Category: Admissions
Estimated read time: 7–8 min
Your Common App activities list should clearly explain your actual involvement, rather than embellishing each commitment with grand titles. Focus on the facts, whether you’re caring for relatives, working weekends, or engaging in a hobby. Revise until your responsibilities are easy to understand.
What Is the Common App Activities List?
The Common App activities section allows first-year applicants to outline interests and responsibilities beyond class, including jobs, clubs, hobbies, and community engagement. (Common Application) In its announcement for the 2026–2027 season, Common App introduced the name “Activities and Experiences.” (Common Application)
Consider this list a factual overview, not a collection of miniature essays. Each entry should detail the experience and explain your involvement. Your personal essay allows for reflection on a story or idea. Refer to Wordvice’s Common App essay prompts guide for that task.
During brainstorming, consider responsibilities at home and organized activities. Common App explicitly includes family responsibilities among eligible experiences.
2026–2027 Update: Activities and Experiences
In its 2026–2027 season announcement, Common App revealed that the Activities section of My Common Application will be renamed Activities and Experiences, featuring updated fields to capture a broader range of commitments beyond high school. In this guide, we refer to this section as the “Common App activities list.”
Common App Activities Fields and Character Limits
The Common App’s 2025 activities guide, available in its first-year toolkit, specifies these limits. These apply to first-year activity entries only, excluding transfer forms or college-specific supplements.
| Field | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Position/Leadership description | 50 characters |
| Organization name | 100 characters |
| Activity description | 150 characters |
Before submitting, check the field labels, required information, and character limits in your application. You can enter a maximum of 10 activities. Hours per week and weeks per year are reported separately.
The limit is 150 characters, not 150 words. Our example counts spaces and punctuation. You do not need to use every character. Save description space by omitting information already supplied in other fields.
How to Choose and Order Your Activities
For your Common App activities list order, begin with what matters most to you. Consider sustained involvement, responsibility, time commitment, and the importance of your contribution.
A demanding job or caregiving role may deserve a higher position than a club with occasional participation. Avoid automatic rules such as placing all research first or all household responsibilities last. Rank your actual experiences, not their category labels.
How to Write a Clear 150-Character Description
Gather the facts before shortening anything: tasks, frequency, audience, outputs, and your responsibility level. Choose the clearest action, provide relevant context, and explain your contribution. Furthermore, remove repeated information and check the character count.
A number is useful only when it is accurate and informative. Without one, describe a routine, deliverable, or responsibility. “Maintain the club’s equipment loan log” is more specific than “help the club.” Use short clauses when helpful; you do not need to force every detail into one sentence.
Common App Activity Description Examples
These 15 fictional Common App activity examples illustrate editing choices, not the submissions of successful applicants. Each revision preserves the original facts. Counts include spaces and punctuation in the revised description only.
1. Family responsibilities: sibling care
Role: Sibling caregiver
Organization: Family responsibilities
Before: On weekdays, I pick up my sister from school and practice reading with her.
After (72 characters): Pick up my sister from school and practice reading with her on weekdays.
Why it works: The revision maintains the routine and responsibilities without additional introductory wording.
2. Family responsibilities: supporting a grandparent
Role: Family caregiver
Organization: Family responsibilities
Before: I help my grandfather by placing his grocery orders online and coordinating transportation for his physical therapy appointments.
After (93 characters): Order groceries online for my grandfather and arrange rides to his physical therapy sessions.
Why it works: Clearly defined tasks outline the assistance offered without suggesting the need for professional medical intervention.
3. Family responsibilities: language support
Role: Family translator
Organization: Family responsibilities
Before: I translate school notices into Korean for my parents and help them in composing emails to teachers in English.
After (107 characters): Translate school notices into Korean for my parents and help them in writing emails to teachers in English.
Why it works: The wording preserves the integrity of both languages while clearly differentiating between translation and writing support.
4. Paid work: bakery assistant
Role: Bakery assistant
Organization: Maple Street Bakery
Before: At Maple Street Bakery, I pack customer orders, label allergens, and clean the counter at closing.
After (72 characters): Pack customer orders, label allergens, and clean the counter at closing.
Why it works: Removing the repeated business name creates space for focusing on actual job duties.
5. Paid work: bicycle shop assistant
Role: Shop assistant
Organization: Riverside Bicycle Shop
Before: My job involves documenting repair requests, organizing spare parts, and calling customers when their bicycles are ready.
After (97 characters): Record repair requests, organize spare parts, and notify customers when their bicycles are ready.
Why it works: Direct verbs clarify the job without suggesting the student performs repairs.
6. Volunteering: seed library
Role: Volunteer
Organization: Community Seed Library
Before: Every spring, I sort donated seeds and prepare 200 labeled packets for visitors at our community seed library.
After (67 characters): Sort donated seeds and label 200 packets every spring for visitors.
Why it works: The revision retains a meaningful output and timeframe while removing redundant information.
7. Volunteering: technology help
Role: Technology volunteer
Organization: Oak Lane Community Center
Before: As a technology volunteer, I assist during Saturday drop-in sessions by showing older residents on adjusting phone settings and making video calls.
