The Common App Activities Section: How a Canadian Student Should List Extracurriculars

The Activities Section Format

The Common App activities section holds up to 10 entries. For each one you select an activity type from a fixed list, such as athletics, community service, or work, add a position or leadership description in a short field, name the organization, and write a brief description of what you did. You also mark which grade levels you took part, the timing (during the school year, during breaks, or all year), and estimate hours per week and weeks per year. See the current field guidance on the Common App applicant site .

Order matters. Common App asks you to rank your 10 entries, with your most significant activity first. Admission readers scan the list top to bottom, so lead with the activity that best supports your intended major or your strongest personal story.

Translating Ontario's Community Involvement Hours

The Ontario Secondary School Diploma requires 40 hours of community involvement. Do not list this as one vague "volunteering" entry. Break it into the specific organizations where you completed hours, such as a food bank, a hospital, or a youth program, and estimate the actual hours per week and weeks you worked at each if you concentrated your time in a small number of places. If your 40 hours spread across many one-off events, group them under a single entry and describe the range of causes you supported.

A US reader has no context for "40 hours" as an Ontario-specific requirement. Name the organization and the work itself, not the credential.

Translating School Sports and Clubs

Canadian high schools organize sports into tiers like house league, junior varsity, and senior varsity that mean nothing to most US reviewers. Explain the tier plainly, such as "senior varsity, the top competitive level at my school," rather than assuming a US reader knows the term. Do the same for regional or provincial competition levels: name the geographic scope (school, city, provincial, national) instead of only the event name.

Translating Provincial and National Awards or Programs

If you hold a specific Canadian award, youth program credential, or provincial distinction, spell out what it recognizes and how selective it is, since a US reader will not recognize the name on its own. A generic description, such as "participated in a leadership program," loses the value of a competitive or merit-based credential. Name the sponsoring organization and, briefly, what makes it selective.

Include Jobs and Family Responsibilities

Paid work, caregiving for siblings or grandparents, or a family business role belong in the activities section alongside clubs and sports. US admission readers weigh these as evidence of responsibility and time management, not as a lesser category. List actual hours per week honestly. A part-time retail job at 15 hours a week for two years says more about your reliability than a club you attended twice.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Listing 10 loosely related school clubs instead of a focused set with real time commitment behind each.

• Using Canadian abbreviations or program names without a plain-language explanation.

• Underreporting hours out of modesty. Report your actual weekly time honestly.

• Leaving out paid work or caregiving because it feels less impressive than a club.

• Writing the description as a job title alone instead of what you actually did and any measurable result.

Example Entry

A weak entry: "Volunteer, Food Bank, helped out." A stronger entry: "Volunteer server and stock clerk, City Food Bank. Sorted and shelved donations, served 40-60 clients per shift. 4 hours per week, 30 weeks." The stronger version gives a US reader a concrete picture of your actual contribution and time commitment.