Step Three: Starting an Activities List and the Common App

Now that most of your planning is figured out, it's time to tackle your real application journey by starting the Common Application and your activities list.

 In Step Three of our 6-step sequence for Juniors, we'll be going through tips for creating an effective, concentrated activities list and how to begin the Common Application. Look at our summary post for 5 other steps, including an incoming guide on Personal Statements and older guides on Letters of Recommendation and forming a College List.

The Common Application (and other application sites) all have similar account creation processes, and it shouldn't be too difficult to make an account for this generation. However, consider making a separate college applications email to reduce future spam - the Common Application and College Board are notorious for giving emails to colleges that never stop sending marketing emails.

To make a Common App account, follow these steps:

1. Click "create account".
2. Select "first year student".
3. Enter in all required fields accurately.

Beware the following field, as it is the one that signs you up for endless emails: "Common App may share my contact information with colleges that I am considering applying to so they may communicate with me prior to the submission of my application (you can change the response later within your account settings)". Some of these marketing emails can be helpful - some colleges, like Swarthmore, may hide free application waivers in their messages - so a college apps burner email is nice for receiving these emails without needing to manually unsubscribe from all of them in the future.

After your account is successfully created, begin adding colleges (you can always add and remove more later, so don't stress too much) and start filling out all of the general personal information. Some of the fields, like those asking about parental history, can be difficult to do in one night - so get on them sooner rather than later. This information can all be changed until you hit "submit", so there's no problem in starting to get in some now. Remember to do the same for other applications, like the Coalition app and UC-specific application. Generally, filling out all of the information that the Common Application asks for should be enough to finish the others.

The activities list is like a resume for college applications, albeit with strict (and short) word limits - you'll be naming and briefly explaining multiple extracurriculars. Extracurriculars can be any time commitments from outside of school: commonly research or a job, but taking care of a younger sibling while your parents are at work or something similar would absolutely qualify as well. Think about your most important and passionate activities first, but consider other ones that show more of your personality and represent you as a person afterwards - having a small YouTube channel, enjoying scuba diving, etc. can all be fun pieces to add depending on how you use them, so it's best to start with an overly long EC list to draft off of.

Some of the strongest ECs show clear signs of at least one of the following:

• Potential - what you can do now and what you can offer to the school in the future.
• Leadership - the power to lead others in projects and/or a general workplace.
• Commitment - dedication to one activity shows passion and diligence.
• Initiative - the drive to succeed from one's own motivation and goals.
• Passion - having enthusiasm for a certain project and/or topic displays your intellectual vitality and genuine interest.

When drafting descriptions, do it openly and give yourself a lot of room for revision. Fitting each activity into 150 characters is difficult, so start by writing over the limit then breaking things down. Making a complete product then cutting the unnecessary bits helps make any part of the application, whether it’s a hundred-character description or long essay, showcase a concentration of the best things you have to offer. It's alright to start with sentences, but the end product will read more like a list - so prepare yourself for those changes.

Try and make a list of 8+ activities. The Common Application accepts up to ten, and although it is not worth adding fluff to fill slots, drafting an overabundance of activities gives you more things to work with in the future. After your list is done, begin writing some descriptions - make sure to account for the activity type, position, and organization name as well! Descriptions will need to be cut down to 150 characters, but it's good to go over at this point. We'll refine it in the next step.

Now that you've got a rough unrefined copy of your list, it's time to look over the draft and make some changes for clarity and effectiveness. Perfect your activities by following these steps:

1. Put your most impactful activities near the top, and leave the “fun” and less impactful ones towards the bottom. 
2. Display statistics wherever applicable - amount of money raised for charity, hours worked, kids tutored, etc. 
3. Check tenses! Use present tense for anything you're currently doing, and past tense for activities that are over.
4. Use strong verbs that show action - adding dynamic, descriptive, engaging verbs to descriptions make them stand out much more.
5. Vary verbs and diction appropriately. Being too monotonous will make AOs skim too fast over your application. 
6. Retain a decent level of vocabulary and grammar! Being succinct does not mean writing a tweet - use an appropriate amount of commas, periods, etc. and throw in some good words to keep readers engaged.
7. Cut content aggressively so that only the most important things take up precious character space. Your descriptions should feel more like lists than sentences after you're done with them.
8. Ask yourself why you're including each activity: if it isn't impressive, or doesn't show more of an insight into you as a person, it may not be relevant. That final decision is up to you, so go with what your gut tells you - but do not feel pressure to fill space, because fluff dilutes passion. Thinking critically about quality vs. quantity is crucial.

After doing these steps (perhaps multiple times), your list should be close to ready for submission. Make sure it's saved and ready for copy-pasting into the Common Application -  you can paste it in now, or save it for a little later. Congrats!

Final Thoughts

The activities list is a key part of every application, and it's very helpful to define it in order to write effective, connected essays later on in the college admissions process. Cutting content and refining rough descriptions into shining, concentrated jewels of passion will help make your application stand out from the rest. Consider checking out our summary post - we'll be releasing an article on Drafting and Refining a Personal Statement in about a week. Good luck with the rest of the application process!

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Written by DB, PathIvy Content Team