How to Write About Extracurricular Activities in Your College Application

Summary

In this video, Tom Campbell, a former admissions officer, advises against focusing on common extracurricular activities like sports or music as the main theme of a college personal statement. He suggests using the activities list, additional information section, and supplemental essays to highlight these activities instead. Tom provides strategies for standing out, such as focusing on unique contributions and values, and offers tips for writing about common activities in a creative way. The video also mentions resources for further guidance on college essays.

Takeaways

• 📝 Writing about common extracurricular activities in personal statements can be less impactful because many students do the same, making it hard to stand out.
• 🔑 Utilize other application sections more effectively to discuss extracurriculars, as personal statements should focus on unique topics.
• 📋 The activities list is a crucial section to showcase a variety of extracurricular engagements, including both long-term commitments and short-term experiences.
• 💡 For activities that need clarification, provide descriptions that explain what the activity entails, ensuring admissions officers understand its significance.
• 🏅 Establish your unique role or contribution in an activity through the activities list descriptions to demonstrate your individual impact.
• ✍️ Use the additional information section to elaborate on significant extracurriculars that couldn't be fully described in the activities list.
• 📈 Highlight the broader skills, qualities, and values gained from key extracurricular activities in the additional information section to showcase your growth.
• 📘 Supplemental essays offer an opportunity to delve deeper into a specific extracurricular activity, providing context and showcasing initiative and impact.
• 🎨 If choosing to write about a common extracurricular in a personal statement, focus on less common values associated with the activity to provide a fresh perspective.
• 🔗 College Essay Guys offers resources like values exercises and personal statement guides to help students brainstorm and refine their application narratives.

Q & A

Why might writing about a common extracurricular activity in a college application personal statement not be recommended?

Writing about a common extracurricular activity might not be recommended because many students write about such activities, making it hard to stand out. Additionally, there are other spaces in the application to discuss extracurriculars, so repeating this information in the personal statement can feel redundant. Lastly, focusing on a common activity might limit the opportunity to brainstorm more creative and original personal statement topics.

What are the three other spaces in a college application that are better for discussing extracurricular activities?

The three other spaces in a college application that are better for discussing extracurricular activities include: 1) the activities list, which serves as a brag sheet to list all extracurricular activities; 2) the additional information section, where students can provide extra context or details about their activities; and 3) supplemental essays, which are college-specific and allow students to elaborate on significant activities in more depth.

What is the purpose of the activities list in a college application?

The activities list in a college application is a section where students can list any ways they've spent their time outside of class, beyond basic human functions. This includes clubs, sports, volunteer work, and other experiences, providing a comprehensive view of a student's involvement outside the classroom.

How should students approach writing descriptions for their activities list?

Students should first make a list of all activities they want to include and then categorize them into activities they want to explain or establish. Activities that need explanation are those that are not immediately clear from the title, while activities that need to be established are common ones where the student had a unique contribution or role.

What is the additional information section in a college application and how can it be used for discussing extracurricular activities?

The additional information section is a space on certain college applications where students can provide extra information that they believe is important for colleges to know. It can be used to elaborate on significant extracurricular activities, especially when the brief descriptions in the activities list do not sufficiently capture the student's involvement or impact.

Why is it beneficial to use supplemental essays to discuss extracurricular activities?

Supplemental essays are beneficial for discussing extracurricular activities because they provide an opportunity to discuss an activity in depth, showcasing the student's initiative and impact. They allow students to go beyond the surface of what they did and delve into the 'why' behind their involvement, providing a more nuanced understanding of their experiences.

What is the BB's exercise mentioned in the script and how does it help with writing supplemental essays?

The BB's exercise, which stands for 'Best Extracurricular Activity Brainstorm,' is a tool that helps students reflect on various aspects of their extracurricular activities, including what they did, problems they solved, lessons they learned, values and skills they developed, and the impact they had. This exercise provides material for creating a well-rounded supplemental essay that goes beyond describing the activity to discussing its significance and the student's personal growth.

How can students stand out if they still want to write about a common extracurricular activity in their personal statement?

Students can stand out by using the values exercise to identify less common connections or values associated with their activity, focusing on those in their essay. They should avoid cliché values and instead brainstorm unique perspectives that招生官 might not immediately associate with the activity. This approach allows them to present a fresh and distinctive narrative.

