New Tork Times
FOR college applicants who haven’t engaged in many extracurricular activities, turning to the section of the Common Application where they are encouraged to list such pursuits, can cause a bit of a flutter in the stomach.
This year’s application includes 12 blank fields set aside for “Extracurricular Activities & Work Experience.” What of the applicant who has done only a few things, however intensively?
“The perception is that you have to fill in all the blanks,” Jennifer Delahunty, the dean of admissions at Kenyon College in Ohio, told me recently. “What we hate to see,” she said, “is when students do things like check ‘9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades’ and then write ‘personal reading.’ Yes, we’re glad you’re a reader. But it looks decidedly like filler.”
Instead, Ms. Delahunty and her counterparts say, students should feel free to leave some white space, and at no risk to their chances of admission. In fact, on this year’s online version of the Common Application, clicking on the oversize yellow question mark in the activity section will open a popup box under the statement, “I am concerned that I will be at a disadvantage if I do not complete all 12 activity fields.” It is followed by a soothing message from the administrators of the application, assuring applicants that “the availability of 12 fields is not intended to imply that you should list 12 activities". Read More
I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!
Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com
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