Question: I live in Africa. I am in ninth grade and am currently writing a novel and I am helping out at church and NGO organizations. I have seen poverty, and I am working hard to make my family and country proud. Will I ask someone at school or at an organization to write about what I'm doing when I apply to college in the USA?

Your applications will require you to provide a list of your "extracurricular activities." In addition, the "Common Application" (as well as some others) will ask you to write a brief statement elaborating on one of these activities. Many applications also give you the opportunity to write a full-length essay about a meaningful experience, if you so choose.

If you feel that the space on the application doesn't allow you a chance to completely explain what you're doing, there is an "Additional Information" section on most applications, too, or you can write a supplemental letter to provide more details. Students often submit separate resumes/curriculum vitae to colleges as well to provide more information about their undertakings.

In addition, an administrator from your high school will write a recommendation that will go to all the colleges on your list. For U.S. students, it is almost always the "guidance counselor" who writes these references. In overseas schools, where the system may be different, it could be the head of school or some other school official. This letter gives the school official a place to describe the candidate's strengths and achievements--both in the classroom and beyond.

For most of the U.S. colleges on your list, you will also have to provide a similar letter of reference from one or two of your teachers. So here, too, is a way for colleges to learn more about your talents and accomplishments. Although colleges don't like to receive piles of unsolicited references, it's often appropriate to ask for one or two extra references from adults outside of your school who know you well. So, in your case, a supervisor from the NGO or a leader at your church might want to write on your behalf. Most colleges also permit the submission of "supplementary materials" that the application process does not specifically require. So you can send an excerpt from your novel.

Nonetheless, no matter how much you have excelled outside of class, it will be your grades and course selection and (usually) your standardized test scores (SAT or ACT and TOEFL, if appropriate) that will play the most critical part in your admission outcomes.

I hope I answered your question. Good luck with all of your undertakings and with your college process.