A student who is interested in business and starting her own company one day can select Business owner as part of the Future Plans section. Check off the grades during which you were involved with the activity. Try not to be redundant, especially considering the limited space. You want to stand out, you want to tell your story, and share some of your biggest passions and important parts of your life. Participated in three conferences per year; Best Small Delegation 2018, Outstanding Delegate 2019. While extracurriculars might seem subjective, colleges are methodical in their evaluation of them. College admissions officers dont have the time to read large blocks of text, and its generally better to try and write less in areas where they are not asking for an essay. Sometimes students make the mistake of listing accomplishments without actually describing what they are. Maybe you run the camp for 35 weeks of the year, but you ran a tennis racket drive for five days in the late spring of your junior year that ended up being particularly rewarding. College admissions officers dont have the time to read large blocks of text, and its generally better to try and write less in areas where they are not asking for an essay. Think about all of these logistics carefully, and you will set yourself up for success as you fill out the, The first piece that you have to fill out on the. . There is no specific answer that colleges are looking forit will just help them understand your background better. Some schools still maintain proprietary applications or use other application systems. This year, students have been calling TCU an "everything school" because of our success in academics and across all sports. Also keep in mind that just because you intend to continue the activity in college at this point does not mean you are obligated to do so when you actually matriculate. Thus, demonstrating a strong hook through your Activities List is very important. Applications typically open on August 1 and close on January 1. Accordingly, you should only list that activity if you actually participate in that specific organization. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Not only has she pursued multiple activities in both environmental science and art, but she has also found and studied creative intersections between these fields, through painting murals at local gardens, featuring and selling her nature photography on her personal social media, and studying environmental art at a summer program. Also read:How to write an essay about yourself. Be as descriptive as possible within the confines of the character limit, and avoid acronyms or abbreviations if possible. Dont worry about committing to your future life path in this section. For each award, youll want to indicate the name of the honor, its meaning and purpose, and the years you received it. The writing section requires the following: The personal essay plays a crucial part in showing colleges who you are, and it has a strict word limit of 650 words. Instead of filling out the same general informationlike your address, GPA, and extracurriculars a dozen times, you only have to do it once. Work shifts at gift shop and assist customers with check out and locating merchandise. Your child can add up to 10 school activities on the Common App. The Common App dashboard also helps you track necessary application documents (like your . Rather, this serves to inform the admissions committee about your life outside school as succinctly as possible. But if it is something you dont really care about, you may want to reevaluate whether or not it is a good idea to include it in your application. A general rule of thumb is that national awards should be listed first, followed by state, local, and school awards. The honors section of the Common App is reserved for you to list your academic honors and awards. for details, accomplishments, honors won, and accomplishments within each activity, so you will need to be concise and offer only the most pertinent details. Keep the following tips in mind: Check out the following examples and take note of how the second iteration communicates the same information with less characters: Being concise with your wording doesnt mean that you should leave out information that is necessary to describe your award. Be as specific as you can be in the space available. To fill out the Common Application, make sure you have all of the information with you. This student is creatively-minded, self-driven, capable of leading groups and teams, and interested in community-building. Here are examples from top high school students. What are extracurriculars and why do they matter? This could include anything from a science award to an article in an economic journal. You should always be very careful when filling out this section. Some colleges, including MIT for example, sort and read applications by citizenship. Because this student also has an entrepreneurial streak, she could optionally indicate a secondary interest in business if a school offers dual degrees, majors, or minors in business administration for undergraduates. Run dog-walking service with my siblings for neighbors in apartment complex. A very important factor to remember is that these upcoming sections apply for all of the schools on the. If it seems like you are choosing one category for everything, try to diversify a bit and think about how activities can be related without being exactly the same thing. As daunting as all of the sections of the Common App might seem, if done right, it can help ease the process. introduced a question for students to outline any changes in circumstances due to COVID-19. that is best for you), or tests based on what youve studied in high school, such as the AP or IB, or tests which show your English language proficiency, such as IELTS or TOEFL. