Common App Activities List: How to Fill It In, With Examples

Last updated: October 28, 2026

The Common App activities list is where you tell colleges what you do outside the classroom, in up to ten short entries. Each entry has strict character limits: 50 characters for your position, 100 for the organization and 150 for the description. That is less than two sentences per activity, so how you write it matters. This guide explains each field, what to include, what order to use and how to cut a long description down without losing what makes it strong, with before-and-after examples. Every rule below comes from the Common App's own guide to the Activities section.

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How the Activities section works

The Activities section is part of the main Common Application, so every college that uses the Common App sees it. For 2026–27, the Common App renamed it "Activities and experiences" and made the position/leadership field optional. The character limits did not change. For each activity, you enter:

Activity type. Choose from a dropdown menu. If your activity isn't listed, the Common App says to choose "other club/activity" and explain it in the other fields.
Position/leadership description: 50 characters.
Organization name: 100 characters.
Activity details, honors won and accomplishments: 150 characters.
Hours per week and weeks per year. The Common App says it's fine to give your best guess if you don't remember the exact numbers.

Characters include spaces and punctuation. The Common App itself says you "may need to abbreviate words and simplify your grammar."

What to include

The Common App asks you to think broadly: family responsibilities, a job, an internship, volunteer work, hobbies and sports all count. Many students leave out exactly the things that say the most about them:

Family responsibilities, such as caring for siblings, translating for parents or working in a family business.
Jobs, even ones unrelated to your intended major.
Independent projects, such as research, an app you built, a blog or a small business.
Summer programs and online courses you took outside school.
Hobbies you have pursued seriously, such as chess, music or coding.

For more ideas, see our list of extracurricular activities for high school students.

Admitted students in the STEM Research Program finish with a completed research paper and a written evaluation from their mentor. See if you qualify for the STEM Research Program →

Should you list all ten activities?

No. The Common App says directly: "You can add up to ten activities to your application, but that doesn't mean that you need to enter ten." It advises you to "focus on what activities can best tell that story and not on the number you're reporting." Four strong, honest entries are better than ten padded ones. That said, if you have ten real activities, list them; many students undercount because they forget jobs and family responsibilities.

What order should activities go in?

The Common App does not require an order. A sensible approach is to put the activities that matter most to you first, because readers see them first and because the order itself tells colleges what you value. A simple rule: rank by how much of you is in each activity, meaning time, responsibility and results, not by how impressive the name sounds.

How to write the description in 150 characters

The description is the field that does the most work. Some rules that help:

Start with a strong verb. Founded, built, led, taught, analyzed, designed, organized.
Use numbers. People served, money raised, students taught, hours logged, results achieved.
Show what you did, not what the organization does. Readers can guess what a food bank does.
Cut the time. Hours and weeks are reported in their own fields. The Common App's own example removes them from the description.
Drop "I" and filler words. Sentence fragments are fine.
Use the position field fully. It has 50 characters. "President" says less than "President; grew club from 8 to 30 members."

The Common App's own example

The Common App's guide shows this edit:

Before (256 characters): "For two years I volunteered at my local animal shelter. I helped out where needed, but mainly walked dogs and monitored the front desk. Last year I was asked to take on more responsibility and have been volunteering as the receptionist during the weekends."

After (141 characters): "Volunteer at local animal shelter walking dogs and running front desk. Given more responsibility last year and now volunteer as receptionist."

The Common App notes that the edited version fits the limit and keeps the important details, and that the time spent was removed because it is reported elsewhere.

Admitted students work one-on-one with a PhD mentor for 12 weeks and finish with a paper they can describe in 150 characters. See if you qualify for the STEM Research Program →

More examples

These are illustrative examples, not real students.

Research project - Position: Independent Researcher - Organization: Mentored research project, environmental science - Before: "I did a research project with a mentor where I studied air quality data from my city and looked at whether it changed after a new highway was built nearby." - After: "Analyzed 10 yrs of city air-quality data to test if new highway raised pollution; wrote 15-page paper; presented findings to city council"

Part-time job - Position: Cashier, promoted to shift lead - Organization: Local grocery store - After: "Ran register, trained 4 new hires, closed store 2 nights/wk. Promoted to shift lead in 11th grade. Earnings help pay family bills."

Family responsibility - Position: Caregiver for two younger siblings - Organization: Family - After: "Pick up siblings (ages 6, 9) from school daily, help with homework, cook dinner while parents work evening shifts."

The Additional Information section

If an activity needs more explanation than 150 characters allows, the Common App suggests using the Additional Information question in the Writing section. Starting with the 2025–26 application, the Common App cut that question's limit from 650 to 300 words. Use it for context that matters, such as a long-term project, a research paper or a family situation that affected your activities, not to repeat your list.

Common mistakes

Padding the list with one-day events to reach ten.
Vague descriptions like "member" or "participated in various events."
Repeating the organization's mission instead of your role.
Leaving out jobs and family duties because they don't seem "impressive."
Inflating titles or hours. Colleges can check with your counselor, and Harvard, for example, warns that misrepresentation can lead to denial of admission or withdrawal of an offer.

A finished research paper gives your activities list, and your supplements, something concrete to describe. Start your application to the STEM Research Program →

How colleges read your activities

Colleges read the list for interest, commitment and impact. Harvard says it reviews academic achievements, extracurricular activities and life experiences, and that it is interested in students who excel in one or more extracurricular activities. Its supplement also asks applicants, in 150 words, to briefly describe any extracurricular activities, employment, travel or family responsibilities that have shaped who they are. A strong activities list gives you material for answers like that.

For more on what admissions offices want, see what colleges look for and does research help college admissions.

Frequently asked questions

What are some activities I can put on my Common App? Clubs, sports, arts, jobs, internships, volunteer work, family responsibilities, research and independent projects, and serious hobbies.

Should you list 10 activities on the Common App? Only if you have ten real ones. The Common App says you do not need to enter ten and should focus on the activities that best tell your story.

In what order should I list activities on the Common App? There is no required order. Put the activities that matter most to you, and where you had the most responsibility and impact, first.

How many characters is the Common App activity description? 150 characters for the description, 50 for the position/leadership field and 100 for the organization name, including spaces.

Can I list a summer program or online research as an activity? Yes. Summer programs, online courses and independent or mentored research projects are all activities.

Sources

About the STEM Research Program

We look for students who are curious, self-motivated and ready for independent work. Prior research experience is not required. Each admitted student works one-on-one with a PhD mentor from a top-20 university, online, for 12 weeks, and sets a research question with their mentor by week four. Students finish with a completed research paper, a written evaluation from their mentor and a one-on-one college counseling session.

Start your application to the STEM Research Program → · Questions about eligibility? Contact us →