How to Stand Out on the Common App Activities Section (Example Included)
/Learn how to share your accomplishments in a way that shines, plus a Common App Activities section example
How to stand out on the common app activities section
(Note: This article can also be found in our free, 110-page comprehensive guide to writing every college essay, How to Get Into America’s Elite Colleges: The Ultimate Guide.)
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Part 1: Common App Activities section overview
Part 2: Writing strategies
Part 3: Advanced strategies
Part 4: Common App Activities section example
Part 5: Frequently asked questions
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Part 1: Common App Activities section overview
In addition to the dreaded 650-word Common App Essay and the numerous college-specific supplemental essays your child will have to write, they’ll also need to complete the Common App Activities section when applying to college.
Whereas the Common App Essay will show college admissions committees who your child is, the Common App Activities section will allow colleges to understand what your child has done and is doing outside of the classroom, offering one of the best opportunities to stand out among other applicants.
Without college essays and extracurricular activities lists, colleges would be limited to grades, class rank, and ACT and SAT scores to make their admissions decisions. Given that so many students with strong numbers apply to college each year, it’s important for your child to use the Activities section to develop an application theme—that is, to highlight their “it factor” and specialties.
Before we get into writing tips and sample extracurricular descriptions, let’s go over a few Activities section basics:
What qualifies as an activity?
According to Common App, “activities may include arts, athletics, clubs, employment, personal commitments, and other pursuits.” In other words, pretty much anything pursued outside the classroom qualifies as an activity.
Since nearly anything counts as an activity, can my child include activities done on an informal basis?
Yes. Your child can include activities that were organized formally as well as those activities that may have only involved your child. Examples of the former might be sports teams and school clubs whereas examples of the latter include activities and hobbies your child may also participate in independently, such as reading or scrapbooking. Additionally, your child may perform community service as part of a team or alone. Either way, it could count as an impactful activity for the Common App.
How many activities can be listed?
Your child may list up to 10 activities.
What are the word or character limits for each activity?
Common App sets the following limits for each activity:
Position/Leadership description: 50 characters
Organization name: 100 characters
Activity description, including what your child accomplished and any recognition they received: 150 characters
As you can see, there is very limited space offered for each activity, so we’ll be discussing how to maximize the impact of each entry below.
What other information does Common App collect for each activity?
Common App requests the following information for each activity:
Activity type (e.g., art, athletics, community service, debate/speech, foreign language, research, social justice, work)
Participation grade levels (9, 10, 11, 12, post-graduate)
Timing of participation (during school year, during school break, all year)
Hours spent per week
Weeks spent per year
Whether or not your child intends to participate in a similar activity in college (yes/no)
(Note: It is acceptable for your child to indicate their intention to participate in certain similar activities in college, but not others.)
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Part 2: Writing strategies
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s discuss some proven approaches to completing a strong Activities section:
1. Include role and organization name in their respective boxes.
The first four fields for each activity on Common App look like this:
After selecting an activity type from the drop-down menu, your child should input both their position and the organization name in the corresponding boxes. That way, your child can use the full 150-character limit for the activity description box.
For example, your child should write “President” followed by “Student Council.”
2. Do not repeat words from the position description box in the activity description box.
Continuing with the student council president example: Instead of writing, “As president of the student body, I was responsible for…”, your child should write, “Implemented school initiatives such as free textbooks for low-income families, liaised with administration, and curated meeting agendas.”
3. Focus on quantifiable and significant impact.
Many applicants undersell their achievements because they don’t get specific enough about their contributions. For example, rather than writing something like, “Organized food can drive for local families,” your child should write, “Collected over 10,000 cans and provided Thanksgiving meals for 500 families in greater Cleveland.” With details like that, your child’s impact will be unquestionable to admissions committees.
Numbers also have a way of jumping out to a reader and demanding attention, and they can help break up long strings of text that a reader might have otherwise been inclined to skim over.
4. List tasks and avoid complete sentences to make room for more detail.
Colleges understand that your child does not have enough space to provide in-depth descriptions of each activity. Therefore, rather than write, for example, “At the hospital, I transported patients with physical disabilities on wheelchairs…”, your child should write, “Transported patients on wheelchairs, provided meals and blankets, assembled gift baskets, and attended grand rounds.”
