I’ve seen this phrase a few times on CC. In fact, there’s a new thread on competitive and social clubs at Georgetown. Rather than hijacking that thread (this one’s for you, new mods! ), I thought I would start another to get more info.
What exactly is a “competitive” college club? Does this mean stuff like student government or publications, where students are usually elected or appointed, or dining clubs or Greeks? But is there a broader meaning?
I am intrigued by the term “competitive club”, and not in a good way. “Back in the day”, I don’t think we had these kinds of organizations in college except for the ones mentioned above. I was hoping college had become more collegial in the intervening years/decades. But the term competitive clubs concerns me a bit.
Also, are there particular institutions where there are more of these clubs?
IME this is happening at many schools, and goes far beyond what many of us experienced in college. Of course certain clubs/orgs are by nature competitive, as you mentioned Greek Life or running for a student government position.
But these days, even clubs like the ‘consulting club’ or ‘banking club’ aren’t open to all interested students. Rather the leaders hold interviews and impressive achievements are often necessary to be accepted. Some of these orgs have single digit acceptance rates. It’s sad that at some schools this has become relatively common and is definitely something students need to research when they are choosing schools.
At many schools there are applications to become members of pre-professional clubs, such business or investment clubs. The same is often true for performing arts groups which require audition, student newspapers may wish to see writing samples, etc.
One of my S’s friends transferred out of UCLA after his first year, and one of the reasons is that he was denied from many clubs. He did get into a couple, but still left a bad feeling.
At a school like UCLA it’s important for CC posters to understand that there are also grad students competing and/or participating in many of the clubs too (whether competitive or open admit). So, for example, this student joined some intramural sports as a single, and found himself on teams with all grad students. Not that he didn’t enjoy that, but OTOH not conducive to building lasting relationships with peers.
There are more college students than ever before; classes are large. At the local public high school, almost every club was competitive entry, with nearly 5000 students enrolled there.
Funny…the first thing I thought of was club sports. At many colleges, these sports are played interscholastically. So while anyone can sign on…getting playing time might be more competitive as strong players might be needed to win games.
Most club sports have tryouts AFAIK, and many cost a lot of $$ as the schools don’t cover the travel costs. A good option for some students who are good athletes, but can’t make the varsity team (or wouldn’t get playing time).
What I am getting at is pre-professional clubs having a competition to get in, as outlined in @Mwfan1921 and @roycroftmom’s post. This concept is quite alien to me.
I am following the Georgetown thread on their competitive clubs, and after reading that, I am not sure G’town is where I would want my kids to consider.
After the competitiveness of high school and the admissions process, one would think that these clubs would be more open. I get that student gov, publications, theater, music, Greeks, and sports might be competitive. But why would the “Investment Club” or the “Pre-med Club” be exclusive?
Perhaps as @roycroftmom indicates, there are just too many students.
Well, yes, for 2022 compared to 2020. I was thinking more along the lines of 2022 compared to 1982.
Competitive clubs were around in 2020 as well, not so much in 1982.
Investment clubs have become very big on college campuses; some manage multi-million dollar funds. Like business fraternities, they can provide extensive training in preparing for interviews and often serve as a conduit to IB jobs. Similar to consulting clubs.
These pre-professional clubs seem to have grown as the competition for jobs in finance, consulting, and tech became more intense, and the preparation required to interview for those jobs became more intensive. Having others with whom to study modeling, or case studies or whatever, can be very useful.
For an example of such clubs, check out the Mcintire Investment Institute at UVA. Very polished members. I believe most top schools, and many non-elite schools, have an equivalent.
What happens to those students who don’t get admitted to, say, a consulting club? Are they at a significant disadvantage when interviewing for consulting positions? I wonder what the college administration thinks about such a “weeding out” (to the extent that’s the effect).
It varies. Some students successfully obtain such jobs without club membership.
I expect the administration regards the clubs the same as any other club on campus. One of my children joined such a club; one did not. Both got the targeted jobs they sought.
At some schools it’s possible there’s a disadvantage in recruiting for students not in the most ‘prestigious’ clubs, simply due to the connections being made at the various programs/events that the clubs organize.
I would be surprised if any career centers limit interviews to those in certain clubs, but that’s something students should look into…but again only some students would be able to say to a job poster ‘I met you at xyz club’s November speaker event’.
This is common. There are all kinds of competitive clubs where kids must try out. Acting clubs for non-theater kids, a capella groups, debate teams, campus magazines, you name it. It happens at most tippy top colleges I believe, though I am not expert. Definitely doesn’t happen everywhere. (I’ll give Bates College a shout-out here, where almost all clubs are open to everyone. My kid joined the debate team as a freshman having never done debate in her life. She beat the kid from Yale, haha. Bates has a great debate team.)
This has been a thing for as Iong as I’ve been on CC. Competitive clubs are certainly a thing at Harvard and most (all?) tippy top colleges.
Watch from the 4:40 mark if you don’t want to view the whole thing. The whole middle section is about clubs. It’s pretty depressing.
Thanks. I’ve seen this video, and it is depressing.
Again, though, I want to make a distinction between several types of clubs/organizations that, at least in the past, were open to all such investment clubs, pre-law clubs, pre-med clubs, consulting clubs etc vs the more traditional like student government, publications etc. It is really concerning to me that these are competitive.
Reading the Georgetown thread that’s ongoing makes me sad to see this nonsense continue. I am very curious as to which schools are the best and worst (perhaps USNWR can come up with yet another ranking).
I will definitely ask the kids to research this as their final decisions on schools to which they are admitted.
I guess, worst case, I’ll tell my kids to form their own club!
), I thought I would start another to get more info.
