✍️ Quick + Chill Activity List Guide
(aka: how to turn “I showed up to meetings” → “colleges actually get what I did”)
1. Think Roles, Not Titles 🎭
Don’t just write “Member, Science Club.” That’s just saying you existed.
Instead: what did you do in that role? Did you run experiments, organize events, design flyers, start group chats that actually kept people coming?
👉 Your title is boring. Your role is the story.
2. Action > Attendance 🚀
Every description should start with a verb.
Bad: “Attended robotics club.”
Better: “Built and coded a robot arm that won regional design award.”
Verbs = impact. Nouns = nap time.
3. Cut the Filler ✂️
Space is tight (150 characters!). You don’t have room for “helped to” or “was responsible for.” Just say what you did.
Instead of: “Was responsible for helping the team fundraise.”
Do: “Led $3k fundraiser by pitching sponsors + running events.”
4. Show Scope + Spark 📊✨
Colleges wanna know scale (how big, how many, how long) and spark (what made it yours).
Scope: “Tutored 15 middle schoolers weekly for 2 years.”
Spark: “Created goofy Kahoots so kids actually wanted to show up.”
5. No “Passion Project Fluff” 🧹
Don’t oversell like “changed my community forever.” That feels fake. Instead, keep it real: what did you actually do, and what came out of it? Small impact > big exaggeration.
✨ My Tip: Write every activity in two versions → (1) the plain version, (2) the “friend test” version (how you’d brag about it to a friend without being cringey). Combine them into something sharp + natural.
Do This Right Now (literally today)
Pick your top 5 activities.
Write each in “boring mode” (just title + what you did).
Rewrite each in “verb + impact mode.”
Trim until it fits 150 characters.
Boom. You’ve got an activity list that actually shows colleges what you did. 🎉
Need Help Making Sense of It All?
If you’re stuck figuring out which activities to highlight, or how to word them so colleges actually notice your impact, I offer 1:1 activity list support. I’ll help you turn the “I showed up” version into the “this is who I am” version.
👉 Check out my services here
Wish you the best ✌️
– Frank