Think of these descriptions more as bullet points on a resumé. It’s a good idea to begin each description with a strong descriptive verb — words like implemented, led, founded, tutored, established, managed, launched, etc. catch the reader’s attention and help them envision your child actively engaging in the activity.
Stick to direct pieces of information and cut out any “fluff” or filler information. While using proper grammar is still important, it’s also acceptable to eliminate things that would typically pad your child’s writing, such as prepositions, articles, and pronouns. You may be surprised at just how many characters your child can save by eliminating them!
5. Describe current activities using present tense.
For instance, rather than, “I tutored seventh graders in science,” your child should write, “Tutor 7th graders to help them master challenging science concepts.”
6. Mention recommendation letter-writers by name.
If your child received a letter of recommendation from a teacher, boss, or supervisor with whom they worked closely on one of their activities, the recommender’s name and title should be mentioned somewhere in that activity’s Common App description. This way, admissions committees can easily connect the dots between these two components of your child’s application.
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Part 3: Advanced strategies
1. Make activities sound as impressive as possible.
Dr. Cal Newport first popularized the concept of the failed simulation effect, defined as follows: “Accomplishments that are hard to explain can be much more impressive than accomplishments that are simply hard to do.” Therefore, within each activity’s description, your child should describe accomplishments that are hardest to explain. For example, if your child blogs about mental health and had an opportunity to meet with a local city councilperson to develop a mental health awareness initiative in your county, they should mention that (see other examples in our article published on NBC’s Parent Toolkit). It’s important to note, however, that your child should never fabricate or exaggerate achievements and extracurricular activities for the sake of impressiveness.
2. Group related activities together to develop a theme.
College admissions committees look not only for activities in which your child has participated for a number of years, but also for groups of related activities. For example, let’s compare the following students’ activities:
Student 1
High school basketball team captain
Model United Nations award winner
Piano club president
Elementary school English tutor
Student 2
High school basketball team member
Youth basketball team coach
Organized local basketball tournament for kids with special needs
Interned with local professional basketball team’s analytics department
Clearly, Student 2 passes the failed simulation effect test while also demonstrating significant impact and achievement through a single area—basketball. On the other hand, Student 1 lists unrelated activities that make them seem well rounded, but nothing particularly stands out. Collectively, Student 2’s activities will be more memorable and seem more impressive than Student 1’s.
It’s good for a student to demonstrate a willingness to broaden their horizons and explore various different types of activities. But when their activities list looks too nebulous, it can be hard for admissions committees to connect the dots. College admissions committees are increasingly more interested in students who demonstrate depth of interest in one or two niche areas than students who demonstrate only breadth of various different unrelated experiences.
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Part 4: Common App Activities section example
Below is an example of how a single student might format, describe, and order their activities.
Intern
Google Virtual Reality (VR)
Coded VR environments for various software prototypes, some of which were featured at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show.
Founder and President
Code for Community
Organize coding camps for middle and high schoolers from inner-city Chicago whose schools do not offer computer science classes.
President
Coding Club
Major projects include developing software for school to track student grades, assignments, and parent communications.
Assistant Instructor
Tae Kwon Do
Train 5- to 6-year-old martial arts students to develop proper technique and instill confidence.
Tae Kwon Do
Achieved black belt at age 16 and currently training for state tournament.
Writing Peer Counselor
The Hamilton School
Supported high school students with all forms of writing, including in-class assignments, AP exam essays, and school newspaper articles.
Math Tutor
The Hamilton School
Support struggling middle and high school students with Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Precalculus, and Calculus.
President
Cru Club
Host monthly speaking events with athletes, principals, etc. for 80 students from all over Chicago to help them discover aspects of their purpose.
Customer Service Representative
Elegant Cleaners
Greeted customers, processed orders and payments, and returned clothing items.
Waitress
Blue Ribbon Diner
Took customer orders, served food and drinks, and processed payments.
In the above example, the student does a fantastic job ordering their activities in a hierarchical manner so that the most impressive activities are at the top. Remember that colleges receive tons of applications, so you need to stand out early.
In addition, their descriptions read like a resumé, avoiding complete sentences and being stripped of unnecessary phrases. This student also does a good job showcasing a commitment to their community through their activities.
Also, notice that similar activities are grouped together. This gives colleges a good idea of an applicant’s interests and what they might contribute to the campus community.
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Part 5: Frequently asked questions
How does the Common App Activities section differ from the University of California (UC) Activities section?