After (105 characters): Guide older residents in changing phone settings and making video calls during Saturday drop-in sessions.
Why it works: The action takes precedence, ensuring that the audience and session format remain clear.
8. Clubs: active participation
Role: Member
Organization: Westbrook High School Board Game Club
Before: As a member of the board game club, I explain rules, set up games, and welcome new members during weekly meetings.
After (81 characters): Explain rules, set up activities, and welcome new members during weekly meetings.
Why it works: Concrete participation replaces a repeated title without creating a leadership role.
9. Clubs: coordination
Role: Club coordinator
Organization: Haneul High School Astronomy Club
Before: As club coordinator, I book classrooms, track equipment loans, and send reminders for monthly observing nights.
After (91 characters): Reserve classrooms, track equipment loans, and send reminders for monthly observing nights.
Why it works: The description emphasizes the elements of coordination instead of repeating the title.
10. Research: supervised laboratory work
Role: Student research assistant
Organization: University Plant Science Lab
Before: In my role as a student research assistant, I was responsible for labeling leaf samples and incorporating measurements into the lab spreadsheet under a graduate student’s supervision.
After (108 characters): Labeled leaf samples and added measurements into the lab spreadsheet under a graduate student’s supervision.
Why it works: Maintaining supervision details avoids overstating research independence or claiming discoveries.
11. Research: team history project
Role: Student researcher
Organization: School Neighborhood History Project
Before: Our team created a neighborhood history exhibit. My role involved transcribing six recorded interviews and checking dates in newspaper archives.
After (116 characters): Transcribed six recorded interviews and checked newspaper archive dates for our team’s neighborhood history exhibit.
Why it works: The revision separates the student’s research tasks from the collaborative exhibit created by the team.
12. Independent project: transit website
Role: Website developer
Organization: Independent Transit Website
Before: My independent project is a website meant for showing local bus timetables; I also fix broken links when the transit agency changes its pages.
After (96 characters): Built a local bus timetable website; fix broken links when the transit agency updates its pages.
Why it works: Past and present tenses distinguish the completed build from ongoing maintenance.
13. Sports: cross-country running
Role: Team member
Organization: Eastfield High School Cross Country
Before: Throughout the season, my activities on the cross-country team include participation in training sessions, keeping a running log, and helping first-year runners learn warmup routines.
After (125 characters): Train with the team, keep a running log, and assist first-year runners in acquiring warmup routines as the season progresses.
Why it works: Routine participation and peer support provide substance beyond accolades or rankings.
14. Arts: guitar practice
Role: Guitarist
Organization: Independent Music Practice
Before: I am very dedicated to practicing fingerstyle guitar skills after school, and I record pieces so I can listen for timing mistakes.
After (93 characters): Practice fingerstyle guitar skills after school; record pieces to review any timing mistakes.
Why it works: The practice method communicates a sense of engagement more clearly than simply claiming commitment.
15. Hobbies: sewing
Role: Sewing hobbyist
Organization: Personal Sewing Projects
Before: My weekend hobby is sewing, which involves mending relatives’ clothing and adapting sewing patterns to make reusable bags from leftover fabric.
After (111 characters): On weekends, I mend relatives’ clothing and adapt sewing patterns to create reusable bags from leftover fabric.
Why it works: Specific uses and materials explain the hobby without inventing environmental impact figures.
Common Mistakes and International Student Tips
Avoid repeating titles, using unfamiliar acronyms, or compressing descriptions into strings such as “org mtgs & coord vols.” Eliminate redundancy while maintaining clarity. Keep numbers accurate and distinguish your contributions from your team’s results.
For international applicants, focus on responsibility rather than prestige. In Example 9, “club coordinator” may describe a Korean 총무 (chongmu) who books rooms and tracks equipment. “Club president” would change the role. Add a short English explanation of an unfamiliar organization when appropriate, ensuring that the name reflects its true nature without exaggeration.
Final Checklist and FAQs
Do I need 10 activities?
No. Ten is the maximum, not mandatory. Omit unnecessary words. (Common Application)
What should I write without a formal title?
Describe what you actually do. Where the form requests a role description, use an accurate label such as “family caregiver” or “member,” avoiding invented titles.
How should I estimate my time?
Common App allows a reasonable estimate when exact records are unavailable. (Common Application) Use calendars or shift records and average your active weeks rather than reporting your busiest week as the norm. For example, 60 hours across 20 active weeks averages 3 hours per week.
When is Additional Information useful?
Common App allows additional context about an activity. (Common Application) Reserve it for necessary explanations, such as why caregiving interrupted another commitment. Do not turn it into a second activities list.
Before submitting, check:
- Each description is limited to 150 characters; role and organization text fit their applicable limits.
- Duties, numbers, and time estimates are accurate; team results are clearly attributed.
- Abbreviations are understandable, repeated wording is removed, and the pasted entries match your draft.
For help revising your personal statement or supplemental essays, explore Wordvice’s admissions essay editing services.