the Common Good Through College Admissions" proposes dozens of general recommendations and specific changes in applications. High-school students should engage in "meaningful, sustained" community service, it says, committing for at least a year to a particular activity, which is more likely than a fleeting stint is to "generate deeper reflection" and develop "key emotional and ethical capacities." Tackling a community problem gets a strong nod, as do experiences that let students "do with" instead of "doing for" people from different backgrounds.Mr. Weissbourd also acknowledged a stark divide: Affluent students tend to have more time than their lower-income peers do to participate in the sorts of extracurricular activities colleges look for. Yet students who look after sick relatives or work part time to help support their families care for others in meaningful ways, the report says. Colleges should clearly state that they value such contributions, it says, and invite applicants to discuss them."In some affluent communities, we have a community-service Olympics going on, to see who can get the most impressive community-service experience, and its become another accomplishment, another way of padding your resume," Mr. Weissbourd said on Tuesday. "At the same time, there are large numbers of students who dont have opportunities to do community service."In a section on "reducing undue achievement pressure," the report advises admissions offices to limit the length of "brag sheets," encouraging applicants to list only two or three "substantive" extracurriculars. "Applications," it says, "should discourage students from reporting activities that have not been meaningful to them."Drafts of those and other recommendations, which have been circulating among admissions leaders for months, have already led to changes on some campuses. Stuart Schmill, dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the report had inspired a new mandatory essay prompt: "At MIT, we seek to develop in each member of our community the ability and passion to work collaboratively for the betterment of humankind. How have you improved the lives of others in your community? (This could be one person or many, at school or at home, in your neighborhood or your state, etc.)"The University of Rochester is planning several changes in response to "Turning the Tide," Jonathan Burdick, vice provost for enrollment initiatives, said in an email to The Chronicle.Those include changing a supplemental essay question to something like: "Describe your contribution(s) to your community/ies today and the benefits you can offer to the communities here next."Rochester also intends to develop a new metric to assess each applicants record of "sustained, meaningful, and team-oriented service" through essays, recommendations, and interviews. And the university will stop collecting and reviewing information for more than three extracurricular activities, encouraging applicants to describe only their most "high-quality" pursuits and their meaning.The University of Washington is planning to invest in student service, Philip A. Ballinger, associate vice provost for enrollment, said in an email. The institution is poised to develop and raise money for scholarships he said would recognize "significant engagement with and leadership in communities."Rescuing HumanityEven as some colleges have willingly joined the campaign, other prominent institutions have chosen not to.