<p>Right. Well to all above, I’ll try and put my thoughts in a thorough explanation… hopefully it’s not too boring, but really I put a lot of effort into this so please read it. </p>
<p>To start, I’ll clarify by saying I’m not talking about leadership as in “assistant to the assistant secretary” sort of nonsense. I’m also not discounting significant accomplishments in a particular endeavor without a name or title to them, for example a student who competes in archery on the national level in his/her free time. What I am saying is that, from I’ve seen and assume, the OP doesn’t look like someone who is independently doing an activity or extracurricular in an extraordinary amount of depth, and that he/she is a part of a few clubs, contributes to them decently, but fails to win office or hold a title. In that case, I do think having a leadership position and contributing significantly would be best for the OP, since usually the two go hand in hand. </p>
<p>To elaborate, I can give you a personal example. I joined my school’s speech and debate team as a freshman with very little passion or dedication other than the routine attendance of tournaments. I didn’t go above and beyond to do well my freshman year, and that obviously showed. My sophomore year was when things really hit off and I switched speech events and found my niche and fell in love with my activity. I tried harder to do well, researched the fine nuances of the activity online, watched videos, practiced heavily, talked to other competitors, etc. I finalled at states that year and won presidency of my club for my junior year and senior year, which I mainly attribute to the fact that I was a rising star on the team who was dedicated to helping others and pursuing my own passion for the activity. That summer I went by myself to a summer program that would train me for my junior year season, and that season I won many accolades at national and state level tournaments, most of which I went to independently (again, not to toot my own horn but I went above and beyond what was expected of me and of people on my team because I truly enjoyed what I was doing). And all the while, I was helping promote my team and making it the most successful and closely knit it has ever been in my school’s history. We all became such close friends, holding dinners at one another’s homes, etc. So not only did I win accolades that rival those of competitors at much more competitive schools with huge teams and a large endowment, but I also became president and in doing so I was able to not only improve myself but also transform the entire dynamic of our school’s program. I accomplished similar things with our school’s publications by showing tremendous interest and dedication in the beginning, earning the leadership positions, going above and beyond in my own free time to invest myself in each activity, and then making each publication the best it’s been in our school history, all the while winning awards and solidifying my leadership of the staff. </p>
<p>So in a nutshell:
Leadership <-> Accomplishment <-> Passion all go hand in hand. It is possible to have the accomplishments and passion without the leadership, but it is very difficult to do so in school activities, like the clubs you mention. Oftentimes, having a title or an award that is specific and tangible is much more easily grasped on a college application that is browsed over within the span of a few minutes. And this pertains to ALL activities. Putting in forty hours into dance a week might be impressive, but unfortunately, at the end of the day, no one will know how truly accomplished you were in this activity if you have nothing to show for it. College admissions officers will be able to quickly recognize or understand the scope of your commitment to an activity if you have “Editor-in-Chief” or “President” alongside a significant amount of hours per week. This allows them to dig deeper and fully realize the depth of your accomplishments. (I had roughly ~30 hours per week, ~20 hours per week, and ~18 hours per week for my top three activities. Hours do matter.). The title is not everything. It’s just an easier way for you to facilitate the change and progress you wish to see in whatever school activity you want to do, and to efficiently capture/summarize your dedication to a particular extracurricular. Let me put it this way: when you try to explain to the someone 10 years down the road what you “did” in high school, you would say: “I was Valedictorian and a National Merit Finalist. I was also President of Key Club and the Student Body President.” You wouldn’t say something ambiguous and intangible, such as: “I had a good GPA and did well on the PSAT, and I also participated in all of Key Club’s events and was a big part of student council.”</p>
<p>Leadership is not necessary. But Princeton, as do most colleges, want the leaders of tomorrow. How will you show that you are capable of influencing others, of making a difference in society, or of solving difficult problems without demonstrating your potential as a leader in high school? Solution: Find a genuine passion and stick to it. You can’t force leadership. It will come naturally.</p>