What is the advice for incorporating extracurricular activities into the personal statement without making it the main focus?

The advice is to artfully weave in small humble brags about the extracurricular activities into the personal statement without spending too much time detailing them. This approach allows students to mention their involvement without overshadowing the main focus of their essay.

What resources does College Essay Guy offer for students seeking help with their college applications?

College Essay Guy offers online courses, a free guide to the personal statement, and both free and paid opportunities for one-on-one essay and application support. These resources provide students with guidance, thought partnerships, and personalized feedback to enhance their college applications.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Writing About Extracurriculars in College Applications

Tom Campbell, a former admissions officer, discusses the common mistake of focusing on a typical extracurricular activity like sports or music as the main subject of a personal statement in college applications. He advises against this approach due to the high volume of similar topics, the redundancy it can create with other application sections, and the opportunity cost of not exploring more unique and insightful topics. Campbell suggests that the activities list, additional information section, and supplemental essays are more suitable places to detail extracurricular involvement. He provides guidance on how to use these sections effectively, including categorizing activities into those needing explanation versus those needing establishment, and using the additional information section to elaborate on significant impacts or experiences.

05:01

📝 Enhancing Application with Detailed Extracurricular Descriptions

The second paragraph delves into how to use the additional information section of college applications to provide context or detail about significant extracurricular activities. Campbell illustrates this with an example of a student who organized a fundraiser, suggesting the use of bullet points to outline key aspects and impacts of the activity. He emphasizes the importance of showcasing initiative and impact, and provides a real example from a Georgetown University application where a student discusses founding a creativity club. This example demonstrates how to convey the purpose, personal involvement, and broader community impact of an extracurricular activity in a compelling narrative.

10:02

🏅 Crafting a Standout Personal Statement with Common Activities

In the final paragraph, Campbell addresses the scenario where students insist on writing about common extracurricular activities in their personal statements. He recommends using the College Essay Guys' values exercise to identify less common values associated with the activity and build the essay around these unique perspectives. He also suggests incorporating subtle 'humble brags' about achievements without over-emphasizing them. Campbell provides a link to personal statement examples for further guidance and promotes College Essay Guys' resources, including online courses and one-on-one essay support, to help students refine their applications and brainstorm new ideas.

Keywords

💡Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities refer to pursuits undertaken by students outside of their academic curriculum. In the context of the video, these activities are a significant aspect of college applications, often showcasing a student's interests, skills, and commitment beyond the classroom. The speaker advises on how to effectively communicate one's involvement in these activities to stand out in college admissions.

💡Personal statement

A personal statement is an essay typically required in college applications where students can express their experiences, values, and aspirations. The video emphasizes the common mistake of focusing the personal statement on a common extracurricular activity, suggesting that it might not be the best way to stand out and instead recommends focusing on unique experiences.

💡Common application

The Common Application is a platform used by many U.S. colleges and universities for students to apply. It includes standardized sections for applicants to input information about themselves. The video discusses how to utilize different sections of the Common Application to highlight extracurricular activities effectively.

💡Activities list

The activities list on the Common Application is a section where students enumerate their extracurricular engagements. The video script provides guidance on how to categorize activities into those that need explanation versus those that need to establish the applicant's unique contribution or role within the activity.

💡Additional information section

This section of the application allows students to provide extra context or information that might not fit elsewhere. The video suggests using this space to elaborate on significant extracurricular activities that have a substantial impact or that showcase the student's initiative and impact, providing an example of a successful fundraiser.

💡Supplemental essays

Supplemental essays are college-specific essays that often ask applicants to write about particular experiences or qualities. The video uses an example of a Georgetown University application to illustrate how a student can use a supplemental essay to delve deeper into their involvement with a significant extracurricular activity.

💡Values exercise

The values exercise mentioned in the video is a brainstorming tool used to identify the values associated with an extracurricular activity. It helps students to identify less common values that can be the focus of their personal statement, allowing them to present a unique perspective rather than relying on clichéd associations.