The Common App and UC Activities sections differ in three noteworthy ways:
Number of activities: The UC application allows students to list up to 20 activities vs. the Common App’s 10-activity allowance.
Categories: The UC application allows students to enter activities in the following categories: Awards or Honors, Educational Preparation Programs, Extracurricular Activities, Other Coursework, Volunteering/Community Service, and Work Experience. Applicants are prompted to write slightly different types of descriptions depending on the category of each activity.
Character count: Whereas Common App allows 150 characters for each activity description, the UC application allows 350 characters for each activity description.
Because the UC application allows for more entries and a higher character count than Common App, it’s advisable that your child complete the UC Activities section first. Then, your child should choose their 10 most meaningful activities for Common App and cut enough characters to get below Common App’s 150-character-per-entry limit.
(Further reading: How to Write an Impressive UC Activities List)
How should summer jobs and activities be listed?
Summer programs, jobs, and activities should be listed with your child’s rising grade. For example, if your child has already completed 10th grade, they should list their activity with the 11th grade.
What if my child spends different amounts of time on an activity during the school year vs. over the summer?
While in the past we’ve advised students in this situation to simply total the number of hours spent and list start and end dates, the Common App’s current format doesn’t allow you to input this kind of information. Thus, we recommend that your child simply total their hours and average it over the number of weeks they spent on an activity.
For example, if your child spent 5 hours per week volunteering at an organization for 30 weeks during the school year, plus 25 hours per week for 10 weeks over the summer, they should write that they volunteered for 10 hours per week for 40 weeks. Ideally, they should also work relevant details into the description box to convey how that time was distributed—for instance, they might note that they took on additional responsibilities or more time-intensive tasks during the summer.
What counts towards the time spent on an activity?
Your child should count not just the time they spend actually doing an activity, but also the time spent preparing for and traveling to that activity. For example, if your child is a writing tutor and spends time reading and marking up their tutees’ essays before sessions, that preparation time counts. Or, say your child is a varsity cross-country athlete and often travels a few hours away to attend meets on the weekend—they should include that travel time as well.
What should my child do if their activity type is not listed in the drop-down menu?
Your child can select “Other Club/Activity” from the drop-down menu and describe the activity further in the position/leadership box.
Is it a problem if my child has fewer than 10 activities to list?
Not necessarily. College admissions committees value long-term commitments to activities vs. a long list of activities to which an applicant devoted less time and effort. Optimize for quality, not quantity.
What if my child doesn’t remember the exact dates or timeframe for an activity?
Your child will want to provide the number of hours they spent engaged in the activity each week and the number of weeks they did so. However, if your child can’t remember the exact dates, an estimation will do just fine.
What if my child has fewer activities because they spend a significant amount of time helping out at home?
Not to worry. Colleges are looking to learn more about your child’s life outside of the classroom, which isn’t strictly limited to organized extracurriculars. In fact, if your child bears a significant amount of responsibility at home, such as routinely babysitting for a sibling or taking care of domestic tasks like cooking or cleaning (as opposed to occasional chores), these details can help provide valuable context for their academic and extracurricular records.
Common App is clear that family obligations can be listed in the Activities section, so your child should simply select “Family Responsibilities” from the drop-down menu and proceed as usual.
Should my child list their honors and awards in the Activities section?
No. There is a separate section on the Common App that allows your child to list up to five honors and awards.
How can my child explain major achievements or significant effort devoted to an activity that can’t be covered in 150 characters?
Your child can use the Common App Additional Information section to go into more detail about their most meaningful activities. This information also might be best suited for some of the supplemental essays they’ll be writing for each individual school they’re applying to.
Can I use abbreviations?
Yes, you can. However, make sure that the abbreviations are commonly known, as it’s unlikely adcoms will take the time to look up an abbreviation’s meaning. For example, UCLA or UN are fine, but an abbreviation for a high school debate club won’t be. To save characters, your child can spell out an abbreviated term the first time it’s mentioned and follow it with the abbreviation in parentheses. Then, for every subsequent mention of the term, the abbreviation alone can be used.
Does the Common App Activities section count spaces?
Yes, the Common App does count spaces as characters. Remember, conciseness is key!
THERE'S NO REASON TO STRUGGLE THROUGH THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS ALONE, ESPECIALLY WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE. SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO ENSURE YOU LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE.