Description: Informational Video About Common Mistakes on The Activity Sheet. Learn How to Properly Fill Out Your College Application.
Transcription: Jim: Have you filled out your activity sheet yet for the common application?
Zoe: I just did last night. I put down so many activities the colleges will think I’m really busy.
Jim: I put that I spend 63 hours per week with football.
Zoe: I put down working in a soup kitchen last year over President’s Day weekend and building a house for Habitat one day a couple of weeks ago. It was really cool. The admissions counselors are going to think I really care about other people, that I’m very giving and generous.
Jim: The admissions counselors will think since I devote so much time to football, it makes sense why my grades are not so hot.
[Buzzer]Jim: We are both wrong. Admissions counselors won’t actually think this.
Zoe: What they will think is that we are both not telling the truth. Community service, clearly, is not very important to me if I’m putting down a volunteer activity that I did for a weekend last year or for one day a couple of weeks ago. These kinds of activities, while nice if I really did it for the good of humanity, don’t belong on an activity sheet. It seems like an activity that I did to get into college rather than an activity I am truly passionate about. If I built houses for Habitat every day after school throughout high school, that’s another story. But one day, a couple of weeks ago has no business being on an activity sheet, a sheet that should feature only your most significant extracurricular activities.
Jim: And it is highly unlikely that I devoted 63 hours each week to football as that simply does not add up and my biceps would be way bigger. And 63 hours, 7 days a week is 9 hours per day! If school goes from, say 8 to 3 on weekdays, there simply are not enough hours in the day to play that much football not to mention do homework and sleep. Everyone sleeps. So you can’t pretend you’re doing activities when you’re really sleeping. Plus, I also put down that I do volunteer work for several hours each weekend. Never lie on a college application. Admissions counselors will see right through it anyway.
Zoe: To learn more about navigating the activity sheet, visit Ivy Coach at www.TheIvyCoach.com.
Jim: That’s www.TheIvyCoach.com.
