How many hours to put for Common App activities

RReaders in Stanford's admissions office saw the hours column beside every activity on the Common App, and few boxes on the application make students more anxious. Each activity asks for hours per week, weeks per year and the grades in which the student took part. Students freeze because nobody keeps a log, and few people can say exactly how many hours went into a season of practice, travel, film sessions and summer training, while the form offers no room to explain.

So students guess, often nervously and often inconsistently, and a column of numbers filled in a few minutes can say something about the applicant that the applicant never intended. Guessing well is a skill, and it starts in good faith.