<p>In my application to Stanford (REA), I thought it would be wise to write almost everything I do outside of school, so I searched extensively and finally found 13 activities. I had to cross Hiking, but apart from that, all of the twelve activities are filled. Yet, I felt that admission officers might see it as an attempt to fill that list completely (well, I also added an activity I had dropped and restarted a short time ago, that I want to do seriously in college: Esperanto). I also wrote a three-page-long Detailed Activity List with a 9pt font.</p>
<p>So, here is my question: I <em>really</em> feel most of my activities have depth (theatre, personal research, piano, reading, writing, programmation, student government, USA prospective students help, and karate may even be importants pieces of my personality), but, especially because I am an international student, I am scared of being considered as someone who somewhat lies on his achievements. So, my question is: should I let the Activity List as it is for Regular Action colleges, or should I remove the activities that mean the least for me, and thus elaborate even more on the other activities?</p>
<p>Even though Esperanto is my twelfth activity, and even though I do not yet speak it, I feel the desire to learn it is important enough to let it a place in the table.</p>
<p>I have the same worry. Depth and range or just depth?</p>
<p>I feel that the depth of my ECs gets lost when one looks at the range.
I have 10 activities in which apart for one, I’v been involved for more than one year with significant awards and stuff.</p>
<p>It’s not necessarily the wrong category. You are asking us to make a decision for you that you really need to make yourself: How should I present myself to colleges?</p>
<p>You can aim for breadth or depth, but you should try to develop a theme in your application. Writing a three-page detailed activity description in 9pt font is most definitely the wrong way to go. At the end of the day, your application should answer the question: “Why should Stanford accept me and not one of the other 18,000 applicants?” or phrased differently, “What can I contribute to the campus community that few other students can?” For example, your diverse engagement might give you a unique perspective or a variety of skills that you can combine to achieve a meaningful goal. </p>
<p>If there is some overarching theme connecting your activities, highlight that. If not, come up with one and highlight those activities that contribute to it.</p>
<p>Indeed, I have tried to develop a theme in my application, by emphasizing my limitless curiosity and my ambition. Yet, it is hard to answer the question you’ve asked with these two qualities, because the only card I can use is diversity — I am neither a genius nor a truly unique person — but I will have to make it more obvious, to use it effectively (for example, by including Esperanto as an example in the “personal fulfillment” activity, and not as an activity on its own).</p>
<p>So, the link between all these activities is dual: it contains curiosity and ambition. Unconsciously, I have made it apparent for Stanford in the activity list. I will make it blatant for the other schools. I will also have to show in what way it makes me a good student — because all the fields of science, or even all the fields of human knowledge, communicate, and a person with some understanding everywhere plus a lot in a specific field excels better.</p>
<p>The only problem is that I almost never received awards for my activities (because I believe I do them for myself, not for the others), but I think it will be fine, as long as I state why there is no award anywhere, even though I honestly am involved.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer. It helped me get a clear view of what I should rewrite.</p>
<p>Be careful with the personal fulfillment card. Given the choice to invest several hundred thousand dollars into the education of a young man who will go on to lead a happy fulfilled life in his own little bubble, or a man who will use those resources to reach out and make a difference in many people’s lives - guess who Stanford is more likely to admit. Voluntary social engagement is the foundation of American society!</p>
<p>Yeah, I had anticipated this issue, and dedicated half of my main essay, plus two of the Stanford essays, to how I will use science in the future — to help people communicate. Plus, my first extracurricular, and the subject of my short essay, is theater, which is by definition open to the rest of the world.</p>
<p>But thanks for the reminder, I will make sure my application reflects myself, and not an asocial teenager.</p>
<p>kairoo, I am sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention. I have never met you and I have not read your college application; I can only reflect on the things you write here. You presented yourself to us as someone with a variety of not-very-focused interests. You claimed depth in your activities and explained a lack of external recognition by pointing out that you are doing these activities for yourself and not others. You also attributed your interest in Esperanto to personal fulfillment. On the other hand, you say that your application emphasizes your ambition. My first thought: “That ambition did not get you very far, did it?” </p>
<p>There was never any doubt on my mind that you are a social, involved, open-minded person. What I did miss from your posts above was evidence of your leadership potential and a sense of purpose. However, I realize that that was only an informal post for an online discussion forum and not a polished college application. Your college application may well reflect a purposeful vision of your life and a desire to make a meaningful contribution to the world: “how I will use science in the future — to help people communicate.”</p>
<p>That is an excellent goal. The only advice I have for you is not to let random activities detract attention from the bigger picture. Reading, for example, is usually taken for granted and not listed as an extra-curricular activity. If “USA prospective students help” refers to casual advice on an online forum, I would skip that too (unless you need it to develop a broader theme). Esperanto, on the other hand, connects nicely to your communication-related goals and is worth keeping as its own bullet point.</p>