Write your 150-character activity descriptions

Write your 150-character activity descriptions

Each Common App activity gets a position/organization line and a 150-character description. That is not 150 words: it is about two short sentences. Written well, ten of these tell a story your essay never has room for.

The formula

Verb first. Numbers where you have them. Outcome over title.

Weak: "Member of the debate team. Participated in tournaments and helped organize events."

Strong: "Competed in 14 tournaments; taught weekly novice workshops that grew the team from 9 to 22."

The weak version describes membership. The strong version proves impact in fewer characters.

Rules that earn their space

1. Start with a verb. Led, built, taught, raised, organized, designed, repaired. Never "Responsible for."
2. Cut the club's own name from the description. It is already on the line above. Every repeated word is a wasted character.
3. Numbers beat adjectives. "Raised $3,200" outranks "successfully fundraised." If you did not count at the time, estimate honestly.
4. Say what changed because you were there. The question a reader is silently asking of every line.
5. Abbreviations are fine. "Tutored 6 kids/wk in algebra" reads fine; this is the one place where clipped style is expected.

Process

Draft all ten in one sitting while the ranking is fresh, worst first so your best activities get your warmed-up writing. Then read the ten as a set: together they should cover leadership, persistence and at least one thing you built. If two lines make the same point, one of them is the wrong line.

Have one adult who knows your record read the set for anything undersold. Students reliably underclaim the family-responsibility and paid-work lines, which are often the strongest on the list.