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. Disciplinary information: disciplinary violation at any educational institution, misdemeanor, felony. Get valuable advice from students who have been in your shoes. The Profile section asks for: Make sure to fill out this section very carefully, as its easy to mix up information such as your first name and last name. The average school year is 36 weeks, give or take a few weeks depending on your schools break schedule. For your current school, you have to indicate whether your school is a boarding school, when you started the school, and whether you plan to graduate from your current school. Roughly estimate the number of hours you devoted to an activity. Leaving the answer as Undecided will show admissions officers that you have not put much thought into your interests or future career choices. Within 250 words, you have the opportunity to inform colleges whether the Coronavirus outbreak and social distancing protocols affected your health, family life, and learning abilities. While the Common Application Activities List and UC Activities List serve similar purposes for admissions committees, there are differences in the ways they are completed. Some colleges have a, which allows you to pick each of your top sub scores and combine into one superscore if you have taken a standardized test multiple times. Be sure to prioritize personal importance over quantity of time. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. Taking honors courses is a great way to demonstrate your academic potential to colleges, but you should not include these courses in your Common App honors section. School Specific Essays - A lot of schools have specific questions that they want to ask about your interest in their campus and course offerings specifically. The Testing section asks you to self-report any tests you have taken, whether standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT (choose the one that is best for you), or tests based on what youve studied in high school, such as the AP or IB, or tests which show your English language proficiency, such as IELTS or TOEFL. Each year, more than one million students a third of . The club should just serve to complement the hook you have been working to develop throughout your high school career. Final review of 20 articles published and distributed bi-weekly. It involves events and activities that bring members of the school community together in some way. Be ready for the world. This is especially true of lesser-known regional awards. Since your list of activities should relate to the hook you are crafting throughout your application, it probably makes sense that many of the activities you currently participate in will be activities you want to participate in while youre in college. Be sure to specify whether or not your position changed over time by notating the grade levels next to the position name in parenthesis, like so: Member (9th, 10th), Vice President (11th, 12th), Gallery Assistant (9th, 10th), Curatorial Intern (11th), It is possible that your organizations name takes up all of the allotted characters, but if it doesnt, take advantage of the extra space to include relevant information. -. Designed rooftop herb garden installation for restaurant. Write in present tense only if you are still involved, and past tense if your involvement in the activity has come to an end. You should also be specific in defining the organization. </p>. The important step is to make sure you do not select Undecided. Think about what you are passionate about, what courses you are excited to study, what activities you enjoy. Selected, cataloged, and digitized materials from 2011 to 2018 to be housed in the contemporary art archive. Quality is always more important than quantity when it comes to the activities you choose to add to your Activities List. What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? Read on for tips on completing the honors section. The CommonSpirit Events app is you The satire in the fourth Voyage has been considered most distinctively Swiftian, The standard length of a residency personal statement is one page in ERAS, which equals anywhere from 500-800 words. You do not want to list a C instead of an A! Be as specific as possible here. Not only does doing so allow you to include more extracurricular activities, but also provides more space for you to expand on the descriptions of your activities since you are not limited to a certain number of characters. You do not have much space to do so, so read this guide to learn how to make the most of the characters you are allotted. Activities like working a part-time job, or caring for a family member also count. If you need to add more activities, use the additional information section or your essays. School spirit looks like teamwork. Increased readership by 20. Only list additional honors that you think college admissions officers should absolutely know about. This is your chance to list all the great things youve accomplished during your high school years. Common App will not support questions that are prohibited by federal or state law (e.g., marital status, disability) unless the member can provide a legal exemption to do so. A commonly asked question regarding this field is how to label the activities