· The activities section is one of the most important parts of your application, particularly if you are applying to very selective colleges. Many students who apply to these schools have top GPAs and test scores, so extracurricular activities are one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicant pool and make yourself stand out as an exceptional candidate · 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 character-per-entry limit Thread Common App - Hours per Week for extracurriculars Author Date within 1 day 3 days 1 week 2 weeks 1 month 2 months 6 months 1 year of Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Filling out the Common App Activities Section - CollegeFindMe
TABLE OF CONTENTS Click to scroll Three Tools for Up-Leveling Your Activities List 1. The Epic List of Activities List Verbs 2. The BEABIES Exercise 3. The Values Scan 10 Tips for Making Your Activities List Awesome Activities List FAQs 10 More Great Activities List Examples The Honors and Awards Section.
You only get characters on the activities list for the Common Application. How do you make the most of them? Here are some tips with accompanying college activities list examples. Applying through the Coalition Application, ApplyTexas, UC Application, or another application system? These tips still apply. How to develop more and better content for your activities list, common app activities hours per week.
How values can help you bring much more variety to your activities list. Why you should never stretch the truth on your activities list. Your activities list can make a big difference in your application. Art Created art and organized club. Founder, Art Honors Society Organized and ran meetings, set up field trips, brainstormed and created group art activities, wrote and sent newsletter to members.
Most students write a pretty good activities list description and then they stop there. Use stronger verbs. Develop better and perhaps a bit more content. Have you included a wide range of responsibilities? Most students forget to include solving problems, gaining skills, and making tangible and even quantifiable! Are you communicating what you learned or how an activity changed you? If not, you may be leaving money common app activities hours per week the table.
You probably need stronger verbs. How do I know? Member, Debate Debated topics, attended tournaments, researched topics. BTW I am so much nicer and less sarcastic in real life—just employing it here to make a point. I lead research and case writing, mentor younger debate students, organize mock debates, host an annual debate tournament. Heads up: Using this list for ten minutes will up-level your activities list verbs, and thereby your descriptions.
But wait. Instructions : Spend minutes filling out a BEABIES chart per activity on your list to generate plenty of content for your activities list descriptions. Use the 25 questions below the chart for ideas. After a few minutes, your chart may look something like this:. Did I list all my tasks, common app activities hours per week, or just a few?
Go back and check. Did I list tasks I completed that fell slightly outside the scope of my responsibilities? Did I consider the internal problems I solved—any personal challenges? Did I name the common app activities hours per week problems I solved—for my friends or family? What were some of the soft skills I learned patience, communication, etc.
Did I learn any specific software Photoshop, Final Cut Pro? Survival skills how to start a fire or clean a fish? Did I consider the impact this had on my family? Who else benefited? What impact did this have on me personally? What skills did I develop and lessons did I learn that will make me a better X tutor, debater, advocate, volunteer, programmer, fill in the blank? How so?
What did I do to build on and take what I learned to common app activities hours per week next level? How might I continue this activity during college and beyond? The Value Scan common app activities hours per week a great way to make sure your core values are apparent throughout your application. Like this:. Which values are clearly being revealed in the description? Which values are kind of being revealed, but could probably be revealed more clearly in the description?
Which values are not in the description at all yet, but perhaps could be included? Take this description as an example, written by a student who was secretary of her Red Cross Club:.
Responsible for taking minutes, updating calendar and active member list, communicating with advisors, acting as a liaison to our local chapter. Which values is this description clearly revealing? Do you see others? But this is a good start. Okay, next ask Which values could be revealed more clearly in the description?
I might ask the student if she can think of something she did that might demonstrate leadership. This is a process of asking questions and seeing what variety might be possible.
Which values are not in the description at all yet, but perhaps could be? To determine the answer for this student, it helps to know the author. So I asked her: Did working with the Red Cross help you become more adaptable? If so, how? What detail might show this?
Indian Tabla Self-taught via YouTube videos; played drums at community meetings for worker rights awareness; helped my sister become proficient.
Goal: Include values per activity. If you can achieve this, common app activities hours per week, just think: your list could demonstrate 20 or 30 values! Instead of: Instructed, helped, taught children tennis how are these three different?
Try: Instructed in proper technique, while imparting lessons in sportsmanship, health and integrity. Instead of: I gave tour campus tours and provided info on school history, student activities, and boarding life. Try: I give campus tours and provide info on school history, student activities, boarding life. Actually, let me rephrase: Because your space is limited, your word choice is important. One more time: Limited space demands precise wording. See what I did there?
Cut my character count from 92, to 61, to And are you still using complete sentences? If so, stop. No need here, common app activities hours per week. So instead of: I raised money to donate to a school in India by selling t-shirts and bracelets. Emphasize tangible, measurable impact. How many people? How much money did you raise? Instead of: Raised money for children in Common app activities hours per week. Include any responsibilities that demonstrate leadership skills.
Instead of: I swim on the swim team. Try: Responsible for leading swim practices, planning fundraising events, assisting in recruiting process. Instead of: Tutored students. Try: Provided support to fourth graders with particularly difficult math concepts. Describe selectivity. This is key if the reader might not understand the achievement your activity represents. Example: 1 of 2 student leaders elected by my peers to represent our class of Another example: Received 1st place out of competing teams.
Instead of to help all those in need or to end poverty in the world Try to help those in need or to fight against global poverty. In other words, instead of writing Participant, MLK Day of Service You can just write MLK Day of Service.
HOW TO FILL OUT THE COMMON APP ACTIVITIES SECTION!!!
, time: 9:315 Successful Common App Activity Entries Explained
· This is a great way to show colleges how much you care about each activity. (Side note: Don’t lie! Admissions officers can count, so if you say you do 10 activities each for 10 hours every week, they might smell something fishy. There’s no need to overexaggerate, but be realistic about how you spend your time!) Weeks per year · The activities section is one of the most important parts of your application, particularly if you are applying to very selective colleges. Many students who apply to these schools have top GPAs and test scores, so extracurricular activities are one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicant pool and make yourself stand out as an exceptional candidate Thread Common App - Hours per Week for extracurriculars Author Date within 1 day 3 days 1 week 2 weeks 1 month 2 months 6 months 1 year of Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
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