<p>I lost the election to be a freshman representative next year, and I'm really disappointed. The only upside is that I don't have to give up an elective to be in student council. I really wanted to be in it (enough to give up an elective obviously) though. It's made me wonder if I should focus on other things or continue to be hung up on this. So does student council even matter? Will not being in it be held against me?</p>
<p>Top colleges really want to see students involved in their own student government, unless you appeal your loss somehow this could be bad.</p>
<p>You don’t have to be sarcastic. -_-</p>
<p>Student council is a pretty cut-and-dry extracurricular. It gives you bonus points on your app, but not much since pretty much everybody and their grandmother is on student council. Use this opportunity to find yourself a more unique and defining EC. :)</p>
<p>Student council in most schools is absolutely useless. In small schools you can actually sometimes make stuff happen, which is way I tried to run for president at my school. I lost by a tiny margin even though I was by far the superior candidate (the other guy abdicated this semester) merely because democracy ensures mediocrity. I asked the president of the student government at my school to get more ping-pong balls and they told me to send them an email. Then when I asked about it a couple days later they told me that they would have to discuss it next week in a meeting. Seriously? They need to have a meeting to spend $20 to get ping-pong balls when they don’t spend the budget on anything ever. More bureaucratic than the DMV.</p>
<p>Thanks. Just the answer I needed. 
While on the subject of ECs, are sports all that important? I don’t really like to go out into the sun so that kind of eliminates a bunch of sports.</p>
<p>I think from what I’ve read on CC and heard in various other places is that colleges don’t care so much that you’ve dipped your feet in every EC offered, but that you find something you are deeply passionate about and are able to convey that passion to them.</p>
<p>Sports are just like any EC. If you participate them, great! If you don’t, that’s fine as well.</p>
<p>Student council is really just a popularity contest. If you’re not on student council, you’re definitely not losing brownie points. You don’t need to participate in all the good EC’s.</p>
<p>I lost my bid to be freshman class officer. Honestly, it’s no big deal; just try again next year. Even though student council typically doesn’t do much, it’s still a good extracurricular to have since it offers many leadership opportunities.</p>
<p>However, don’t stress out too much.</p>
<p>My student council does absolutely nothing but make announcements nd hold like one bake sale every two months.</p>
<p>Student council’s what you make of it. Simply having it on your application will impress no one. However, it’s really just like any other extracurricular- if you dedicate time to it and it’s a major part of your life, it will stand out more. If it’s just another club you’ve passively joined, there’s nothing impressive about that.</p>
<p>Also, student council isn’t “just a popularity contest” everywhere.</p>