Perfect 10: Writing the Common Application Activity List

On the Common Application, you will be asked to list a variety of basic biographical information that ranges from you parents’ occupations to your address. You will be asked your academic history; you will be asked for your test scores; you will, crucially, be asked for your activity list. 

The activity list is exactly what it sounds like: a concise summary of your extracurricular engagements from grade 9 to grade 12. You are asked to list these based on the number of years you’ve spent on each activity, number of weeks per year, and number of hours per week. You must give your designation for each activity; you must also submit a 150 character activity description, which is where the craft of activity list creation begins.

Submitting a well-written activity list is the most important thing you can do in order to demonstrate the scope of your academic and extracurricular engagement to admissions teams. This is the perfect place to summarise your profile — a coherent and demonstrated record of increasing engagement with your chosen academic field, from Grade 9 up to Grade 12.

The Common App form allows you to input 10 activities, each with a description of just 150 characters (including spaces)! The UC form is much more generous with the space it provides you: 20 activities which can be described in 500 characters each. Application forms for UIUC, ApplyTexas, and Canadian universities have their own word counts and specifications, but most effective activity lists are structured according to similar principles.

We’re here to help you develop an impressive activity list that shows colleges just how proactive, focused, yet diverse you are in your interests and pursuits. Here’s some tips to get you started:

1. Order your activities based on degree of importance.

   • Activities in which you have invested a lot of time and effort deserve a place at the top of the list, as do selective or credit-bearing programs.

2. Focus on your scope of action.

   • In the limited space you have, you want colleges to know in what capacity you have contributed to a certain initiative or program — it will give them an indication of how you might benefit their university campus in the future.

3. Numbers are just as important!

   • If your social project has directly impacted a large number of lives, you have raised significant amounts of money for a specific cause, or you hold an impressive sports ranking, it’s a big deal — let colleges know what you are capable of achieving.

4. Some things are bound to be left out.

   • We know you’ve done 2 summer schools, volunteered at 3 NGOs, and interned at 5 publication houses, but there’s no way everything you’ve ever done can be included in this concise list. Remember to be selective and only choose the activities that demonstrate your best personal achievements.

An Example

Let’s see what a bad Common App entry looks like:

Founder of XYZ Initiative
Istarted an innovative social project called XYZ which works towards the objective of making quality education accessible to all sections of society.
(150 characters)

Why is this a bad entry?

To begin with, it violates Rule 2 — it gives the reader no specifics about what you’ve done with regard to this project. Second, 150 characters is just not enough space to write a long sentence with extraneous descriptives; in fact, your description can comprise just phrases explaining your engagement in the project and its impact.

How can you fix this entry?

Founder, XYZ Initiative
Worked to widen access to quality education; partnered with NGO ABC; developed educational content for students of Class 3; conducted 10 workshops
(146 characters)

Take your time to think about why this version works better to showcase your profile. Understand these simple tips, and you’re on your way to the college of your dreams!

How to act on the Activities List

In the Activities List section of the Common Application, we are told: “Reporting activities can help a college better understand your life outside of the classroom. Your activities may include arts, athletics, clubs, employment, personal commitments, and other pursuits. Do you have any activities that you wish to report?”

The answer is yes: you wish to report all your activities.

The Activities List is one of the most important components of a US college application. Firstly, it gives colleges an idea of an applicant’s interests and achievements; secondly, it communicates an applicant’s more subtle – but important – skills like time management, multi-taking, and work ethic.

There is space for ten activities on the Activity List, which apply to any and all pursuits you have taken part in between Grades 9 and 12. School clubs? Music? Volunteering? Internships? Language-learning? All good. On the Activities List, itself, you’ll have the option to rank your activities and to list the number of years pursued, number of weeks per year practiced, and number of hours per week engaged. Always be as accurate as you can with these time-estimates, and don’t feel intimidated just because you haven’t been able to devote as much time to your less important activities: it is often these small peripheral engagements that result in the most interesting supplemental essays.

There is a common misconception that a ‘good’ activity will involve something high-level or prestigious. In fact, a ‘good’ activity is simply something an applicant has engaged in meaningfully over the course of years. An extended engagement such as this will, of course, result in increased opportunities to participate, which may lead to more selective experiences (such as a committed musician being invited to join a jazz band or a chess player gradually working her way through the ranks to compete at the State Championships), but these end-products are the result of continued extra-curricular engagement, not the goal.

A warning about the “shotgun approach”: more activities does not necessarily lead to a better or more compelling profile. There is very little value in engaging in extracurricular pursuits just to fill the Activities List; in truth, colleges are very good at seeing through this well-meaning deception. It’s important to follow a simple rule of thumb: never try to impress colleges. Don’t do things that ‘sound good’. Pursue your goals and hobbies with all your passion and resources, and you will ‘sound good’ – whether your passion is research, music, sports, or tiddlywinks.

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