So on the University of Illinois’ app they have a section to list awards, achievements, and unique academic experiences. I was wanting to list my service trip to Costa Rica on here, but I do not know how much description is too much. Should I just list the highlights/most important aspects of the trip or the whole thing? Because right now I have 318 words on a section not meant to be an essay and I still have much more I could write about (we did A LOT on this trip).
Personally, I would go for highlights only. If you’re bursting to write about it at length, do it in an actual essay. Adcoms have a lot to read, and let’s be real – are the details of this trip going to make the difference between acceptance and rejection?
You bring up a good point @bodangles
The essay asks you to write about your interest in your major, so I will briefly mention the trip in the activity section and then go in depth on one aspect of it in the essay.