Few Leadership positions -> Top colleges

Applying to College
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<p>How much does it hurt if I only have one leadership position?</p>

<p>At my school, I am the president of Science Olympiad at my school. I have other leadership positions I guess, but I think they are more board positions, not really "leadership", more "organization" like I have mentor board. My only true leadership positions is SO.</p>

<p>I tried to run for other positions but our school has nearly 4,500 kids-gotta be biggest subraban school in the United States- so its impossible to get a leadership postition. How much will this hurt me? </p>

<p>I actually do stuff as president, unlike the president of many other clubs in other schools in the country (not all of course). However, is it going to hurt because my transcript reads that I have academically oriented activites, and I only have 1 leadership position, which I guess is not a good combination. I have activities like "newspaper programmer", "science olympiad", "biophysics research", "Symphony violin 10 hours/wk" and "physics intern" -->> all with a combination of 1 leadership..so it might look socially weird??? I mean I know many colleges dont like people like this anymore.</p>

<p>I dont play sports, not because I am bad, but because it is impossible to make the baseketball team at my school. I played middle school basketball at a 1,000 kid school, which means that if I went to a smaller high school, like with 1,000 kids, I might make their basketball team. I</p>

<p>ts not that I have social problems...its just impossible to get any other positions or even join clubs because our school is so big. To give you a prespective, our school has more athletic championships than the 9 other schools in our atheletic division combined</p>

<p>Do collegs take into consideration class size? Because I could have like 5 leadership positions, play 3 sports if I went to a 1,000 person size school. I also would stand out way more to teachers for teacher rec...I have 55 students in my Symphony orchestra class alone. How much do they take into consideration NUMBER of leadership positions, and also QUALITY.</p>

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<p>I meant VP same sry mistyped</p>

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<p>s_c,</p>

<p>I think it’s not about how many activities or positions you have but what you demonstrate and accomplish. This is where essays come into play. A naked “president” or “vice president” really means little but an essay about your accomplishments or innovations might mean a lot.</p>

<p>When you apply, talk about who you are and what you’ve done. Don’t dwell for a second on what could have been if you went to a smaller school. Admissions officers are sophisticated enough to understand that in a class of 1,000, the same person isn’t going to be quarterback, editor, student council president, and volunteer of the year.</p>

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<p>Leadership is a characteristic that admissions officers like, but remember that not everyone at the top schools is a leader. It’s fine if you’re not the best leader. Anyways, if you really want to showcase leadership, most colleges prefer to see recommendations / evidence that you were a good leader in high school.</p>