Extracurricular 150 Word Essay?

College Admissions Common and Coalition Application
#1

<p>For the Common App essay where you can elaborate on an extracurricular activity:</p>

<p>1) Is it inappropriate to add humor/be creative, in contrast to the personal statement?</p>

<p>2) Is it safe to assume that 150 words of interesting details of community service activity > 150 word description of responsibilities as a club president?</p>

<p>Should I be using every bit of my space to cram the who, what, when, where, and why of a long-term activity, or can I write about a weeklong volunteer job that I did recently, enjoyed, and really pushed myself?</p>

<p>3) Would it be okay to talk briefly about a second, semi-related activity? (Summer camp volunteer for refugee children and tutoring Hispanic ESL kids once a week during school year)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your help!</p>

#2

<p>Wait, <em>in contrast</em> to the personal statement... is it bad to have humor and creativity in the personal statement?!?!</p>

#3

<p>No, I'm pretty sure that if you are creative/humorous you should definitely do that in your personal statement!</p>

<p>But as for the 150 word essay - is it okay to be creative/humorous? Sorry for the confusion.</p>

#4

<p>For #3, I think you should really just pick one extracurricular, and if you need extra space to describe your extracurriculars then attach a resume/activity sheet. I think the only thing that would be acceptable is grouping things together- for example, you could pick "volunteering" and talk about different community service projects you've done. However, this makes it much harder to fit into 150 words.</p>

#5

<p>For your 150 word essay, it's alright to be creative but be aware that you only have 150 words to explain the significance of your extracurricular activity. If I were an admissions officer, I'd want to read a concise, clear essay than one that's humorous and slow to the point. Simply put, you can add your creativity and humor but make sure you get to the point.</p>

<p>FYI: I did the same exact thing (being creative) and my first draft was at 178 words. Just try to be as concise and clear as possible.</p>

#6

<p>Yeah, the two topics I want to group together are both volunteering to work with disadvantaged kids (refugee kids at a summer camp and tutoring for Hispanic ESL kids).</p>

<p>I wrote a 150 word, 900 character creative essay, so I had to cut down on characters... It's still not very informative. Maybe once I write my personal statement, I can see if I really need that extra creativity?</p>