Tag: College Application

Activities Section of the College Application: A Critical Piece of the Pie

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Let’s imagine your college application is like a pizza pie.  It has separate pieces with different toppings, connected to a whole presentation on a platter.  Although each piece will be consumed separately, the overall impression of the pizza is a result of the consistency and distinctiveness of the recipe and its lasting taste.  The activities section of the college application is often a neglected piece that detracts from the overall product, instead of enhancing it with more flavor.

On the Common Application, a standard form accepted by over 750 colleges, a student is supplied with 10 slots in which to list their high school activities beginning in the 9th grade.  The number 10 is only a suggested amount and it is understood that not all lines are required to be filled.  The central mission of this section is to have the students list the activities where they feel they have made the most impact.  Fewer activities listed with descriptions of greater impact are more compelling to admissions officers than gratuitous involvement in an extensive list of clubs and groups.  Honorary clubs like the National Honor Society should be listed under the honors and awards section of the application unless a student holds a leadership position requiring tasks and responsibility, in which case it could be an activity entry. 

On this activity list, students will be asked to record in which school years they participated in these activities and for how many hours per week.  These hours and years may very well comply with the order of importance based on impact recommended above.  If not, impact still reigns as the ideal way to prioritize the list.  Volunteering one hour a week after school for the Diversity Club, as noble as it is, will not be as impactful as affiliation with clubs where you held a leadership position or raised funds.  Outside activities are valued and not to be underestimated.  For example, if you babysit younger siblings, care for an elderly family member, or hold a part-time job, you are serving in impactful ways that are of great value to all colleges. 

If you have ever created a resume, and I suggest you do as a helpful aid for filling out your college applications, you know how active verbs and tangible results are important for its effectiveness.  And the Common Application only provides 150 characters in which to describe each activity, so use them wisely.  One strategy for word conservation is to state your role in your organization in the top descriptive box of the activity, for example, Lifestyle Editor for Nationally Recognized School Newspaper.  In the description box, you can expand upon your responsibilities, who you helped, how much money you raised, what you learned, and the legacy you left.  Makesurenot to repeat yourself and if you run out of space, edit areas of expertise you may be able to feature in other activities on your list.   

Just as in a resume, use present tense verbs for activities in which you are still involved and use phrases instead of complete sentences.  Use a variety of action verbs and try to practice parallelism.  When you are listing responsibilities, for example, make sure you use consistent verb/noun combinations. An example would be:  Responsible for brainstorming, revising, and supervising articles.  Be as detailed as possible without exaggerating or fabricating your level of involvement.  If there is a website for the activity, club, or fund, add the link.

Modesty and humility are admirable qualities.  However, not articulating the excellence of your extracurricular life is a missed opportunity with potentially serious consequences.  A student from the Haddam/Killingworth, Connecticut area who was very involved in her youth ministry program at her church listed her summer mission trip as an activity on her application. As a description, she simply wrote, “went to Worcester, Massachusetts”.  After some consultation, she later added how she tutored illiterate adults, coordinated outside activities for a group of ten children ranging in ages of 2 to 4 at a day-care center, and managed the distribution of goods and clothes to the homeless.  This key elaboration showcased her energy, dedication, and devotion to a cause and her commitment to others. When college staff are given the important task of selecting a student body that will get involved, contribute, and exhibit good citizenship and leadership skills, you as an applicant must capitalize on the activities section to build your case for admission. 

First Generation Students and the Art of Self-Promotion

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In my career as a college counselor and community college instructor, I have witnessed the valuable qualities of first-generation students.  I think it would be a worthwhile exercise to categorize these admirable characteristics and explore their values.  In so doing, my hope is that I can help first- generation students gain self-confidence, parents expand their perspectives, and counselors broaden their understanding.  As always, this pursuit of enlightenment is to promote the generation of strong college applications that accurately and positively reflect the true spirit of the applicant.  My thoughts are relevant to not only first-generation college bound students and their families, but to all families who strive for character building over resume building. 

The first of the three categories of character is integrity.  Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.  A student with integrity has strong discipline and work ethic.  In my experience working directly with first-generation students in Guilford, CT, an appreciation and gratitude for parental sacrifice motivates high ethics and goals.  In the case of international families, students have a moral desire to please their parents and excel academically because they realize the sacrifices their parents have made to selflessly promote their children’s future success.  This motivation is more productive than students who display a sense of entitlement and internalize experiences as possessions to be collected instead of accomplishments to be earned.

In the case of children of single parents or married parents that both never attended college, they understand the sense of insecurity pervasive in the home. Because the presence of a college-going culture in the home affects the likelihood of children pursuing college, first-generation students need to feel celebrated.  In addition, I am always surprised by how apologetic parents are about their lack of college education.  It is important for counselors to point out to these parents that their children have gained life lessons from them that are more valuable than any legacy.  In fact, colleges appreciate legacy status only for the increased chance that the parent who graduated from their institution may have passed on some of the integrity promoted by the college.  However, first-generation students also have an increased chance of possessing this quality. 

The practical implications of this for sincere and ethical self-promotion on college applications are clear. Because integrity affects our second of three categories which is likeability, guidance counselor, teacher, peer and other recommenders have enormous impact on the college application review.  As a teacher recommender myself, I confess that I enjoy writing recommendations for students who sincerely appreciate my efforts on their behalf as opposed to students who I sense take the request for granted.  College admissions officers read countless numbers of recommendations and the ones that are effusive and enthusiastic stand out.  As such, the recommendations that are lackluster and common draw as much negative attention as the opposites draw positive.  Attend any admissions tour and dean discussion and you will hear how admissions counselors count on recommenders to help them construct a strong freshman class.  Students who are likeable also tend to possess the third quality of character which is humility. 

Humility is a misunderstood quality. It is defined as a modest view of one’s own importance and it is not to be confused with humiliation. To be modest and yet confident is a perfect balance for candidates for college.  Self-promotion understands this balance.  When a first-generation student writes his or her college essay and prepares for college interviews, the sense of gratitude and hopefulness for a higher education tends to resound in person and on paper.  College counselors need to encourage and bolster this energy and help explain how events as seemingly insignificant as helping with younger siblings and holding part-time jobs create experiences and outlooks very coveted by colleges.  A college consultant once told me that it never dawned on one of his students to cite on his application the hours he spends working on his family farm. 

Colleges also put a premium on service.  Some of my clients have applications that read like a service hour registry from someone on parole, while other clients list volunteer activities that exude a theme of giving, compassion, and sacrifice.  Humility lends itself to treating people the way you like to be treated, and this golden rule encourages experiences that make differences in other people’s lives.  Colleges value this outward focus as many promote their own programs of service learning and mission trips.  My son attends a college whose mission is Magis, which means to live greater.  This living greater is accomplished by living for others and devoting one’s energies to improving a corner of the world.   

Quite simply, first-generation students, like all students, have something unique and valuable to contribute to the college culture.  Parents need to know this and help their children self-promote the unique traits that resulted from their family situations.  Counselors need to support their students and remind them continually how valued they are and how promising is their future of college acceptances.  And as an aside, all families can benefit from learning the lessons of first-generation students by raising their future college goers to develop characteristics of integrity, likeability, and humility.