💡Humble brags

Humble brags refer to a self-deprecating way of mentioning one's achievements or positive attributes. The video suggests incorporating small humble brags into the personal statement when discussing extracurricular activities to subtly highlight one's accomplishments without overtly boasting.

💡College essay guys

College Essay Guys is the organization behind the video, providing guidance and resources for college application essays. The video's speaker is a community manager and former admissions officer from this organization, lending credibility to the advice given.

💡BB's exercise

The BB's exercise, or Best Extracurricular Activity brainstorm, is a method mentioned in the video for creating a comprehensive understanding of an extracurricular activity. It involves writing about various aspects such as daily tasks, problems solved, lessons learned, and impacts made, which can then be used to craft a compelling supplemental essay.

Highlights

Writing about common extracurricular activities in personal statements may not be the best approach.

Many students write about common activities, making it hard to stand out.

There are at least three other spaces in the college application to discuss extracurriculars.

Writing about extracurriculars in multiple places can feel redundant.

Not writing about common activities in the personal statement can free up space for more creative topics.

The activities list is the first space to discuss extracurriculars, acting as a brag sheet.

Activities list descriptions should categorize activities as needing explanation or establishment.

The additional information section can provide more room to elaborate on significant activities.

Supplemental essays are a third space to discuss extracurriculars, especially for showcasing initiative and impact.

Using the BB's exercise can help brainstorm less common values associated with an extracurricular activity.

Weaving in humble brags about extracurriculars can be a tactic for personal statements.

College Essay Guys offers online courses for further essay and application support.

A free guide to the personal statement is available for brainstorming new ideas.

One-on-one essay and application support opportunities are offered by College Essay Guys.

Encouragement to keep refining personal statement topics and creating impactful essays.

