Clubs - waste of time?

<p>I know being president/founder of a club is a small plus for your admission chances, but do clubs really matter?</p>

<p>I see a lot of kids with stuff like:
NHS, spanish honor society, future business leader of america, key club, chess club, fundraising for <em>event</em>, science olympiad, math olympiad, drawing club, french honors society, feed campaign, LOST, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
(a little bit exaggerated, but we've all seen Chance Me threads with kids with a million club activities)</p>

<p>I seriously don't have the time to join 10+ clubs...</p>

<p>is being a member of like fifty bajillion clubs a good thing for college admissions? worth it? frowned upon?</p>

<p>I'm only planning on being in a few clubs (2-4) </p>

<p>Also, I've heard of the phrase "laundry list of ECs"...... can someone explain?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>“laundry list of ECs” = joining “10+ clubs” but not actually doing anything in them. Colleges care more about what you do rather than sheer quantity. So unless you’re a superhuman that can make a significant contribution to all those clubs, it’s a great idea to just join a few clubs that you actually care about.</p>

<p>Some humor for you (this isn’t lost by the world at large)</p>

<p>[Soup-Kitchen</a> Volunteers Hate College-Application-Padding Brat | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source](<a href=“The Onion | America's Finest News Source.”>The Onion | America's Finest News Source.)</p>

<p>[Closing</a> Of Homeless Shelter Leaves College-Application-Padding Students With Nowhere To Turn | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source](<a href=“The Onion | America's Finest News Source.”>The Onion | America's Finest News Source.)</p>

<p>hah! I got a good laugh out of that.</p>

<p>the onion is the best</p>

<p>T26E4 - thanks for the laughs!</p>

<p>If you are just a member of 2-4 clubs then that has less value than being a member of 10+ clubs. If you are, however, a president of the 4 clubs then that has more value than being in 10+ clubs. If you don’t have the time to joing 10+ clubs, that might be indicative of you doing something else of more value. Just become involved in those few clubs you do like( gain some position) and you’ll be fine. Chess club, Spanish Club and Key Club are just examples of things on the laundry list that people aren’t really involved in or presidents of. They just join them for college, and the don’t count for much without a leadership position.</p>

<p>Which is more impressive: President of Science Club or President of Rubik’s Cube Club?</p>

<p>What if the Science Club did nothing but meet once a month, but the President of the Rubik’s Cube club organized a regional Rubik’s Cube tournement that raised thousands of dollars for an educational charity?</p>

<p>What matters is what you achieve, not how many clubs you join or even what they are.</p>

<p>thanks guys for the input</p>

<p>I’m joining Interact club (volunteer hours), academic challenge, chess club, Spanish club, and asian student union (president, and I will rename it too)</p>

<p>aside from those clubs, I am also going to be in pit orchestra</p>

<p>that’s basically it. I plan to get seated positions in some of them, and they sort of show my interests. as you can see, no NHS, or Key club. </p>

<p>any input on my clubs?</p>

<p>Every Ivy leaguer is in NHS so I would def. join it. Also, key club gives you volunteer hours if you are interested. I know in many schools Spanish club and chess club don’t do anything so it might not be too helpful. Unless it is very inconvenient it is better to join a boatload of clubs because they are fun anyways. You can choose whether to put them on your app and there are few disadvantages.</p>

<p>breaker: not every Ivy leagurer is in NHS. NHS runs the gamut of being a vibrant club to being complete jokes at various high schools. I never joined mine. Why? I was too busy with other ECs and no one seriously recruited me. That’s all. I wasn’t a prestige hog nor a resume padder. NHS didn’t grab me, that’s all. I had no probs w/my Ivy applications.</p>

<p>To the OP and anyone else: join NHS if it interests you – not because you think you’re missing out. NHS affiliation is like being on the “honor roll”.</p>

<p>you all can just join NHS?? In my school we are chosen based on our grades and like leadership and service. stuff like that. then we have this interview and if you make it past that you can join. So yea, clubs are very different from school to school so just do something that interests you, not because you think it looks good. cuz honestly, what a waste of your time it would be to go to all those club events when you couldn’t give a crap about it.</p>