that took place in the summer. There are countless ways in which you can answer how and why a college appeals to you. Abbreviating first and the title of the Engineering Fair helped reduce characters. The Common Application, or Common App, is a college application portal that is accepted by more than 900 schools.. If you feel like five spaces isnt enough to describe all of your accomplishments, use the Additional Information section at the end of the application to talk about the rest of your honors. Colleges wont see the brevity of your involvement as a negative factor; they understand that some activities simply have an imposed beginning and ending that are not within your control. Command Group Inc. and this website make no representation, promise, or guarantee that any particular result or outcome can or will be obtained. Activities like working a part-time job, or caring for a family member also count. You can list up to five honors, and for each one you'll be asked to provide a brief . If it seems like you are choosing one category for everything, try to diversify a bit and think about how activities can be related without being exactly the same thing. The Common Application Honors List is separate from the Activities Listit can be found under the Education Section of the Common Application. Adding numerical values offers concrete proof of your success. Prospective students fill out their basic information, and the service shares the data with all of the applicant's chosen schools. Instead of superscoring across test dates, some schools will just look at your highest score from a single sitting. Host weekly meetings, trips. Investing time and effort into this important component of the Common App will truly increase the quality of your college applications, while also being a satisfying exercise in looking back at your accomplishments and growth over the past three years! That doesnt mean you have to continue it. 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. As daunting as all of the sections of the, might seem, if done right, it can help ease the process. Tags :applying to college,common application,Personal Statement,common app guide,how to fill the common app. Within just 99 characters, the student highlighted not only what the prize was but what the prize was for. Narrate your story by showing the reader your personality and emotions instead of telling. The Honors Section will prompt you to fill out 3 fields. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Zach graduated from Elon University with a degree in Cinema and Television Arts. The honors section of the Common App is one of the few times in life when its perfectly acceptable to brag about yourself. All of the colleges you apply to within this platform will see the same information that youve filled out in the Family section or Activities section of the Common App. the reader your personality and emotions instead of telling. You should ask them as early as the end of your junior year, or at the beginning of your senior year. Goalkeeper, Varsity Field Hockey (school team). However, you should only do so if these activities are truly essential to the admissions committees, understanding of your extracurricular life. Having two to three meaningful extracurricular involvements is always better than ten activities that have no meaning to you at all. I noticed the "school spirit" category, and I feel like this is a stupid question, but what activity could someone put in that falls in that category other than being a mascot or something? Show them how youve grown stronger or how your topic has changed your perspective. You could also use it to address any disciplinary action that might exist on your record. Team placed 1st in division and advanced to state semifinals. As usual, be careful when transcribing information onto the Common App. Write the title of the award and add details when possible! While this portion might seem very straight-forward, these fundamentals matter. Why does it captivate you? Higher education has never been more confusing or expensive. A Users Guide to the Common App for Transfer Students, 10 Maine Scholarships to Save You Thousands on College, How to Master the Honors Section of the Common App, Back to School: College Prep Tips Youll Need Starting This Year, How to Respond to the Looking Forward to Stanford Prompt. Beyond the number of slots for activities and awards, there are also differences in the corresponding information students must provide for each activity and award. If you completed an internship the summer between sophomore and junior years of high school, you would check off 10th, and so on and so forth. This section allows you to put in a nickname if applicable, your name in another language if you have one, and if youve used any other names previously. As the application evolved over time from a paper application to online, the core of Common App's principles has never changed - promoting access, equity, and integrity, in the college admissions process for all students. If youre from Minnesota for example, your application is going to be read with the rest of the applicants from Minnesota. Intrinsic to these principles is the promotion of fair, transparent, straightforward, and consistent practices in . You do not have to be fluent in a language to add it to your. Not only does doing so allow you to include more extracurricular activities, but also provides more space for you to expand on the descriptions of your activities since you are not limited to a certain number of characters. Then, there are colleges