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The Common Application is a great tool that can be used to help you apply to multiple colleges with just one application. Along with the 650-word Common App essay, you will also need to complete the Common App Activities section when applying to college. While the Common App Essay showcases your identity to college admissions committees, the Activities section provides insight into your extracurricular involvement, offering a prime opportunity to differentiate yourself from other applicants.
In the absence of college essays and extracurricular activity lists, colleges would rely solely on grades, class rank, and standardized test scores for admissions decisions. Given the high number of students with strong academic records who apply to college each year, it is important that you use the Activities section to highlight your unique qualities and strengths in participating in various activities. This post will give you an overview of what is required in the Activities section as well as some examples on how to effectively complete this.
Common App Activities List Tips
First of all, you may be wondering what counts as an activity. Activities include any extracurricular participation you had outside the classroom. This could include being in a sports team, Model United Nations, science fairs, spelling bees, volunteering, having a job, playing an instrument/sport, etc, among various other activities.
However, you may only list up to 10 activities in the Activities section, with there being strict character limits as follows:
Position description: 50 characters
Organization name: 100 characters
Activity description (including any recognition received): 100 characters
Common App also asks you to fill in the following information:
Type of Activity (art, sports, debate, foreign language, research, volunteering, employment)
Grades that you participated in the activity (Grade 9, 10, 11, 12)
Time of participation (full year, only academic year, only summer break)
Weekly hours dedicated to the activity
Number of weeks per year dedicated to the activity
Intention to continue the activity in college (yes/no)
With such a tight limit, you need to carefully think about which activities to include and how to present the information, so see the tips below:
List the activities that you participated in most at the top of the activities section. For example, if you played basketball every day for your school's team, volunteered at a soup kitchen once a month, and played an instrument every weekend, you should list the activities in the order basketball, instrument, and then soup kitchen.
Do not repeat words from the 'Position description' section in the 'Activity description' section.
Avoid using full sentences and filler words to ensure you can use the character limit effectively. For example, instead of writing "I took part in a debate club where I was the President and overcame my fear of public speaking", you could write "Presided over debate club to improve public speaking skills".
However, this does not mean that you should use improper grammar or poor descriptions. Continuing with the above example, cutting out filler words does not mean writing something incoherent like "Did debate club, public speaking improved". This does not give any connection between the two or show a deeper connection to the activity.
Ensure that your activity description is detailed. For example, if you volunteered at an animal shelter, instead of writing "Volunteered at an animal shelter to help animals", you could write "Cared for neglected animals, including dog-walking and administrative roles like budgeting for food".
Mention any recognition or awards you received as part of the activity, such as certificates, medals, etc.
Some complete examples of how an activity should be presented are:
1. Founder and President
Debate Club
Developed confidence in public speaking while empowering students to enhance communication skills
2. Volunteer
XYZ Animal Shelter
Cared for neglected animals, including dog-walking and administrative roles like budgeting for food.
We hope this guide helps you with your Common App Activities section. Good luck with your college applications!
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