Transcripts

hi friends welcome back to the channnel

Tom Campbell here college essay guys

Community manager and a former highly

selective admissions officer so when it

comes to writing about extracurricular

activities in your college application

one of the biggest mistakes that I see

as someone who's read thousands is

writing about a common extracurricular

activity like a sport an instrument and

having that be the main focus of your

personal statement in this video I'll

walk you through why I wouldn't

necessarily recommend that approach

which other parts of the application are

in my humble opinion more effective at

communicating your extracurriculars

specifics on how to use each of these

sections with examples and then okay if

you insist on writing about that common

extracurricular I'll give you some tips

on how to stand out with that as well as

an awesome example to wrap things up all

right so first things first why not

write about a common extracurricular for

your personal statement well number one

many students write about those

activities so it can be hard to stand

out number two you've got at least three

other spaces in your college application

to write about your extracurriculars so

writing about it in your personal

statement plus all these other spaces

may make it start to feel a little

redundant and number three not doing

this can free up your heads space to

brainstorm more creative and original

alternate personal statement topics that

can be a more creative B less common and

potentially see more insightful and

heartfelt all right so let's go through

the three other spaces in the

application that are arguably better

places to talk about your

extracurriculars number one the

activities list which is kind of a given

what it is basically your brag sheet a

place to list any of the ways that you

spend your time outside of class Beyond

like basic human functions like sleeping

eating Etc anything you've done over

four years of high school yes including

those four French Club meetings you went

to in nth grade but then you stop

because the escargo taste test scarred

you for life are all fair game including

shorter experiences like summer programs

or spring break service trips still not

sure what counts as an extracurricular

here's a comprehensive list of all of

the extracurricular activity categories

that are listed on the common

application and I'll leave it up for a

second so before writing your activities

list descriptions which are usually

quite short on the common application

for example they're only 150 characters

I want you to write down a list of all

of the activities you'd like to include

and then I want you to categorize them

as activities you either want to explain

or activities you want to establish

activities that you need to explain are

the ones that are hard to get a sense

from just from looking at the title

alone so say you started a nonprofit in

your school that was all about saving

alpacas from alopecia and you called it

Alpac cares you want to make sure that

your activities list description

accurately represents what Alpha cares

is because understandably someone's

probably going to ask themselves when

they see the name of that club what pray

tale is Alpha cares this description can

be a pretty straightforward one you

really just need to explain what the

club is and side note if you want or

need more room to talk about that

extracurricular there is a space called

the additional information section which

we're getting to in a second to flush

that all out activities you need to

establish on the other hand are things

that are pretty common from the title

alone so things like speech and debate

drama club School newspaper but where

you also had your own unique

contribution and or area of impact that

you need to establish for the reader

take this description for example M

basketball dribble and shoot balls

attend practices yep that's literally

what basketball is side note I literally

read an application one time where a

student's one activity basketball the

description you put for it was and I

quote self-explanatory and while that

may be true I would argue using the

space in your application to explain

your unique contribution and the way

that basketball has take shape in your

life is a much better use of your time

instead try establishing your unique

role so member basketball curate hype

playlists before games solidify my mom

friend identity as the go-to source for

Band-Aids organize offseason drills with

captains boom I feel like I learned so

much more about the student and their

values creativity reliability care

initiative now side note you don't have

to go all like comedy or cutesy with

these descriptions especially if it's

not your preferred writing style or it

feels really natural to speak that way

but as someone who's read thousands of

applications I can tell you that some

distinct ways of mentioning your unique

contributions to a club organization or

team no matter the writing style per se

is really your biggest goal but Tom my

activity is so epic I cannot possibly

fit it all into 150 characters in The

Common application little teeny eaty

beatsy activities list description Q

space number two the additional

information section now what it is this

is a section that you'll find on the

common questbridge Coalition University

of California Andor other application

types where students can type in extra

information that they want colleges to

know think give it as a blank space to

explain any extenda circumstances or

context or important aspects of your

high school Journey that you feel like

your application would be incomplete

without now how to use this for

activities let's say you organized this

really amazing fundraiser that had a lot

of positive impacts on you on your

community and anyone else who was

involved and the population and cause

that you raise the money for but when

you look at your bite-sized activities

list description you're thinking dang

this thing really was my baby and 150

characters just isn't scratching the

surface of all the things that I did to

make it happen if so create a bulleted

list of some of the big key points of

Pride related to that big fundraiser or

other area of impact you may have done

to really help admissions officers

understand the broader scope of the

skills qualities interests and values

you gain through it and the impact you

had so here's one example now note that

bullet points on the additional

information section are totally cool

it's not necessarily meant to be a place

to write fully flushed out creative

essays as you would for other parts of

your application it really can be a lot

more straightforward all right let's go

into why this stand for hati fundraiser

example Works a the student provides

more details about the intent of the

fundraiser B the student clarifies their

role and the intentionality behind their

methods for example that bullet point

about interviewing various NGO leaders

to better understand what her and her

team could do to make the biggest

difference impact and C the student

shows the ripple effect of their efforts

AKA impact now side note I'm not

recommending that you do this All Too

Well 10-minute version expanded

description for every single activity in

your additional information section why

because admissions officers speaking

from experience have a lot to read

through and they're usually most eager

to hear you elaborate on activities that

