They include top leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations, winning regional competitions, or state-level sports/music distinctions. They include top leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations, winning regional competitions, or state-level sports/music distinctions. Your achievements should be tangible or quantifiable. You have to select your citizenship status from a drop-down menuwhether you are a US Citizen, a US Dual Citizen, a US Permanent Resident, a US Refugee, or non-US Citizen. We recommend selecting the grade level preceding the summer in question. This section allows students to enter a maximum of 5 Honors and Awards and 100 characters to describe the honor. Rather, describe your impact as an editor. Most importantly, the activities list is one of the best places to showcase the various ways in which you have developed your hook! Participated in three conferences per year; Best Small Delegation 2018, Outstanding Delegate 2019. This is your chance to list all the great things youve accomplished during your high school years. Roughly estimate the number of hours you devoted to an activity. Talk about alums who have inspired you, about extracurricular opportunities that resonate with you, and how the location might be of importance. You will need: Start collecting the documents and asking for recommendations ahead of time. Gold Medal from the Presidents Foundation for volunteering 200+ hrs at animal shelters. You might have fallen ill yourselfor had to take on added responsibilities in your family because your parents were sick. Here are two examples of what an activity can look like once you have filled out each of the 9 fields! The contact details section lets you add your preferred phone number, as well as any alternate numbers where you can be reached. It is clear that as a student in NYC, she has taken advantage of the extensive resources at her disposaluniversities, museums, nonprofits, and even her own apartment complexin order to contribute to her community and explore her passions from multiple angles. Since the list is fairly broad, you will probably find that your activity fits into at least one of the sections available. Disciplinary information: disciplinary violation at any educational institution, misdemeanor, felony. 3 Questions for The Perfect Common App Activities Section - VCC At Command Education, we often emphasize the importance of establishing your hook otherwise known as a passion and skill set that sets you apart. We know that it can be tough to describe your accomplishments in such a tiny amount of space, so well provide some advice for that later on. If you feel like five spaces isnt enough to describe all of your accomplishments, use the Additional Information section at the end of the application to talk about the rest of your honors. This usually includes holiday breaks, study and finals weeks, and sometimes, the first few weeks of the semester when clubs do not yet meet. Note that the Common Application asks you how many times you took the standardized test of your choice. Use verbs that show action and ownership over an activity, Worked with a professor on a research project, Include numbers and percentages to quantify your impact. The Common App allows you to apply to multiple schools at once. Therefore, do not write anything thats specific to any one of the schools. If you hold a leadership position, emphasize that role in your description. asks you how many times you took the standardized test of your choice. Pick people who know you best, understand your background and interests, and can provide perspective on you as a student and a person. Remember that first and foremost, the prompt has been introduced for your benefit to provide colleges with a better understanding of how your life was influenced by the crisis. You should always be very careful when filling out this section. As daunting as all of the sections of the Common App might seem, if done right, it can help ease the process. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. Beyond the number of slots for activities and awards, there are also differences in the corresponding information students must provide for each activity and award. Copyright 2015-2023 Command Group Inc. All rights reserved. This example does not elaborate on what the student did, nor does it show what they learned from their time at the hospital. It is helpful to be aware that consistency across every part of the application, from coursework and letters of recommendation to the Activities List, intended majors, and essays, is necessary for building a cohesive narrative. Biden quoted the teacher in saying, "There's no such thing as someone else's child.". Remember, they are looking for a diverse student body filled with future leaders in their respective fields. For example, if you were Student Council Vice President freshman year and a class representative the other three years, list these out as: Vice President (1 yr), Class Representative (3 yrs). In our example Honors section, the student has listed five awards in descending order of importance (i.e. A volunteering club at Average High School simply called Hilltop is better referred to as Average High School Hilltop Volunteers or Hilltop Volunteering Club of Average High School. If youre including an independent activity such as painting for local arts competitions, your title and position could read: Artist, Self-Directed Oil Painting. Thus, taking the SAT 5 times and getting a strong score does not help your application stand out! For example, if you are interested in the biomolecular sciences and cancer research and decide this will be your hook, you should be able to demonstrate that interest through activities like working as a professors research assistant at a medical school, taking related classes at a college or university, or writing about cancer research-related topics in your school newspaper. If you have less than 5 awards you can stretch the definition of academic to include more honors, for example, if youve won first prize in a regional or national art competition. Total number of activities. As an applicant, there are some important choices you have to make here. The majority of national universities and liberal arts colleges that are ranked in the top 100 