Anonymous wrote:I’m having trouble helping my kid organize this stuff.

Any guidance? What should be at the top? Alignment with major?
Or something that showcases values?
Or something that showcases leadership?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would you do sports?

If your kid isnt a recruited athlete (sport only offered as club at most schools) but has individual national level awards/accolades, should it still be listed #1??

Depends. Is it the thing most important to him, that he spends the most time on? Then it sounds like it goes 1st. And probably for most kids that makes sense. But maybe he wants to be an engineer and also was on the robotics team so he might want to put that first. It's a personal judgement call.

Also, another tip for the list... because there isn't much room to describe things, if the student does something that's not the usual school sports, clubs, music, etc. you can use the "additional information" section to explain the activity more completely.

Are there counselors to hire by the hour to tell you how to do this, based on major, interests and values you are trying to showcase?

And if there’s no room to talk about jobs, assume you can mention strategically in an essay?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would you do sports?

If your kid isnt a recruited athlete (sport only offered as club at most schools) but has individual national level awards/accolades, should it still be listed #1??

Depends. Is it the thing most important to him, that he spends the most time on? Then it sounds like it goes 1st. And probably for most kids that makes sense. But maybe he wants to be an engineer and also was on the robotics team so he might want to put that first. It's a personal judgement call.

Also, another tip for the list... because there isn't much room to describe things, if the student does something that's not the usual school sports, clubs, music, etc. you can use the "additional information" section to explain the activity more completely.

Anonymous wrote:How would you do sports?

If your kid isnt a recruited athlete (sport only offered as club at most schools) but has individual national level awards/accolades, should it still be listed #1??

Anonymous wrote:How would you do sports?

If your kid isnt a recruited athlete (sport only offered as club at most schools) but has individual national level awards/accolades, should it still be listed #1??

Anonymous wrote:Found this online.

It’s vital to approach your activities section as a whole, at least at the planning and organization level. By this we mean curating your activities in a way that shows development of who you are. There should also be some kind of overarching thematic connect that speaks to your passions, ambitions, and key strengths.

The ranking of activities is just as crucial as the activities you select. If your activities are all over the place thematically and in the wrong order, admissions committees will have a much harder time distinguishing you from the crowd.

Most students find that the chronological strategy works best to organize this section. Ideally, your activities have evolved and become more sophisticated or advanced over time. For instance, starting out with a beginner’s martial arts class early on, and placing in a tournament later on, and so on.

If you were student council president your senior year, for instance, you’ll want to anchor that toward the end of your activities. Similarly, for a part-time job you maintained throughout all of high school, place it at the top of your list and work toward the present as you move on. The Activities section doesn’t include a designated space for dates, but this is exactly why ordering your activities can be helpful in providing a sense of narrative and development.

However, there’s a big caveat to this: always start with the most notable activity/activities first, and then move into chronological order. Many students miss this critical instruction provided at the top of the Activities section:

“Please list your activities in the order of their importance to you.”

The logic for this is obvious: grab their attention and then finish painting your picture. Additionally, this will establish a lofty accomplishment at the outset and then provide a clear sense of the steps taken to arrive there. If your biggest achievement is a youth internship with Facebook, start there and then lay out the steps you undertook to become skilled in computer science or programming.

Let’s take the example of one of our students, Ashley, to understand how to select and rank activities.

Ashley has a passion for chess, and was President of her high school’s chess club. She also won first place in the Ohio under-18 state-level chess tournament. Additionally, she has YouTube channel about chess strategies that has over a 1000 followers. Her other key interest is in music, and she plays the harp in her high school orchestra. She also tutored students in harp-playing. She worked as a sales associate at her local indie music store and was promoted to assistant manager in her junior year. In addition to this, she’s a member of other school clubs like Nature Club, Foreign Film Club, Music Club, and so on. So, which of her activities should she pick? How should she rank them? Let’s take a look at a correct and incorrect example of the list of activities Ashley can include:

Incorrect example:

President of High School Chess Club
Lead Harpist in High School Orchestra
Member of Nature Club
Member of Foreign Film Club
Member of High School Music Club
Learnt Basic Mandarin in Mandarin Club7
YouTube Channel “No Mess in Chess” with 1000+ followers

Correct example:

1st Place in Ohio Under-18 Chess Tournament
YouTube Channel “No Mess in Chess” with 1000+ followers
President of High School Chess Club
Lead Harpist in High School Orchestra
Tutor at Whistles Musical Academy
Assistant Manager at Mystery Tunes
Sales Associate at Mystery Tunes
Member of High School Music Club

Can you see why the second example is a more successful example of a Common App Activities section?

The former example does not focus on her most impressive activities and simply reads like a list of clubs she participated in, or like a high school resume. She doesn’t even mention her winning first place in the state level chess competition and omits her work experiences altogether. On the surface, it seems she has ranked the activities in order of importance. But there isn’t any logic to the flow from one activity to the next. This list is not likely to stand out to the admissions committee or properly communicate Ashley’s strengths.

Anonymous wrote:And more examples (From here: https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/common-app-activities-section)

3 Examples of Common App Activities Sections

Student 1: Jessica Chen
Lead Violinist (11th-12th)

Williams High School Orchestra

Led violins in 4 concerts throughout the school year, helped direct orchestra functions, Tulsa Young Musicians Recognition (20**).