that do not require standardized test scores. The Common Application offers a drop-down menu with the following activities from which to select: Academic Art Athletics: Club Athletics: JV/Varsity Career-Oriented Community Service (Volunteer) Computer/Technology Cultural Dance Debate/Speech Environmental Family Responsibilities Foreign Exchange Journalism/Publication Junior R.O.T.C. So by answering yes to this question, you are merely indicating that you are interested in continuing the activity. If you participate in a club, define your role, rather than just listing member. If you participated in an activity for multiple years and have had multiple roles within it,list your roles in order of importance rather than chronologically. Therefore, do not write anything thats specific to any one of the schools. About 950 colleges and universities around the world accept the Common App. A volunteering club at Average High School simply called Hilltop is better referred to as Average High School Hilltop Volunteers or Hilltop Volunteering Club of Average High School. If youre including an independent activity such as painting for local arts competitions, your title and position could read: Artist, Self-Directed Oil Painting. A Letter Continued interest is a way to remind the school that you still exist, you take initiative, and above all, youre someone they will want to accept in the next round of admissions or take off the waitlist. Moreover, make sure your recommender is someone who takes the time to sit down with you, has time to dedicate to a careful letter, and is enthusiastic and excited about your application. Each admissions officer is assigned a particular geographical region, either according to each US state, or according to country. There are so many sections to go through, and it seems overwhelming at times. They should be aware not only of the theme you hope to achieve, but how they can help elevate it in their letter. A very important factor to remember is that these upcoming sections apply for all of the schools on the Common Application! This article provides you with step by step instructions, as well as dos and donts for each section, that will help you break down the activities section of the Common App. This fictional student demonstrates a strong hook in environmental science and art. You can use acronyms and abbreviations when referring to well-known organizations like the NAACP, or if you use the same abbreviation throughout, like LA for Las Angeles. However, if its not obvious what the organization does from its name or abbreviation, add a little context. This usually includes holiday breaks, study and finals weeks, and sometimes, the first few weeks of the semester when clubs do not yet meet. It is clear that as a student in NYC, she has taken advantage of the extensive resources at her disposaluniversities, museums, nonprofits, and even her own apartment complexin order to contribute to her community and explore her passions from multiple angles. You may not be sure about exactly how candid you should be in your response. Or, if your parents might have faced difficulties with their jobs, use this section to expand on that. They include general club/sports/musical membership and general volunteering. They include general club/sports/musical membership and general volunteering. You do not want to waste their time with something that could have been mentioned elsewhere in the Common App. awards or achievements that you have earned starting from the ninth grade. You can tailor your responses in the college-specific sections that come up once you have chosen a school, but the following will be sent to all of the schools on your list. They include top leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations, winning regional competitions, or state-level sports/music distinctions. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. Currently, due to COVID-19, standardized tests have become optional in many schools. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. This is not easy! If youre usually a straight-A student whose grades slipped because they had difficulty keeping up with Zoom classes, let colleges know. Rather, this serves to inform the admissions committee about your life outside school as succinctly as possible. Honors and awards students commonly list include: Deans List, Language Honors Society, National Merit, Congressional Award, Valedictorian, etc. We may receive commission from links on our website, but that doesnt affect our editors opinions. If youve transferred schools, there is a section that allows you to discuss this transition. Provide the reader with a theme or a takeaway message. The restrictions mean you will need to be selective in reporting your activities, limiting you to the most important ones or those that are most meaningful to you. Do not write about middle school achievements, about others achievements, or try to accomplish too much. Featured Review: Freshman says Notre Dame has a great school spirit and campus life. As a result, this section only becomes available if you select one of the schools on the list. From there, you can calculate how many weeks you participated in a sport or school-affiliated extracurricular activity. Make sure you make it clear when clubs are in association with your school when applicable. The last question for each activity asks you whether or not you plan to continue a similar extracurricular activity in college. The Common Application is a single online college application form used by over 900 colleges and universities. Many students