by U.S. News (i.e., the schools listed below) accept the . You will need: A list of your extracurricular activities. Junior R.O.T.C., for example, refers to Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, a Federal Program sponsored by the U.S. Armed Forces. This means that art awards, publications, and athletic awards are all fair game. The Common App dashboard also helps you track necessary application documents (like your . is the Profile section. If relevant, your parents alma mater counts when colleges consider legacy students if you are applying to the same school. The Profile section helps the admission officers get an overview of your background. He specializes in college admissions and strives to answer important questions about higher education. As usual, be careful when transcribing information onto the Common App. If you talk about a debate competition that you almost didnt win, admissions officers might not be very engaged or impressed. Always be as specific as possible in these essays. This student was admitted to Dartmouth College. This information helps provide admissions counselors with context regarding your familial circumstances. Only list additional honors that you think college admissions officers should absolutely know about. Applications typically open on August 1 and close on January 1. Your entire college application process rides on how you fill the Common App out! In the past, applying to college was often seen as a . While the honors section certainly wont make or break your application, it can really help you stand out if properly utilized. In reality, any academic accomplishment no matter how big or small can be included in the honors section. More and more, colleges are looking for indicators other than GPA and test scores to indicate strong students. If youre usually a straight-A student whose grades slipped because they had difficulty keeping up with Zoom classes, let colleges know. Commonly listed activities include participating in school clubs, playing an instrument, playing a sport, attending pre-college summer programs, volunteering, and many others. While your grades and standardized test scores make up the foundation of your college application, your activities will allow you to stand out amongst the sea of applicants and could tip an application in your favor. Yes, universities and colleges do care about honors when they review applications! Well let you know if your profile is competitive for your dream schools and give you tips on improving your profile! If you spend a lot of time with your family, perhaps you take care of an ailing member, that absolutely counts as well and shows a great deal of responsibility. Colleges do want to see that you are specialized, but you probably dont want to choose the same category for every activity. However, If you experienced bigger problems as a result of the pandemic, provide context for your circumstances, whether its unemployment or lack of learning resources at home. Make sure you make it clear when clubs are in association with your school when applicable. in addition to your application. If you hold a leadership position, emphasize that role in your description. Currently, due to COVID-19, standardized tests have become optional in many schools. That doesnt mean you have to continue it. A commonly asked question regarding this field is how to label the activities that took place in the summer. Remember to include non-formalized activities if they have been meaningful to you, such as small projects youve been working on to improve your programming abilities, the hours youve poured into learning a new language on Duolingo, or the works of art you might be painting for your own enjoyment. A Step-by-Step Guide to the Common Application You're an excited high school senior ready to embark on the scary but thrilling journey of college applications, and then you encounter something known as the Common Application. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? This is not to say that you cant join a new club as a junior or senior, you definitely can! Organized inaugural Green Week with themed activities and prizes. Our reviews and recommendations are based on extensive research, testing, and feedback. Timing of participation: all year, summer, school break, etc. They can also include supplemental essays, usually asking why you want to attend their school. Make it clear what your responsibilities were and highlight your key accomplishments. An example of a weaker response would be: Description: Helped patients and doctors. School spirit looks like teamwork. If you participate in a club, define your role, rather than just listing member. If you participated in an activity for multiple years and have had multiple roles within it,list your roles in order of importance rather than chronologically. If you completed an internship the summer between sophomore and junior years of high school, you would check off 10th, and so on and so forth. Collected data on health and resilience of trees in NYC saltwater marshes after flooding events. Accordingly, you should only list that activity if you actually participate in that specific organization. . The high costs of attending college doesn't start your first day of school. Being on a pep squad, being the organizer of rallies/spirit weeks, being homecoming committee chair, etc. It involves events and activities that bring members of the school community together in some way. Not only has she pursued multiple activities in both environmental science and art, but she has also found and studied creative intersections between these fields, through painting murals at local gardens, featuring and selling her nature photography on her personal social media, and studying environmental art at a summer program. For example, you might spend 20 weeks during the school year attending your robotics club. Explain what the circumstance was so that admissions officers know whether it was for preference for something different than your previous school lacked, such as in the example below, or if it was something you had no control over, such as family obligations. ways to show school spirit. crisis. Activities like working a part-time job, or caring for a family member also count. As for the actual writing, pay attention to your narrative structure. School Specific Essays - A lot of schools have specific questions that they want to ask about your interest in their campus and course offerings specifically. The world is ready for you. List your activities in order of importance. Our complete and essential guide to the College Application covers each step from junior spring through senior fall to help you optimize your time and earn admission to your dream school! The purpose of the robot reflects the applicants Application Persona as a student who is interested in engineering and passionate about social justice. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. You want to stand out, you want to tell your story, and share some of your biggest passions and important parts of your life. Spirit boosts school spirit, event attendance, and makes communication easy. You should also be specific in defining the organization. Think about topics to avoid. For activities that are less structured, estimate the average time you devote per week. -. This year, students have been calling TCU an "everything school" because of our success in academics and across all sports. These are little more common than Tier 1, but these activities still showcase high levels of achievement and leadership. As the application evolved over time from a paper application to online, the core of Common App's principles has never changed - promoting access, equity, and integrity, in the college admissions process for all students. Within a little over a page you have to show admissions officers what makes you a unique applicant, a good fit for their school, and tie it all to your Application Persona while displaying strong writing skills. What Is The Common App? Everything You Need To Know Avoid redundancy. Although family is a commonly used topic, this student makes sure to have unique ideas and write in a genuine way. To some degree, they also want to see that you are doing the activity because you are truly passionate about it, not just because you want to impress colleges. . A very important factor to remember is that these upcoming sections apply for all of the schools on the Common Application! These courses are also a good way to balance out your grades if you are not happy with them. Thus, taking the SAT 5 times and getting a strong score does not help your application stand out! As a result, this section only becomes available if you select one of the schools on the list. The Common Application offers a drop-down menu with the following activities from which to select: Academic Art Athletics: Club Athletics: JV/Varsity Career-Oriented Community Service (Volunteer) Computer/Technology Cultural Dance Debate/Speech Environmental Family Responsibilities Foreign Exchange Journalism/Publication Junior R.O.T.C. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. In this case, unless the position and organization names are fairly self-explanatory or very recognizable, you will need to be a bit more specific in your description. list your roles in order of importance rather than chronologically. Instead of superscoring across test dates, some schools will just look at your highest score from a single sitting. Common App Essays | 7 Strong Examples with Commentary - Scribbr For each award, youll want to indicate the name of the honor, its meaning and purpose, and the years you received it. New Feature. Commonly listed activities include participating in school clubs, playing an instrument, playing a sport, attending pre-college summer programs, volunteering, and many others. They want to know if you were raised by a single parent, whether you grew up in a divorced home, whether one of your parents has passed away. Waitlisted at your dream college? Number one priority your school spirit must be an attention getter. What Is School Spirit? - The Classroom Be sure to specify whether or not your position changed over time by notating the grade levels next to the position name in parenthesis, like so: Member (9th, 10th), Vice President (11th, 12th), Gallery Assistant (9th, 10th), Curatorial Intern (11th), It is possible that your organizations name takes up all of the allotted characters, but if it doesnt, take advantage of the extra space to include relevant information. Many students will have experienced disrupted testing dates and summer programs or other plansand thats okay to unpack those obstacles here if they were significant and unique issues. A hook is typically thought of as a well-developed record of distinctive achievements, activities, and service in one or two specific areas of interest. All of your . Good luck! How Spirit can keep your community connected during the COVID-19 pandemic . However, you should only do so if these activities are truly essential to the admissions committees, understanding of your extracurricular life. Also read:How to write an essay about yourself. But if it is something you dont really care about, you may want to reevaluate whether or not it is a good idea to include it in your application. I noticed the "school spirit" category, and I feel like this is a stupid question, but what activity could someone put in that falls in that category other than being a mascot or something. Why is it important? Adding numerical values offers concrete proof of your success. You could also be really interested in a subject and use the opportunity to learn more about the subject. You can find out more about them here. Or, if your parents might have faced difficulties with their jobs, use this section to expand on that. Its understandable that you spend more time on some activities than others. Keep in mind that the term "academic" is used pretty loosely in this context. All results will vary by individual and be affected by factors outside the control of Command Group Inc. dba Command Education. Here are your choices: Academic Art Note that even if a school does not require Courses & Grades on the Common App, all of your high school transcripts go to each school. What is the Common App activities section? In tenth grade, I received an award from the Presidents Foundation for my work volunteering at an animal shelter. If youre wondering where your extracurriculars fall within the tier system, check out our. Explore the list of common app schools to build your list of colleges to apply to . Make