Activities
In the Activities section of My Common Application, you will list and briefly describe the activities you have participated in during high school. This process should take approximately 15 minutes to 1 hour to complete.
Items marked with a red asterisk * are required. You are not required to complete items that do not have the red asterisk.
Introduction
The purpose of the Activities section is for you to share with colleges your responsibilities, interests, accomplishments, and skills. You will be asked to list and describe the activities you have participated in during high school that take place inside and outside the classroom.
Colleges care about how you choose to spend your time outside of classes because it helps them better understand you and how you might become involved on their campus.
You can provide information about the following types of activities:
- Artistic or musical activities or achievements
- Clubs, both at school and outside of school
- Community engagement or community activism
- Family responsibilities, such as helping take care of a younger sibling, working to provide income for your family, or regularly assisting an adult relative
- Hobbies
- Sports
- Work, including after school, summer jobs, or internships
- Volunteering or community service
Videos
In this video, Dr. Jann Lacoss, Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions at The California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), discusses how they read the Activities List. She provides advice about what types of activities and information are important to include. This video will take approximately 3 minutes.
In this video, Virginia Hart, Associate Director of Admissions at Barnard College, discusses how they read the Activities List. She provides advice about what types of activities and information are important to include. This video will take approximately 7 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Activities List. We provide guidance on what types of activities to include and what information to include about each activity. This video will take approximately 7 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Student Responsibilities & Circumstances Questions
In this video, a writing expert discusses how to write descriptions of your activities in a way that is effective, concise, and meaningful. This video will take approximately 6 minutes.
Tips & Reminders
- List your activities in order of their importance to you, with your most important activity at the top
- Colleges do not prefer one type of activity over another. They are curious about the significant ways you spend your time
- If an activity can fit into more than one category, choose the category that you think fits best
- You do not need to write your descriptions in complete sentences. In your descriptions, think about the importance of the activity to you, any skills you developed, any impact you had, any awards or special recognition you received, and your responsibilities. You don’t have a lot of space, so be concise.
- If you don’t have ten activities to include in this section, don’t worry. Many students don’t.
Examples
Even though you have limited space to describe your activities, you can still provide colleges with a lot of information about your activities.
- State your role and the organization’s name in the top boxes for “Organization Name” and “Position/Leadership Description” so that you don’t waste characters in the lower, 150-character box for describing the activity
- In the activity description, use active verbs to describe your work, responsibilities, and what you learned
- Include the impact of your activities within the organization and with other members
- You do not need to use complete sentences
Here are three samples:
- Club/Activity: Eagle Scout
- Community Service: Volunteer At Animal Shelter
- Work: Domino’s Team Member
