I had a question regarding leadership and extra curricular activities and leadership positions.
I’m an upcoming sophomore and I’m not exactly the most popular kid in school. So if I apply for leadership positions in clubs and what not. I probably will not get in. But I do have positions in other places such as patrol leader in boy scouts and host some events for the place I volunteer at. Do those match up to say, secretary or treasurer of a club.
Also. What If I theoretically explain how I demonstrate leadership skills and how that applies to my daily life , instead of just saying “I held a leadership position in so and so club.”
For Leadership, it is not the title but what you do in that position. Showing leadership in your daily life is perfectly acceptable. Also remember Leadership is only a small part of the UC application and not required. Grades, Course rigor and personal insight essays are going to have a greater impact.
I also agree that many club leadership positions are a popularity contest and adcoms know this. Embrace the leadership options outside school instead.
I would add that UCs are focused first on GPA, test scores, course rigor far more than EC and leadership. Strong ECs and leadership won’t compensate for a below avg GPA.
Here’s the admission criteria directly from the UC system.
To be competitive at LA and SD, you will need a UCGPA above 4.2 plus decent test scores no matter the quality/quantity of your ECs. So, if those are your target schools, carefully select ‘hard’ courses in which you are confident you’ll excel. Spend more time on your GPA than your ECs…
That’s a recipe that makes lots of young people pretty miserable. If you were my kid, I’d counsel you to not focus on such a narrow list of selective schools at this point. Engage as much as you can in your school community and spend time doing what you like while maintaining a decent GPA and you’ll be happier AND there will be lots of educational opportunities available post HS.
I agree to focus on the activities that interest you and you will be fine. Also do not get into the “dream” school mentality and find a diverse list of colleges that you would be happy to attend.
First, there is a difference between Leadership and Leadership Positions. They are not the same thing at all. The elected president of the club has a leadership position. The person in the club who everybody can rely on, who is the person who the members turn to for advice, etc, is as much of a leader as the president or the treasurer.
However, there is no “need” for leadership. As an anecdote, my nephew was accepted to all the UCs, including both UCLA and Berkeley, and he had no leadership positions at all. He had band, some minor club activity, and he worked in a lab in UCR for two summers. His stats were excellent, though.