Washington and Lee University's wording, checked October 26, 2026“Please describe an aspect of your life outside of school that is important to you, such as an extracurricular activity, a job, or a family responsibility. How has your involvement shaped your personal qualities and growth, and how has it impacted those around you?”
How to approach it
- 1One commitment, one moment, both effects.
- 2The prompt asks two questions: how it shaped you, and how it affected others. Most answers forget the second.
- 3A job or family responsibility is named in the prompt and is often the stronger choice.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The activity, job or responsibility and what you actually do in it.
- 2A moment that tested or changed you.
- 3The qualities it built, shown through what you now do differently.
- 4Its effect on the people around you, with a concrete example.
Where the 250 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| The moment or example | about 100 |
| What it shows or changed | about 90 |
| Why it matters, or what you bring | about 60 |
Mistakes to avoid
- Restating your activities list.
- Growth claimed in adjectives with no before and after.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your W&L answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 250 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| One activity, your role | It is about one activity, job or responsibility, and the applicant's own role in it is clear. |
| A detail beyond the list | It gives a concrete moment or detail the 150-character activities list cannot hold. |
| Why it matters | It shows what the activity means to the applicant and the difference it makes to them or others. |
| W&L's ask | It does every part of what W&L's question asks, in the college's own terms. |
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Questions
More on W&L and this kind of question
- Harvard: Activities that shaped you · 150 words
- Cornell: Engineering: a meaningful activity · 100 words
- Stanford: An activity, job or family responsibility · 3-50 words
- Caltech: Making: STEM as creation · 200 words
- Tufts: An engineering or science project · 100-200 words
- UT Austin: The activity you are most proud of · 300 words