“Mom. I have eighteen things. There are ten boxes.”
If your senior has said that to you this fall, take a breath. Today I’m walking you through how to choose activities for the Common App when your kid has more than the application has room for, plus how to handle the honors section and what to do with the leftovers.
First: if your kid has ten or fewer, list them all
This matters, so I’m saying it first. If your kid has ten activities or fewer, everything goes on. Nobody earns points for leaving a slot empty when they had something real to put in it.
Everything below is for the kid with more than ten.
Ten slots isn't a punishment. It's a question.
Colleges aren’t asking, “What has your kid ever done?” They’re asking, “What are your kid’s best ten?”
And they mean it. Harvard’s Turning the Tide report, developed with college admissions deans, recommends that colleges prioritize quality, not quantity, of activities. When your kid chooses, they’re showing a college they know what matters.
My five filters for the top ten
1. Service and leadership stay. Anything where your kid served others or led something makes the list.
2. “Just a member” goes. The club they went to three times? Cut it. But hear me: four years of orchestra, ten hours a week, no title, is not “just a member.” That’s commitment, and it stays.
3. Recent beats old. If space is tight, what your kid is doing now usually wins over something they dropped in ninth grade.
4. Connected to a career or academic interest moves up. These help a college connect the dots. Your kid doesn’t need a whole plan, just a direction.
5. Variety, and what sets your kid apart. Four academic activities and one service activity? Keep the service one. It shows another side of your kid. And anything only your kid does, like restoring old bikes or caring for a grandparent, moves up. That’s the one readers remember.
Want help running your kid’s list through these filters? Inside the College-Bound Parent Collective, members can bring me their exact questions. Come join us here
Jobs and family responsibilities count
Families leave these off all the time because they don’t feel like “activities.” They are.
More than 140 college admissions deans have signed a pledge saying family commitments, like caring for a younger sibling or working a job to contribute income, are highly valued and considered in admissions decisions. If your kid works twenty hours a week, that may be the most important line on the page.
The honors section: three mistakes I see every fall
The Common App lets your kid list up to five honors from ninth grade on, each with a short title, the grade level, and the level of recognition: school, state or regional, national, or international.
Mistake 1: Double counting. If something is already listed as an activity, it doesn’t need an honors slot too. The two sections should work together, not repeat each other.
Mistake 2: Listing what’s already on the transcript. Honors and AP classes don’t belong here. Colleges already see every class.
Mistake 3: Putting athletic awards first. The honors section is really meant for academic recognition. Athletic awards have a better home: the description for that sport in the activities section, which asks your kid to share what they accomplished and any recognition they received.
And put the biggest honor first. National or state recognition goes above school-level awards.
Where do the leftovers go?
My answer: the Additional Information section, but only if it truly adds value. Something that tells a college something new and important about your kid.
Here’s the catch. Admissions readers have limited time with every application. Every sentence your kid adds there is time not spent on the essay or the activities they worked hardest on. So ask: is this worth taking time away from everything else? If not, let it go.
To be fair, counselors don’t all agree here. Some are fine with a few extras, others say never. I land in the middle.
One last step before submitting
Have your kid preview the application so you can see it the way colleges will. Read the ten activities and five honors top to bottom and ask, “If I didn’t know my kid, what would I think of this person?” If it sounds like your kid, you’re done.
Quick questions, honest answers
How many activities can you list on the Common App? Up to ten. List them all if your kid has ten or fewer.
Do honors classes go in the honors section? No. They’re already on the transcript.
Where do athletic awards go? In the description of that sport in the activities section.
Should leftovers go in Additional Information? Only if they add real value.
The bottom line
Choosing is the skill. Run the list through the five filters, keep the honors section clean, and only add extras when they truly earn the space.
And if you’d like help with the stuff nobody teaches, that’s what we do inside the College-Bound Parent Collective. When something confusing comes up in the season we’re in, I go live with my families and walk them through it, step by step. Come join us here
