At Expert Admissions, we are very lucky to have a team of counselors who are all former admissions officers. So, it’s only right to turn to their wealth of knowledge and pick their brains on what admissions offices look for when reviewing applications. Thus, this series was born! You can watch video snippets of our counselors answering common questions on our Instagram and Facebook pages while our blog will group insights based on topic.
In this post, we bring you advice from our counselors as they answer frequently asked questions about extracurricular activities and the Common App activities list.
How important is the organization and content of the activities list?
“It’s important that it is clear enough that colleges can quickly grasp what you’ve done and how you’ve spent your time outside the classroom. They’re not looking for a specific order but we generally want to see that the things that are most important, that you’ve spent the most time on, are up first. Things that you maybe spent less time on, or did for one or two years, are further down the list. They want to see that you are engaged in your school, engaged in your home community because it’s a good indication that you will be nicely engaged in a college community. Yes, colleges want students who do the work, but also want students who are going to be wonderful citizens, great roommates, they want students who are going to all of the clubs and activities that they have on their campuses. So it’s important that it’s organized and clear and proofread in a way that conveys those things to colleges.” – Tova Meyer, Former Princeton Admissions Officer
How should someone order their activities list?
“It’s usually best to put your most meaningful extracurriculars first. Maybe that’s something you’ve done all four years of high school, maybe it’s something you’ve been the most engaged with. Really the important thing is that you want to put those extracurriculars that make you you at the top of the list. These lists usually get read pretty quickly, so don’t bury those most meaningful ones at number nine or number ten.” – Jacob Hansen, Former Harvard Admissions Officer
What kinds of extracurriculars do colleges consider impressive?
“Truly anything could potentially be impressive or unimpressive. That’s because it’s less about the what that you do than the why you do it, the how you’ve done it, what you’ve put into it, what you’ve gotten out of it. Really any activity from an ordinary school club, but if you’ve made it your own and you’ve carried it way beyond what it used to be, that could be super impressive. It’s much more about that impact—why you’ve done it, and what is going to be left behind when you leave your school.
I’ll also add that it’s not just about school-based activities. It’s not just about sports or band or the school newspaper or clubs or internships. Colleges want to know all the ways that you’ve spent your time outside school. So if you work a part-time job, if you help care for a family member, all of those are important things to share with colleges.” – Tova Meyer, Former Princeton Admissions Officer
Tips for writing activities list descriptions
“It’s deceptively difficult—you only get 150 characters and those go really, really fast. Focus on describing your impact, the things that you did, your responsibilities. Don’t spend time describing the organization, for example. You have to keep it short but focus on you. You’re also okay to use incomplete sentences, phrases, semi-colons—split things up, it doesn’t have to be perfect grammar. Just make sure it makes sense, what you’re trying to get across.” – Jacob Hansen, Former Harvard Admissions Officer
Do admissions officers value depth in one or two activities more than involvement in several?
“I wouldn’t say that they value them more. One is not necessarily better than the other, it just depends on the student. Maybe there is something that you are particularly interested in so it makes sense that you’ve put a lot of time and energy into that one particular group or club or cause over your four years of high school. Maybe you’re somebody who’s interested in a whole host of things—maybe you’ve dipped your toes in a lot of different clubs. I think the important thing is that you don’t want to just do things just for the sake of doing them. You want to make sure that however many things you’re engaged in, you’re engaged in them authentically. Admissions officers, when they’re reading these, are really using these to get a sense of where you’re going to slot into their campus community should you make it there on campus. So make sure that whatever you’re engaging in, it’s genuine and authentic to you. – Jacob Hansen, Former Harvard Admissions Officer
How much does experience in your field of interest matter?
“When you’re thinking about your experience in a particular field, it really depends on the major you’re applying for and the school. Some schools place a lot of emphasis on a student’s “fit for major.” But even if you don’t have activities that are incredibly relevant, you can demonstrate that interest and fit in different ways through different transferable skills—leadership, collaboration, innovative thinking—ways that show that you have some experience even if it’s not direct experience in a particular major.” – Christina DeCesare, Former NYU and Stevens Admissions Officer
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