The importance of activities
A recent tweet / blog posting from a college admissions officer sadly pointed out that one applicant had submitted their application without any activities on their Common App. It was, in their view (and in my view), shocking. The Common App only has six distinct areas: high school grades/GPA/course list, activities, standardized test scores, parent/guardian/family information, essays, and a teacher/counselor recommendation. Omitting any of these significantly cuts back on the amount of information the college can use when evaluating students for admission.
In any year, omitting activities from the Common App is a mistake. In the current environment, it’s practically a disaster. Some colleges aren’t requiring standardized test scores (so we’re down to five sections), and the recent world of remote-learning / remote-cheating / massive grade inflation makes it challenging for high achieving students to differentiate themselves from other ‘opportunistic’ students who ‘earned’ two years’ worth of inflated grades (so now we’re down to four other sections). Eliminating your activities section means you’re basing your application on family information, an essay, and a teacher recommendation. Assuming most teachers wouldn’t agree to provide a recommendation if it wasn’t going to be a great one, you’re now only providing colleges a glimpse into your life through an essay. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket!
In today’s world of college admissions, talented students should provide colleges with as many ‘data points’ as possible. Grade inflation means they may or may not be able to distinguish themselves from their peers academically. With standardized testing not mandatory, some parents are focusing their money and efforts on ‘essay tutors’ instead of ACT or SAT tutors, meaning well-written college essays might become more common. Because of all this, the activity list now becomes a very important way to stand out from other applicants.
Yet it takes years to effort, and time, to create an in-depth list of activities for the Common App, activities that should span all high school years, involve many hours of effort, and paint a picture of ‘who’ the applicant really is. Anyone waiting until their senior year to join clubs to add to their activity list has waited too long. The list should help answer the question “what does the applicant do from end of school day (2:30) until evening (6:00) every day, and what do they do on the weekends?” Family obligations, jobs, volunteer work, clubs, sports … what has the applicant done during those hours every day and week for the past three or four years?
The era (if it ever existed) of getting into colleges based primarily on the GPA and SAT score is over. Especially now, it’s very challenging for high achieving students to stand out from the pack (as the pack’s grades have somewhat caught up). Take advantage of the chance to show who your are and what you do by submitting a comprehensive list of activities.