How to Fill Out the Common App Activities Section
Four years in ten words
It is October of 12th grade. A senior opens the activities section and starts with marching band, which has taken more of her time than anything else in high school. She types: "Member of the marching band. Participated in rehearsals and performances."
That is ten words for four years. It does not mention that she led the clarinet section or that she ran summer rehearsals for the new players. She has plenty to say. The trouble is that nobody has shown her how to say it in a space this small.
What the form asks for
For the 2026–2027 application, the Common App has renamed this section "Activities and experiences". The character limits are the same as in earlier years. These are the fields for each activity, according to the Common App's own guide and its summary of changes for 2026–2027.
| Field | Limit | What to put |
|---|---|---|
| Activity type | Chosen from a list | The closest category. There is an "other club/activity" option |
| Position or leadership | 50 characters. Optional from 2026–2027 | Your role, and how it changed over time |
| Organization name | 100 characters | The name of the group, employer or place |
| Activity details, honors and accomplishments | 150 characters | What you did and what came of it |
| Hours per week and weeks per year | Numbers | Your honest estimate |
Three points from the Common App itself are worth knowing.
- You can add up to ten activities, but its guide says this "doesn't mean that you need to enter ten."
- Jobs, family responsibilities, internships, volunteer work, hobbies and sports all belong in this section.
- If you cannot remember exact hours, the guide says "it's alright to give your best guess."
Note that 150 characters is roughly 20 to 25 words. Every word in the description has to carry information.
Step 1: choose and order the activities
List everything first, on paper, including jobs and family duties. Then put the list in order. The activities that took the most time and matter most to you go at the top, because a reader forms an impression from the first few lines.
If you have more than ten, leave out the ones with the least time and the least to say. If you have five, list five. A short list of real commitments reads better than ten lines padded with clubs you attended twice.
Step 2: use the role and organization fields well
These two fields are separate from the description, so do not repeat them there. Use the role field to show growth, for example "Clarinet section leader (11-12); member (9-10)". That is 46 characters, and it tells the reader about four years and a promotion before the description begins.
Step 3: write the description as facts
Five habits make the 150 characters work.
- Start with a verb"Led", "ran", "taught", "built". Leave out "I" and "my".
- Use numbersHow many people, how often, how much.
- Say who benefitedNew members, customers, a younger cousin.
- Include a result if there is oneSomething that exists or changed because of you.
- Skip full sentencesShort phrases separated by semicolons are normal here.
Here are three of this senior's activities, before and after.
| Activity | First attempt | Rewritten | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marching band | Member of the marching band. Participated in rehearsals and performances. | Led 20-player clarinet section; ran summer rehearsals for 9 new members; performed at 10 home games and 4 regional competitions a year. | 135 |
| Job at a garden center | Worked at a garden center on weekends. | Open store alone on Sundays; serve about 60 customers a shift; redesigned the seed display, which the manager kept. | 115 |
| Caring for younger cousins | Babysat my cousins. | Care for 2 cousins (ages 5, 8) Tue/Thu evenings so aunt can work late shift; cook dinner, supervise homework; taught older one to read music. | 141 |
Nothing in the rewritten versions is exaggerated. Each one simply replaces a general statement with what she did.
Step 4: be honest about hours
Readers can add up the hours across all ten lines. A total that leaves no time for school or sleep makes the whole section harder to believe. Estimate carefully, and count only the weeks the activity really runs.
If 150 characters is not enough
Sometimes an activity needs more explanation than the space allows. The Common App's guide says students can use the Additional Information question in the Writing section for this. Use it for facts the reader needs, and not to repeat the list.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Repeating the title"Member of the marching band" in the description uses up space on what the other fields already say.
- Vague verbs"Helped", "participated" and "was involved in" tell the reader nothing. Say what you did.
- Leaving out jobs and family dutiesThey belong here, and the Common App lists them among the things to include.
- Filling all ten lines for the sake of itWeak entries at the bottom dilute the strong ones at the top.
- Abbreviations only your school understandsSpell out the name of a club or award if a stranger would not recognize it.
How Pursiva helps
The hardest part of this section is remembering. In October of 12th grade, most students cannot recall how many hours a week they spent on something in 9th grade, or how many people came to an event two years ago.
Pursiva's Activities module keeps the activity record as the student goes through high school: each activity with its hours, the role, and the results as they happen. When the form opens, the facts are already there.
Pursiva also helps with the choices this article describes. Using the student's theme (Pursiva calls it a Core Narrative), it helps decide which activities to include and in what order, so the section supports the same story as the essays. And it gives feedback on the descriptions the student writes, pointing out where a number or a result is missing.
The senior from the opening had four strong years in marching band. With the facts in front of her, the description takes a few minutes to write.
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