Let’s say the ECs are good and interesting, but no leadership positions. Any experiences with this or thoughts? Thanks in advance
Hi @citymama9 ! We are acquainted with one another via CC:-) my D had virtually no leadership (fundraising officer in a silly club) and she got into Kenyon and lots of other excellent colleges. I am 100% certain she wasn’t admitted because of her “leadership” position. I do believe that showing a commitment to some ECs is probably more important.
My kids had no leadership positions and both got into very good colleges with admission rates under 20%. However, some full ride or full tuition scholarships do specify “leadership” as one of the criteria.
@Lindagaf Hi there!! Your daughter’s journey is very inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing her story;)
Short answer is yes. Long answer is depends on what you consider “good college” and how well your child’s application list is crafted to the strength and weakness of that child. DS1 had no leadership and DS2 had very limited leadership. Both boys had EC focused on their areas of interest.
DS1 was a STEM boy with amazing test scores and good/average GPA (slightly above 3.0 unweighted, not top 10%, AP classes focused on science and math) looking for merit. Applied to 9 schools, admitted to 7 with merit, 1 with no merit (Pitt) and waitlisted at WUSTL. He received good to great merit at Northeastern, Case Western, University of Rochester, UMD and RPI.
DS2 was a social science kid interested in LACs with good test scores, lots of APs in everything and top 5% of class also looking for merit/need based (at a very few schools) aid. DS was waitlisted at Haverford and accepted at Grinnell, Hamilton, Macalester, Dickinson and several other good but lower ranked LACs.
Neither of my boys wanted to shoot for Ivies or top 10 Universities/LACs, but went for fit and finances and I think had great results and are both doing well at their chosen schools.
My D2 had no leadership titles. She was a top performer in some ECs, though, which is certainly a type of leadership. She had really strong test scores and decent grades, unhooked. She got in everyplace she applied - UChicago, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Kenyon, Macalester, Lawrence, and Mount Holyoke. She had to write one essay on leadership – she wrote about leading by example. Worked out for her.
What one actually does is more important that having a title. My S had not “leadership titles” but he was very involved with volunteering to teach swimming to disabled youth and adults – it was a multi-year, long standing weekly commitment. There were not titles to be had with that role but I think having a long-standing commitment to a cause that was personally meaningful was just fine.
I didn’t have a good leadership position, but I got into several top schools, including MIT where I ended up going. So it’s doable. I had a very science/math oriented application if that’s what you’re wondering.
I had literally no leadership except jv XC captain, which is silly in my opinion.
Leadership is overrated. We cannot all be leaders, we need some followers in this world as well. I am happy to be a follower, actually, if it means using my skills to the best of my ability.
Anyways, I got into Boston College and Northeastern University and wait listed at Harvard. Maybe more leadership would have gotten me a Harvard acceptance, but who can know?
My older son’s only leadership position was one of a several vice presidents of Science Olympiad. What he had that was much more important IMO was a history of teaching himself what he wanted/needed to know (Linux, SQL) so that he was employable by a computer software company while still in high school and was able to help write programs for a med school professor as well. Being a person that you can count on to be a productive part of a team who is a self-starter is much more important than having a title.
I got into good places like NYU, Purdue, UW Madison with no leadership experience. I don’t think leadership is important for STEM related majors. Can’t say much for other majors.
Just remember that there is a difference between “no leadership experience” and “no leadership titles”. My kid was a leader when one of her academic teams needed more members, and the coach asked everyone to recruit one more person for the team. She showed up with 5 new recruits. That same EC is done in teams, but individuals get ranked as well. She wasn’t ever the team captain, but she worked hard to develop her skills throughout HS and senior year took the top individual spot in her league, came in 3rd in the state out of about 300 kids, and led her team to a solid showing at nationals.
On her robotics team, everyone wanted to build, and no one wanted to work on the awards applications. She stepped up and wrote the award essays both years she was on the team, and her team won significant awards both years.
She used these as examples of what she called her “quiet competency” form a leadership.