showcase the two eyes initiative and

impact asking yourself if there's maybe

one or two activities that most

represent these two eyes for you can

also help provide you a little bit of

relief of knowing that the amazing work

that you've done at a high school

student isn't going to go unnoticed

especially the things that you are the

most proud of speaking of things you're

proud of let's say there's something

that you spent so much time on and

you're like this will really help me

stand out and you see a supplemental

College specific essay prompt that's a

perfect fit for that topic then use

space number three supplemental essays

now side note examples of these college

specific essays can be found at this

link below it's pretty much the one link

to rule them all and it's pretty amazing

if you haven't been on it there are

guides and hundreds of examples for

supplemental essays that are asked by

over 80 different colleges including

broader guides on y us essays Community

essays why major essays diversity and

lived experience essays and more now

here's an example from a recent

Georgetown University application where

a student responded to one of their

required essay prompts that reads

briefly discussed the significance to

you of the school or summer activity in

which you have been the most involved a

half page single spaced brief is a

relative term here any who here goes I

live in the suburb of Los Angeles

California known to its residents as the

bubble it has the perfect weather

location in schools as amazing as it

sounds however growing up in La hyata

Flintridge has its drawbacks the

community pressures adolescence to

achieve Success Through mainly academic

means while this approach isn't

necessarily wrong it can be difficult

particularly in my high school to thrive

in a creative and imaginative way

sophomore year my friends and I began to

wonder what if the teenagers of lyat had

greater opportunities to express

themselves to pursue their creativity to

follow their dreams that's when we

decided to start the catalyzing

creativity Club the catalyzing

creativity Club C3 for short provides

students the opportunity to pursue their

passion and aspirations outside of the

classroom some of our opportunities

include a yearly music festival for our

community's young aspiring musicians

that showcases local talent to the

masses and Scouts a Technology Expo

which allows students to be rewarded

with funding and demonstrate their

coding abilities to prospective

companies recording sessions for

aspiring musics photo publishing

competitions and a variety of guest

speakers ranging from 19-year-old

College seniors to multi-millionaire

entrepreneurs in addition we have a Blog

for aspiring writers to publish their

work and are holding a shoe drive for

underprivileged athletes as vice

president of finances for C3 I work to

ensure that we can fund these activities

I handle our bank account fundraising

and organize the event planning moreover

I make sure that c3's activities and

finances are approved by and follow the

guidelines in my high school this role

is crucial as we work to achieve

nonprofit status even though C3 is only

a few years old I believe is already

making an impact in the community as we

grow and the opportunities we provide

become more popular our hope is to

inspire our peers to follow their dreams

and burst the LA canyata Flint Ridge

bubble now why does this work and why

was this different than the short

activities list description that the

student wrote for C3 we're left with so

much more of a sense of the students why

why they came up with the activity how

it helps address the need the student

noticed in their world and why they

think this is something worth continuing

even after they graduate the key to

nailing these supplemental essay is

picking an activity that showcases

either initiative and or impact and

using the BB's exercise which stands for

best extracurricular activity brainstorm

I've ever seen to go beyond the surface

of the what and more into the why the

BB's chart will ask you to write bullets

on all these different areas related to

your extracurricular activity what I did

day-to-day problems I solved lessons I

learned and values and skills I

developed impact I had on myself School

Community Andor society and how it

applied to other parts of my school

Andor life filling out this chart for

your extracurricular of choice will give

you all the material that you need to

create a fully realized supplemental

essay that goes so much more beyond the

surface of what you did with your time

and more into the intentionality behind

it and okay finally as promised if you

still want to write about a more common

extracurricular activity for your

personal statement here's the best way

to go about that number one use college

essay guys values exercise as a first

pass look at your extra curricular

activity and imagine what any other

student might put down in terms of

associated values related to that

activity and bold them and then because

those connections and those values

learned are going to be so cliche and

common don't focus on any of those

values for your essay instead brainstorm

4 to7 Less common connections or values

that an admission reader might not

immediately associate with the activity

itself and build your paragraphs around

those so for example instead of writing

about discipline hard work and

perseverance for that Sports essay

because maybe you look at the values

exercise and you think oh I could write

a football essay about humility which is

a much different taste than the common

football top B confidence Trope that

admissions officers know all too well

second All Too Well reference in this

video still never gets old or another

example my I love stem Club taught me

about spirituality which is surprising

because science is often seen as

contradictory to a lot of Concepts in

faith Traditions like creation stories

consider this the main ingredient for

your personal statement isn't actually

your topic material alone it's the

values you choose to Showcase and focus

on so I'm advocating for you to

basically uplevel the ingredients that

you're using because better ingredients

better Pizza Papa Jones another approach

you could take is to artfully weave in

some small humble brags into some

paragraphs in your personal statement

that mention your extracurricular

activity but don't spend a ton of time

on the words going into the details

behind it if you want to get a better

sense of how to approach this tactic

check out some of the personal statement

examples in the link below now if you're

hungry for more tips check out some of

our online courses at College SEI

they're all linked below and they're all

pay what you can so there's no Financial

barrier to join if you're not sure if

your current personal statement topic is

doing its job and you want to maybe

brainstorm some new ideas our free Guide

to the personal statement also linked

below will help you do that and lastly

at College igy every year we offer free

and paid opportunities for one-on-one

essay and application support and that's

really the best chance to get your

individual questions answered and to

have an experienced thought partner

someone like myself to bounce ideas off

of hit us up if you're interested all

right friends keep sourcing those better

ingredients and keep cooking up some

masterpieces we'll see you on the next

one

[Music]

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