Extracurriculars

How Do I Write About Extracurriculars in My Application?

Q: How do I describe extracurriculars on the Common App?

Use a strong verb, your role, and a specific result within 150 characters. Put the most important detail first.

Q: Should I include hours in the description?

No. Hours per week and weeks per year are reported in separate fields.

Q: Where do extracurriculars go on a UCAS application?

In personal statement question 3, and only where they show preparation for your course.

Learn how to write activity descriptions, essays, supplements, resumes, and brag sheets using role, action, scope, result, and reflection.

6 min readPublished 2026-08-04Last reviewed 2026-09-29

By Oxbrivy Editorial Team. Reviewed by Oxbrivy study-abroad profile desk.

Quick answer

Describe what you did, your role and the result, using strong verbs and specific numbers. On the Common App you have 50 characters for your position and 150 for the description, so cut filler and put the most impressive detail first. On UCAS, mention activities only in personal statement question 3, and only where they show preparation for your course.

Key takeaways

Start with a strong verb: founded, led, taught, built, organised.
Add numbers: people, hours, money, results.
Show your role and what changed because of you.
Common App limits: 50 characters for position, 150 for description.
For UCAS, connect each activity to your course.

Oxbrivy practical ranking

Use this as a starting point, then personalise it with your budget, profile, and course.

Academic balance

Best for: Protecting grades and course rigor before adding more activities.

Watch out: Activities that damage core academic performance can weaken selective applications.

Depth and continuity

Best for: Choosing a few sustained commitments instead of collecting short certificates.

Watch out: A crowded activity list with no responsibility or follow-through looks thin.

Leadership and impact

Best for: Showing what the student did, who benefited, what changed, and how it connects to goals.

Watch out: Titles without action, evidence, or reflection rarely carry much weight.

Before and after examples

Rewrite vague descriptions into specific ones:

Weak vs strong activity descriptions
Weak	Strong
Member of the coding club. Attended meetings.	Founded coding club; grew to 40 members; taught weekly Python sessions.
Helped at family business.	Managed stock and billing at family shop 12 hrs/week; built spreadsheet cutting errors.
Volunteered teaching kids.	Taught maths to 25 Class 6 students weekly for 2 years; average scores rose 18%.
Participated in science olympiad.	National Standard Examination in Physics: qualified for next stage (top 1% in state).

Strong activity profiles show sustained commitment, real responsibility, and evidence of contribution.

Writing for the Common App

Position field (50 characters): your role and organisation type, for example "Founder & President, Coding Club".

Description (150 characters): what you did and what resulted. Use semicolons, drop articles and avoid repeating hours, which are reported separately.

Order activities by importance, not date. Use the Additional Information section if one activity needs more explanation.

Technology university campus representing robotics, projects, internships, and initiative — Oxbrivy helps students connect activities, essays, documents, and applications into one clearer admissions story.

Writing for UCAS

UCAS has no activities list. Use personal statement question 3 ("What else have you done to prepare outside of education?") for activities that relate to your course.

Reflect, do not list: one activity with what you learned about the subject beats five named activities.

Oxbrivy Document Suite helps turn activities into tight Common App entries and focused UCAS answers.

Frequently asked questions

How do I describe extracurriculars on the Common App?