Choir Violinist (9th-10th)

Williams High School Orchestra

Back-up violins in rehearsals and 2 concerts throughout school year, organized multi-school orchestra mixer events, coordinator for 3 fundraisers.

Talk Show Host (11th-Present)

“Zings with Zyna”, Local Access Television Cable Program

Scripted, hosted, edited, and directed local-politics themed talk show. Interviewed local politicians like the mayor and city council members.

Staff Member/Performer (11th-12th)

Six Pennies Tulsa, Community Youth Theatre

Performed in 5 benefit concerts in last 2 years, organized fundraisers for Goodwill, managed and organized 6 community outreach events.

Arts Mentor (10th-present)

Little Wonders Club, Summer Hobby Mentorship Program for Underprivileged Kids

Mentor kids in K-5 grades. Help organize annual plays, conduct choir, and provide musical and dance training (30 hrs a wk, 12 wks/yr).

Intern (Summer 20**)

Krackles Indie Music

Wrote weekly blog posts about latest record releases, assisted with social media marketing campaigns, coordinated merchandising with advertisers (200 hours).

Head Coach (11th-12th)

Little League Girls’ Baseball, amateur baseball league for grade 5-8 girls

Selected line-up, organized practice sessions, modeled drills and proper running techniques, coached team, coordinated practice session timings.

Second Base (10th-12th)

Williams High School Girl’s Baseball Team

Played second base for 3 years (500+hrs). Team won district championship 2 years in a row (11th-12th). Most Improved Player (10th).

Volunteer (Summer 20**)

Tulsa Helpers, Disaster Relief Organization

Mobilized community donations to help wildfire victims. Stitched over 30 new clothes for affected homeless. Event coordinator for 3 fundraisers.

Student 2: Mira Reddy
Software Development Intern (11th-12th)

Google

Selected twice to serve as an intern dev, participating in 3-4 projects each summer focusing on research and machine learning (500+hrs).

Founder and President (10th-12th)

Milton High School Computer Science Club

Designed and organized projects including school hardware repair, PC building workshops, and monthly Saturday speedrun contests.

Student Teacher (Summer 20**)

STEM Minds Day Camp

Led online engineering activities for 4th and 5th grade students, designed projects, and held Q&A sessions on engineering education.

Volunteer Medical Intern (Summer 20**)

Projects Abroad (Ghana)

Participated in community outreach focusing on nutrition and cardiac health and door-to-door canvassing for blood donation (120 hours).

Volunteer (11th-12th)

UBC Geering Up Engineering Outreach

Co-led weekend workshops and classes for K-8 students focusing on coding and computer science (400 hours).

Part-Time Repair Tech (11th-12th)

Motherboard Computers

Laptop and desktop computer repair for both Windows and MacOS machines, sales, and customer education.

Reviewer (10th-12th)

On Cinema Blog

Wrote 800-1200 word analyses of current films bi-weekly, focusing mostly on fantasy, sci-fi, and horror.

Winner (11th)

American Computer Science League All-Star Contest

School team won the ACSL’s Senior Division prize in Bit-String Flicking, and placed 3rd in the Karnaugh Maps invitational.

Volunteer Tech (12th)

Kelowna Senior Center

Run monthly diagnostic checks, upgraded machines from Windows 8 to 10, and installed proprietary anti-virus on all systems.

Student 3: Ben Morris
Founder and President (11th-12th)

Biology Honors Society, George Henley High School

Organized meetings, prepared the agenda, coordinated 6 field trips to clinical settings, wrote and maintained weekly blog.

Tutor (10th-12th)

Math Honors Society, George Henley High School

Taught trigonometry and precalculus strategies, aided school SAT prep in Math, and provided faculty with input on potential curriculum.

Percussionist (10-12th)

George Henley High School Marching & Jazz Bands

Played various percussion instruments including snare drum, marimba, and drum set, performing 4-6 concerts per school year.

Vice President (11th)

George Henley High School Student Council

Co-planned 5 dances, 2 school-wide community service projects, and 8 monthly charity pancake breakfasts to benefit St Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Butcher and Salumiere (10th-12th)

The Whole Beast Artisan Salumeria

Crafted small-batch cured and smoked meat products including uncommon items like lonzino, N’duja, and coppa di testa, (15 hrs/wk for 2 yrs).

Host (11th-12th)

“What’s Your Beef?” Podcast

Self-made project. I interviewed my coworkers at the Whole Beast and grew to include local chefs and food makers. Produced 36 episodes in 2 yrs.

Academic Mentor (11th-12th)

Salt Lake Community Center

Assisted K-6 students with homework and ran reading groups focusing on young adult fiction and young-reader chapter books.

Volunteer

Salt Lake Public Works (Summer 20**)

Participated in repainting and rust removal projects, including bridge repair and public library beautification (200 hours).

Intern (11th-12th)

Lay Zen Teachers Association

Drafted internal communications materials and assisted with event planning for meditation retreats in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona (12 hrs/wk, 4 wks/yr).

Student (Summer 20**)

Utah State University Youth Engineering Intensive, Summer Program for High School Students

Participated in 200+ hours of workshops and discussions groups focused on tech and physics. Delivered 4 group projects and wrote 1 research paper.

Anonymous wrote:Does this advice apply so crucially to kids applying to non prestigious schools, like regional universities?