sure to be clear in writing. You could also use it to address any disciplinary action that might exist on your record. Convinced school admin to implement meatless Mondays. Try not to be redundant, especially considering the limited space. As daunting as all of the sections of the, might seem, if done right, it can help ease the process. How to Fill Out the Common App Activities Section has options for your permanent home address, as well as an alternate address if you have multiple addresses. You should ask them as early as the end of your junior year, or at the beginning of your senior year. The Common App COVID-19 question speaks for itself. The good news is 42% of member schools don't require an application fee, according to U.S. News & World Report. Featured Review: Freshman says Notre Dame has a great school spirit and campus life. what is school spirit in common app School Spirit: 10 Fun Ways to Increase It - Minga.io Its accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted. A Step-by-Step Guide to the Common Application - InGenius Prep How do you complete it. You can list up to five honors, and for each one youll be asked to provide a brief description (100 characters or less). What are extracurriculars and why do they matter? They want to know that you have researched the school and that you are genuinely interested. Some colleges have a superscore policy, which allows you to pick each of your top sub scores and combine into one superscore if you have taken a standardized test multiple times. With the hours, make sure you are being reasonable, even if it might be difficult to put down the exact hours if there is not a consistent number. You will have a chance to indicate the timing of the activity during school year, school break, or all year and colleges will take that into consideration when evaluating the activity. Command Group Inc. is not associated with the College Board, Common Application, or any college/university or any of its affiliates. They include general club/sports/musical membership and general volunteering. Honors, whether they are academic, community-oriented, or relate to an extracurricular, show that a student has made an impact and shown potential that goes beyond the numbers. For example, if you are the secretary in student government and participated in a leadership program over the summer, select Student Government/Politics for the secretary position, and Career-Oriented for the leadership program. The Common App: Everything You Need to Know - US News Create art (paintings, portrait photography, nature photography) and exhibit on personal Instagram. Lets take it one step further. for details, accomplishments, honors won, and accomplishments within each activity, so you will need to be concise and offer only the most pertinent details. Common App Activities List vs. UC Activities List. Try to focus on quantitative descriptions over qualitative ones. Be sure to include the following information: the name of the award, what the award was for (community service, for example), and if applicable, what place you received (1st, Bronze, etc). Legacy does not guarantee admission to a college, but it can give students an extra edge. When self-reporting your test scores, you must be honest. Not all of the members of the Common App. They include minor leadership positions for well-known clubs and organizations and smaller athletic/musical distinctions. Think about all of these logistics carefully, and you will set yourself up for success as you fill out the Common Application. #17 Best Colleges that Accept the Common App in America.University of Notre Dame. Not only does doing so allow you to include more extracurricular activities, but also provides more space for you to expand on the descriptions of your activities since you are not limited to a certain number of characters. Zach Skillings is the Scholarships360 Newsletter Editor. Not only does doing so allow you to include more extracurricular activities, but also provides more space for you to expand on the descriptions of your activities since you are not limited to a certain number of characters. Financial Aid Award Letter Comparison Tool. How to Stand Out on the Common App Activities Section (Example Included Selective colleges use grades and test scores to filter out applicants, but once you get past that initial stage, extracurriculars make up about 30% of your admissions decision. For each activity, the form will ask you in which grade levels you participated in the extracurricular activity, the timing of your participation (school year vs. school break), and how many hours you spent on it per week and weeks per year. 9, 10, 11, 12Year1 hr/wk, 26 wk/yrContinue. </p>. . Students are incredibly proud to be horned frogs and hold lots of school pride. Best Texas Colleges that Accept the Common App - Niche Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details. Y/N. For any activities that fall outside the predefined categories, which are listed below, just select Other Club/Activity. The application asks this because colleges want to know what kind of student you will be when you arrive. Alternatively, some activities like sports or school plays are seasonal. They include national awards or other prestigious achievements. How to Write the Common App Activities Section (Examples Included!) What prompted your thinking? One reason could be that you wanted to take advanced courses not offered at your high school. Use active verbs and limit the use of adjectives and adverbs. If you have more than 5 awards, try to think of ways to combine them. The most competitive and well-known honors should be listed first, followed by awards that are lesser known. Since there are exactly five slots, if you have more than five awards, prioritize your achievements, and list the most unique and impressive ones. As with the Activities List, this student is able to use the content in this section, even within limited space, to successfully convey her academic potential, community contributions, and artistic ability. Steverino is right that those activities often involve sports. About 950 colleges and universities around the world accept the Common App. How to fill out the Common App Activities section. Run dog-walking service with my siblings for neighbors in apartment complex.