For many students, the Activities section of the Common Application can feel surprisingly difficult. You may have spent years participating in sports, clubs, jobs, volunteering, family responsibilities, or other activities—but figuring out how to fit everything into the Common App can be challenging.
The good news? You do not need a long list of impressive-sounding activities to create a strong Activities section. Colleges want to understand how you spend your time, what matters to you, and the ways you have contributed to your school, family, or community.
Here are some tips for making the most of your Common App Activities section.
1. Start by Making a Complete List
Before you worry about the order or the word count, make a list of everything you have done during high school.
Think beyond traditional school clubs. Your activities might include:
- Sports
- School clubs and organizations
- Music, theater, or other performing arts
- Jobs or internships
- Volunteer work
- Religious or community organizations
- Family responsibilities
- Academic activities
- Independent projects
- Student government
- Summer programs
- Entrepreneurship
- Hobbies or creative pursuits
Don’t dismiss an activity because you don’t think it sounds impressive enough. A part-time job, caring for younger siblings, or helping with a family business can tell a college much more about you than the name of a club.
Once you have your complete list, you can decide which activities belong on the application.
2. Decide on the Activities You Will Highlight
The Common App gives students room to list 10 activities, but that does not mean you need to fill every available space.
A student with eight meaningful activities is not necessarily less impressive than a student who lists ten. Colleges are interested in substance and involvement, not simply the number of boxes you check.
Instead of adding an activity just to make your list longer, ask yourself:
- Did I spend meaningful time doing this?
- Was I genuinely involved?
- Did I contribute in some way?
- Did I learn something?
- Did this activity matter to me?
If the answer is no to all of these questions, it probably doesn’t need to be included.
3. Think About Your Activities as a Story
Your Activities section should help admissions officers understand who you are outside the classroom. Look at your list and ask whether there are themes. Maybe you:
- Have spent four years playing soccer and eventually became a captain.
- Volunteer with an organization that supports children.
- Work part-time throughout the school year.
- Have developed a strong interest in environmental issues through clubs and independent projects.
- Have pursued photography independently for several years.
You don’t need to create a perfectly connected “story.” But your activities can help colleges see your interests, priorities, responsibilities, and personality.
4. Put Your Most Important Activities First
The Common App allows you to rank your activities and the order matters. Your first activity should generally be the activity that is most important to you—not necessarily the one that sounds most impressive.
Consider:
- Where have you spent the most time?
- What activity means the most to you?
- Where have you had the greatest responsibility?
- Where have you made the biggest contribution?
- What would you be most disappointed to stop doing?
For one student, that might be varsity soccer. For another, it could be a part-time job, theater, volunteering, or taking care of family members.
There is no universal “correct” order.
5. Choose the Correct Activity Category
The Common App asks students to identify the type of each activity.
Choose the category that best describes what you actually did. Don’t worry about finding the category that sounds the most impressive. Some activities include athletics, community service, cultural, music, internship and more, so there are plenty of categories to choose the right one that fits. The goal is to make the application accurate and easy to understand.
6. Be Strategic With the Activity Description
One of the biggest challenges is the limited space available for describing each activity.
You want to communicate what you did, what your responsibilities were, and what you accomplished without wasting valuable characters.
Instead of:
Member of Environmental Club. Attended meetings and participated in activities.
Try something more specific:
Organized recycling drives; led Earth Day activities; recruited 15 students for campus cleanup.
The second version gives the admissions officer much more information.
Focus on ACTION
Strong activity descriptions often begin with action words such as:
- Led
- Organized
- Created
- Managed
- Founded
- Designed
- Tutored
- Mentored
- Coordinated
- Recruited
- Trained
- Researched
- Developed
- Volunteered
- Assisted
- Produced
But don’t simply fill your descriptions with impressive verbs. Make sure the description accurately reflects what you actually did.
7. Quantify Your Impact When You Can
Numbers can make an activity description much more concrete.
For example:
Tutored elementary students in math and reading; worked with 8 students weekly.
is more informative than:
Tutored elementary students.
Look for numbers that help explain your involvement:
- Number of people you worked with
- Number of events you organized
- Students you mentored
- Money raised
- Teams or groups you managed
- Projects completed
You don’t need a number for every activity, but use them when they genuinely demonstrate your involvement or impact.
8. Check Word Choice and Language Format
For each activity you’ll need to put in the title of the activity or role. That is where you will put President, Team Captain, or Treasurer as an example. If you held multiple positions for an organization group them together like:
President (12), Treasurer (11), Secretary (10)
Do not list the same organization more than once to fit each leadership position. That looks more like you’re stuffing the activities list. You can easily group the positions into one and speak about the most important role you had.
Use the description to explain what you actually did:
Led weekly meetings; organized student elections; worked with administration on school-wide initiatives.
Your responsibilities and accomplishments should be more informative than your title.
If your activity description simply repeats information that is already obvious from your title, resume, or essay, you’re missing an opportunity.
Use the limited space to provide new information.
For example, if your personal statement discusses your experience volunteering at an animal shelter, your Activities description can focus on your specific responsibilities and contributions rather than repeating the story from your essay.
9. Explain Significant Responsibilities Outside of School
One of the most important changes in the way students should approach the Activities section is recognizing that family responsibilities count.
A student who regularly cares for younger siblings, helps a family member, works to contribute to household expenses, or has other substantial responsibilities may have less time for traditional extracurricular activities.
If something takes a significant amount of your time, don’t assume that colleges won’t consider it an activity simply because it doesn’t happen through your school.
In fact, including these responsibilities can help admissions officers better understand your circumstances and how you spend your time.
10. Don’t Turn Every Activity Into a Resume
Admissions officers are trying to understand the student behind the application.
If you have an activity that is meaningful but doesn’t involve winning an award or holding a leadership position, that’s okay.
A student who has played guitar for four years because they genuinely love music has something worth sharing—even if they have never performed at Carnegie Hall.
Authentic involvement is more important than trying to make every activity sound extraordinary.
11. Include Summer Activities When Appropriate
Don’t forget about meaningful activities you participated in during the summer.
This could include:
- Working
- Volunteering
- Internships
- Sports
- Research
- Summer academic programs
- Family responsibilities
- Community involvement
If an activity continued throughout the summer, make sure your dates and time commitment accurately reflect that.
12. Be Honest About Your Time Commitment
The Common App asks about participation during high school, including grade levels and time spent. Be realistic.
Don’t inflate your hours because you think a larger number will impress colleges. Admissions officers understand that students have classes, homework, sleep, family responsibilities, and other commitments. Alternatively sometimes it’s not easy to count the number of hours as you may have more one month and less another. Average the time to get the most accurate representation.
The Bottom Line
Don’t wait until the night you plan to submit your Common App to complete the Activities section.
Start by creating a master list of everything you have done throughout high school. Then gather details such as dates, leadership positions, hours, responsibilities, accomplishments, and awards.
Once you have that information, you can decide which activities are most important and determine the best order.
Remember, your Activities section doesn’t need to make you look like you did everything.
It should help colleges understand how you chose to spend your time and what mattered to you.
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