Top Five Tips for Your Teen’s Common App Activities List

By Manuel Jourdain, Associate College Counselor

The Common App activities list is one of my favorite parts of working with students in the college process. They get to revisit all the extracurricular involvement, leadership opportunities, and volunteer experiences they have had in high school. By senior year students typically forget how much they have accomplished.  Students will recognize how important they are to their families and school communities. They truly make things happen in their communities and look forward to being a part of similar experiences in college. 

Here are five tips to help your activities make an impact in your application:

1. Lead with an Action Verb

• Building your resume is similar to creating an activities section on the Common App. Starting with an action verb will help students say what they did and accomplished in the activity. It is important to spell check and review grammar for each activity as well. This part of the application is an opportunity for students to stand out. Being specific in their descriptions can show admissions representatives all the experiences and resources they have taken advantage of throughout high school. 

  2. List 10 Activities in Order of Importance

• Students should try their best to fill up every spot available in your Common App activities list. It will help showcase all that your teen has done over the last four years of high school. Once all the activities have been added, the next step is to list them in order of importance. Colleges will take special note of if a student has shown consistency in their involvement and if they want to be involved with a similar experience in college. 

  3. Be Honest About the Time Commitment

• It takes some math and should be calculated to be as realistic as possible. If a student's main priority is their school commitment the activities list should add up to activities that seem feasible outside of the classroom. Students should consider that there are 52 weeks in a year. Their activities section should not sound like they overwhelm themselves. 

  4. Show a Diverse List of Involvement 

• Some students have more than ten activities they can choose. Sometimes choosing which activities to list can be difficult. Students should start with leadership involvement. Then they can add any clubs or activities they are general members of. Lastly, students can add in community service hours, tutoring, and any home responsibilities. The goal is to be intentional about all the activities listed. 

  5. Be Specific in Your Description

• Some activities in the name and organization are self-explanatory. Admissions representatives already have an idea of what was done by reading your title and organization name. In the description, the focus should be to highlight how they specifically contributed to the club or created a change. 

One thing to note about the activities section is that it is a moment for students to be proud of themselves. It can help them recognize how much they have done and help them see what they can still accomplish. Students should begin building a game plan on what activities they want to get involved in within the college. Opportunities that were not available to them in high school will be ready waiting for them. 

Good luck to your teen during application season! We hope this has been helpful to get started or fine-tune your students' applications. 

If you’re looking for help with your teen, whether they’re applying to college or just starting high school, make sure to check out our services or shoot us an email. We’d love to help your teen on their journey”