will have experienced disrupted testing dates and summer programs or other plansand thats okay to unpack those obstacles here if they were significant and unique issues. If you have more than 5 awards, try to think of ways to combine them. Your siblings attending the same college also counts as legacy. Since this essay is read by many colleges, avoid mentioning any . Begin by selecting the category the activity falls under. Well let you know what your chances are at your dream schools and how to improve your chances! If youre have trouble figuring out how to word your activity descriptions, here is a table of action words that you can use: The application will ask you in which grade levels you participated in a particular activity. Greet and direct visitors at information desk and coat check. Within 250 words, you have the opportunity to inform colleges whether the Coronavirus outbreak and social distancing protocols affected your health, family life, and learning abilities. However, you should only do so if these activities are truly essential to the admissions committees understanding of your extracurricular life. You can find out more about them here. Try not to feel too overwhelmed college applications take a lot of work, but the reward is well worth it. You can list up to five honors, and for each one youll be asked to provide a brief description (100 characters or less). 1 of 3 student representatives selected in our class of 200 to interview and select the next head of upper school. 10, 11, 12School8 hr/wk, 25 wk/yrContinue. What prompted your thinking? Although family is a commonly used topic, this student makes sure to have unique ideas and write in a genuine way. Youre an excited high school senior ready to embark on the scary but thrilling journey of college applications, and then you encounter something known as the Common Application. Not all of the members of the Common App require your courses and grades. While this portion might seem very straight-forward, these fundamentals matter. Apply to our $10,000 No Essay Scholarship! listing awards issued by national organizations above her school-level recognitions). A lot of schools that accept score choice recommend that you send all scores. Commonly listed activities include participating in school clubs, playing an instrument, playing a sport, attending pre-college summer programs, volunteering, and many others. They use the 4 Tiers of Extracurriculars: Tier 1: These are rare activities that show exceptional achievement or leadership. However, If you experienced bigger problems as a result of the pandemic, provide context for your circumstances, whether its unemployment or lack of learning resources at home. Unless the activity was high school-specific or if there is a good reason you wouldnt participate in it later on, we recommend that you mark yes.. Tier 3: These lack the distinction of Tier 1 and 2, but still highlight students interests. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If the activity is typically referred to by an acronym, be sure to list the full name, as you never want to assume that admissions committees will be familiar with the activity to which you are referring. Or perhaps you just dont want to continue it. Besides knowing you as a student and person, your recommender should also be familiar with the components of your application and your Application Persona. They want to know if you were raised by a single parent, whether you grew up in a divorced home, whether one of your parents has passed away. The Profile section asks for: If you qualify for the fee waiver, dont hesitate to check the box. The Common App began as a way to simplify the college application process for both domestic and international students. Remember that this section is not there for you to prove your eloquence as a writer; you have the essay to do that. For more information about how colleges filter applicants, check out our post on the, While extracurriculars might seem subjective, colleges are methodical in their evaluation of them. You will be able to expand in the description if needed. His work has been published in Our State Magazine, Ladygunn Magazine, The Nocturnal Times, and The Lexington Dispatch. You have to select your citizenship status from a drop-down menuwhether you are a US Citizen, a US Dual Citizen, a US Permanent Resident, a US Refugee, or non-US Citizen. If you find that a particular extracurricular activity fits into multiple categories, choose the more specific one (e.g. This is not to say that you cant join a new club as a junior or senior, you definitely can! To make the most out of your honors section, keep the following strategies in mind: Make sure to lead with your most impressive achievements. The Testing section asks you to self-report any tests you have taken, whether standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT (. You only get 150 characters to sum up each activity, so make sure you are optimizing the space by summarizing your role and impact in each activity. While many of these extracurricular activities are fairly general, such as Academic and School Spirit, a few of them refer to specific positions or organizations. For example, if you completed a summer course the summer between freshman and sophomore years of high school, you would select 9th. This will allow you to demonstrate your values to the admission officers who review your application. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Participated in multiple science-based events; 2nd place 2018 for Write It Do It, 3rd place 2019 for Meteorology.