Common App activity examples.
Real Common App activity-section entries, written to the actual 50/100/150-character field limits. Each one shows the specific phrasing, the verifiable detail, and the tier-defining outcome that makes a Common App reader stop scanning and read.
Browse by activity type
A handful that work
Six examples picked from across activity types to show what strong phrasing looks like.
Team Captain, FIRST Robotics Competition (Team 1234)
nationalFIRST Robotics, 40-person school team
Led drive team to regional win and Worlds. Cut autonomous routine from 6.2 to 4.1 sec; mentored 12 freshmen on CAD and Java.
Engineering Lead, VEX Robotics
internationalVEX Robotics World Championship, 7-person crew
Designed and machined custom holonomic drive. Placed 8th of 600 teams at VEX Worlds. Documented build for next year's rookies.
Founder, Elementary Robotics Outreach
regionalSelf-organized after-school program, two title-I schools
Started LEGO Robotics club at two Title I elementary schools. Raised $4,800 for kits; taught 60 students; placed 2 teams in regionals.
Software Lead, FIRST Tech Challenge
nationalSchool FTC team, 12 members
Wrote computer-vision pipeline for game-piece detection in Kotlin/OpenCV. Open-sourced on GitHub (200+ stars).
Lead Instructor, Robotics Summer Camp
regionalLocal Boys & Girls Club, 4-week program
Designed 4-week curriculum on Arduino + sensors for 30 middle schoolers. Returned year 2; promoted to lead from assistant.
Mentor, FIRST LEGO League
stateLocal middle school team, 8 students
Mentored team to state finals in second year mentoring. Translated FLL coaching guide into Spanish for new immigrant families.
Kolly reviews your own activity list.
Paste your 10 Common App entries and Kolly scores each one on impact, specificity, and voice. Same scoring system calibrated against students who got into Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Penn, and Yale.
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