<p>I've often heard that sending admissions officers too much material to look at is a blatant negative for any application. But the common app just doesn't do justice to one of my activities, and will not fit most of my non-academic awards. Would it be wise to send in a one-page resume under the Additional Information section just to expand on that one activity and the rest of my awards?</p>
<p>Maybe you could do a resume that states something like “additional activites, additional awards, etc”</p>
<p>If you have a TON of stuff that won’t fit on the common app and are important to you, then a resume would be useful! A lot of times people add resumes that basically restate what they put on the common app ;D</p>
<p>I had a resume because my things just didn’t fit in the CommonApp’s resume format, which is a stupid format anyway. Go ahead and attach it if you’re concise! Also, I think the “thicker the file” adage only applies to people with more than 2-3 pages attached in the various “extra information” sections. They’re there because sometimes people need to use them!</p>
<p>Yes the CA format is limiting, but you should realize that it is intentionally done this way. Adcoms at selective colleges have an overwhelming task that limits them to something like five minutes per application. If a certain school believes they need information that is not included in the CA then they will include it in their supplement.</p>
<p>Be creative in your approach to completing the CA. Consider using your essay to provide additional information about ECs. Perhaps your GC could include information at your request in his LOR. If it truly adds a unique perspective that does not fit anywhere else in your app, use the Additional Information. Sparingly.</p>
<p>The adage you site in the OP refers to applicants who submit five (or more) LOR, four-page resumes, multiple creative writing/short story samples or other extraneous supplemental material.</p>
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<p>Exactly.</p>
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<p>But no. If you’ve won 8 local/state (read: not in-school) photography awards over your high school career, which sounds sort of like the situation you’re talking about, that really doesn’t fit into the CommonApp resume format. I once heard somebody talk about a famous movie star who had been famously single for a long time. (Possibly Jennifer Aniston.) She’d said in one interview that she only took three-minute showers, to save water and the planet. Good for her! She said in another, a couple months later, that she only ever brushed her teeth while showering, also to save water. All dentists recommend brushing one’s teeth for at least two minutes. “If she only spends a minute a day getting clean,” the person telling me this said, “no wonder about her romantic success.” Likewise with shoehorning a list of awards into your essay or your LOR. You can brush your teeth in the shower, sure, but it will severely detract from your ability to do the latter well. Essays and LORs are for revealing your character, who you are as a person. It’s much more efficient for you and for the adcoms reading your file just to keep the two (“character” and “list of activities”) separate and to attach that (yes, brief) extra resume.</p>