spots on common app?

Applying to College
1

I have 8 spots filled up, do you think its necessary to include all 10? I have stuff to include like some sports I have been a part of, but I never started and am not being recruited. Should I include anything else? Is it looked down upon to not fill up 10 spots?

Thanks

2

It’s not a problem not to fill all ten slots.

3

You certainly don’t need to fill up all 10 spots but if you have something interesting to put in why not? It won’t make or break your application but consider if including the sport might show another side of your personality and additional involvement in your school.

4

No. You should fill in as many as are meaningful to put your application in context. More ≠ better in all cases. For an athletic recruit, they may only fill in one. For myself, I think I filled in 5. Do what works for you, but don’t fill in space just to fill in space.

5

My kids filled in 10 plus listed a couple more in Additional Info. They went to a small school where kids were encouraged to do a lot of ECs, and also had a lot of interesting summer activities that added up. These were rules they used:

  • Include anything related to potential major or essay topic, no matter what year in HS they did it.
  • Include anything where they or the team they were on won something of significance, no matter what year.
  • Include anything unusual/interesting – maybe different from what others might have (in a good way), no matter what year.
  • Include everything participated in from junior year or later – things from before that which didn’t meet the criteria above were dropped.