Would love some feedback on my Common App Activities section!

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
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I’m not really sure what the “right” way to make the activities section is, so I was hoping some people would be able to give me feedback :slight_smile: To keep myself anonymous, I’ve put placeholders to company names and such so it doesn’t give away where I live.

i plan to major in different things across different schools (because most don’t have exactly what I’m looking for lol, and I’m interested in a lot) but mostly urban planning, earth/atmospheric science

I transferred high schools after freshman year so unfortunately all the clubs start at 10th

(sports start at 9th)

if there’s anything i should change, reorder, etc., please let me know!!

  1. Science/Math: [my high school] Science Olympiad

Position/Leadership: A-team member (10th and 12th) B-team (11th)

Desc: Selected for A-team first year (10th), earning State Bronze Medal in Fossils; helped lead team to win states and compete in Nat. tournament in 2026.

  1. Work(paid): [school-based communication platform that operates across states]

Position/Leadership: Web Design & Creative Services Contractor

Desc: Redesigned entire webpage & created hand-drawn visuals for communication platform utilized by the district; worked directly with founder & COO

(started this work this summer, continuing to do it)

  1. Varsity Outdoor Track

Position/Leadership: Varsity Team Captain (11th and 12th) Varsity member (9th and 10th)

Desc: Led distance team during practice & meets, competed individually on state level; Coach’s award (2025) and Outstanding Performer award recipient (2026)

  1. Varsity Cross Country

Position/Leadership: Varsity Team Captain (12th) Varsity member (9-11th)

Desc: Organized summer practices and team dinners; recruited new runners and grew girl’s team to state qualifiers; MVP performance award recipient (2025)

  1. Varsity Indoor Track

Position/Leadership: Varsity Team Captain (11th and 12th) Varsity member (9-10th)

Desc: Led distance team during practice & meets; relay state team member; organized additional practices and weight room trainings

  1. Work(paid): [my city] Media Center

Position/Leadership: Youth Member + Intern

Collaborated w/ 3 others on a journalistic documentary, including experience w/ conducting interviews with City Officials & filming/editing.

(I did this summer of my senior year, continuing to do it as internship)

  1. Independent Research

Position/Leadership: Co-founder w/ 1 other peer

Researching environmental impacts of state’s ironwork industry on rivers. Documenting the process for a film releasing in May 2027.

  1. Community Service: Key Club

Position/Leadership: Member

Helped establish school food pantry; ran fundraisers for local nonprofits; volunteered primarily for [prominent nonprofit charity in my state], completing group & indiv. shifts

  1. Work(paid): Cafe Member

Served over 1000 customers daily in a high traffic cafe. Handled full shift rotations, food/drink prep, restocking, and cleaning.

(I did this the summer and fall of my junior year)

  1. Other activity/club: Figure Skating (non-competitive) at local ice arena

Weekly lessons in figure skating elements & dance sequences; progressed to Freestyle 2 jumps and spins; participation in exhibitions for fun (I’ve done this since 7th grade)

I have a lot of other low commitment clubs that I didn’t include, I don’t think I’ll include it in add. info either. I’m also planning to add NHS to my honors section (it wont be on here). Everyone was recommending I put science olympiad first, but I don’t have a ton of leadership there, so I’m hesitant. we made it to nationals last year but I unfortunately had to switch to B team last year to give the opportunity to a senior who had the prerequisite for some of my events.

I was also unsure if I could send in a link to the episode I made at the media center in the add. info

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I’ll comment on this first. I don’t think most adcoms will open a link. @Mwfan1921 might know more.

Your list looks fine to me.

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Your activities should be in the order of importance to you. Don’t overthink this.

You can, but in the common app links aren’t hotlinks. So, an AO would have to copy and paste the link into a browser. Most won’t do that, some might. There really isn’t any downside to adding a link in additional info (aside from maybe taking up space that could be better used.) If you choose to add the link, I would write a sentence or two with more detail about the documentary to re-anchor what you are talking about in that section.

Good luck.

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I agree to order your activities based on what is most important to you. If you want to include other things, you can consolidate Track and Cross Country into one.

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I originally had my sports first (since they take up the most of my time and extracurriculars) but counselor recommended something academic especially since I don’t plan to be recruited as an athlete. So I think science olympiad should be fine, was just wondering if there was something better to showcase.

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