Guide 3 of 12 · Activities · 5 min read
The Activity Audit
Admissions officers do not count your activities. They read them for evidence of a person. This is how to see your own list the way a committee will.
The three-lens test
Every activity gets read through three questions. Most of a typical list fails all three, which is why long lists feel so forgettable.
- Depth: how long, how many hours, how far did you take it.
- Initiative: did you join it or did you build it.
- Impact: what measurably changed because you were there.
Rank honestly, then cut
Score each activity 1 to 5 on all three lenses. Anything scoring under 7 of 15 is filler. Filler is not neutral, it dilutes the strong items around it.
- The Common App gives you 10 slots. You are not obligated to fill them.
- Order matters. Slot one should be your strongest, not your oldest.
- Two deep commitments beat eight memberships every time.
Write each line like it costs money
You get 150 characters. Open with a number or a verb, name the outcome, and skip the adjectives. Vague reads as forgettable.
- Weak: participated in robotics club.
- Strong: managed a $3,000 budget for a 24-person robotics program.
- If a line could belong to a thousand other students, rewrite it.
Find the one thing worth deepening
After the audit, pick the single activity closest to becoming a spike and put your remaining time there. Depth compounds, breadth does not.
Cut without guilt. A short list of real things reads stronger than a full page of participation.
Printable version
The Activity Audit
The full workbook as a PDF you can print and write in. We will email it to you.
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