How to make the most of the Common App activities section?

Hey everyone! So I'm a junior starting to think about college applications and I'm wondering how to effectively use the Common App activities section. How do I choose which activities to list, and how do I highlight my most important ones?

Hello! It's good that you're thinking about the Common App activities section early. To make the most of this section, you'll need to carefully choose the activities to include and present them in a meaningful way. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you out:

1. Choose your activities: You have space for up to 10 activities on the Common App, but remember, you don't have to fill all the slots. Focus on the activities that showcase your passion, commitment, leadership skills, and achievements. You can include extracurriculars, community service, work experience, research projects, internships, or even hobbies, as long as they have played a significant role in your personal growth.

2. Prioritize: The Common App allows you to reorder your activities based on their importance to you. Place your most significant and impactful activities at the top of the list. Colleges typically pay more attention to the first few activities, so make sure they see your or strong areas.

3. Be concise and clear: You only have 150 characters for each activity's description, so be concise and use active verbs to describe your roles and responsibilities. For example, if you were a club president, you could say, "Led weekly club meetings, organized events for 40+ members, and managed $5000 budget."

4. Focus on impact: Describe the impact you had through your involvement in each activity. If you have any numbers (such as funds raised, events coordinated, or people served), include them to provide context and demonstrate the scope of your contributions.

5. Highlight awards and achievements: If you've won any awards or achieved special recognition within an activity, be sure to mention it. You can also include a separate "Awards" or "Honors" activity if you have multiple recognitions that don't fit within the 150-character descriptions of other activities.

6. Keep it relevant: Only include activities that happened during high school, as colleges are more focused on understanding your more recent involvements and their impact during these years.

The key to effectively using the Common App activities section is to showcase your interests, strengths, and dedication to a few core areas. By choosing the right activities and presenting them clearly with a focus on your impact, you'll be able to provide colleges with an insight into what truly matters to you and what you could bring to their campus community. Good luck with your college applications!