How to Write Your College Application Activities List

How many of you have been in this situation? You’ve spent hours pouring everything you can into your college application to produce quality essays. As the application deadline approaches, you add any finishing touches, and then focus on filling in the tedious parts as quickly as possible: family info, school info, grades, activities list, etc.

But what if I told you the essays are not the only part of your application in which you can tell a compelling story?

Today, we are going to take a look at one of the often-overlooked components of the college application process. 

While it’s obvious that the essays and supplements tell much of your story, the activities list also tells a story: the story of how you spend your time outside of the classroom. The activities list gives admissions officers a sense of where your passions lie and what experiences have shaped you into who you are today. As such, you must make sure to use the allotted space appropriately.

Speaking of space, historically, there hasn’t been much room to explain your activities. That remains true of the Common Application, but as of this year, the University of California application offers much more room to write your activities list. There is strategy involved in telling the most dynamic, compelling story to have your application pop among the many that admissions officers read each season.

Extracurricular Activities on the Common Application

For Honors & Awards, there are five entries with a maximum 100-character count for description.

For Extracurricular Activities, there are ten entries with a maximum of 50 characters to describe any position held and the organization name & a maximum of 150 characters for details, honors, and accomplishments. As you can see, space is limited, so make every word count.

Use abbreviations and symbols when you can, but don’t sacrifice clarity for conciseness. The admissions officer still needs to understand the information you’re including. Not everyone will fill up all the honors & extracurriculars sections; however, some of you may have more to include than fits in the given space. In those cases I suggest you add your resume in the additional information section.

Extracurricular Activities on the UC Application

The University of California Activities List offers much more space for activities and awards. You have up to 20 slots to fill out six categories: Award or honor, Educational preparation programs, Extracurricular activity, Other coursework, Volunteering/Community service, & Work experience.

You can fill up the 20 slots with any combination of the six categories that you like. If any category does not apply to you, you need not fill it out. For example, not every student has work experience or educational preparation programs.

Each slot also allows 500 characters to describe the activity and 500 more characters to describe your role/responsibilities. However, more space does not mean that you must fill up the entire box. As always, less is more—just make sure you are telling the complete story with each entry.

Writing your Activities List

1. Create your list in order of significance
   Give admissions officers a sense of what has been most meaningful and formative to you and your development. Doing so will help demonstrate your values and priorities.

2. Be as specific as possible
   Take the time to truly reflect back on all that you did for each activity. Leave no stone unturned.

3. Use active verbs
   Instead of using complete sentences, list your responsibilities using a variety of active verbs. You can find a list of strong action verbs here categorized by the type of role in which you were involved. 

4. Estimate actual time spent
   Many students underestimate how much time they spend on any given activity. Consider the time spent outside of the actual club hours, and add those to your hours spent per week.

5. Highlight concrete details
   Many students tend to generalize their activities list, but a general activities list will result in a general impression. To create a standout activities list, focus on measurable details and emphasize their significance. Include facts and numbers to tell the full story of your involvement.

6. Think outside of the box
   Not every activity needs to be an official club or organization. Anything productive that you have spent your time on outside of the classroom can qualify as an activity, so do not limit yourself or feel as though you have nothing to add.

Remember that your entire college application tells a story. Give enough attention to each part of the application, and make sure that you are sharing the whole story that you want to tell.

Your activities list is a key element of this process and can be the difference between a good college application and a great one!

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Jon G. is originally from Houston, Texas. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Harvard University and is currently one of the resident English gurus at Elite Prep Los Angeles. Nothing makes him more proud and pumped up than watching his students succeed. When it comes to hitting the books, Jon recommends starting early and studying in increments to avoid burnout. He's a huge basketball fan, loves green tea, and his favorite vocabulary word is "seditious."