<p>A poster on another top college's forum asked for suggestions on a non-profit club that he/she could start with some friends. I'm going to make a broad assumption but here goes:</p>
<p>they want to start a new club (as opposed to signing up for 10 hours a week at the nursing home, for instance) because they think it'll appear more impressive to top colleges</p>
<p>Whaddya think?</p>
<p>Here's what I think about it. What's that crumpling noise in the background? Resumes being padded? Yes? I think so.</p>
<p>Here's the real deal. Clubs or organizations that get started by impressive individuals get started because the individuals saw a need that wasn't being met and rallied people to the cause. If you wanna start a club, ask yourself this: is it already being done well? If so, why don't you join?</p>
<p>Is the club/activity/cause something you would do if no college ever found out? If yes, then you're impressive. If not? Meh.</p>
<p>Agreed. thank you for posting this.
Honestly i havnt gotten credit for a LOT of things I’ve coordinated (fundraisers, senior gifts, rallies, etc.), but I dont care. I’m happy with my highschool experience, and thats what counts. Trust me, every single thing I joined for the entire purpose of helping my college app I quit within a year. Its so much more enjoyable to do something from your heart rather than that nagging college voice in your head.</p>
<p>It’s called ambition man. They get to do some good in their community AND pad their resume? They’re shootin 2 racoons with one bullet… More power to them</p>
<p>Padding resumes is perfectly acceptable. Starting a club looks nice on it’s own, and you automatically get a leadership role to add to your resume. Plus you’re probably doing some good, whether or not you care about it, and whether or not a similar club already exists.</p>
<p>I would have had zero hours of community service if my school didn’t require me to or it didn’t look good on college applications. On the other hand, I would have started the music club anyway. I don’t see what’s the big deal about this, if they started it with no passion, they would not accomplish anything impressive (just like my squeezed out community service hours). I think I got some things done in the music club, on the other hand.</p>
<p>When I interview students who started a club, I always ask about why they started a new club instead of joining one of the many organizations doing the same thing in our area. Non-profit proliferation is a plague in our community of hyper, college bound students - all of whom have stumbled on this little tactic as a way to get a leadership role without having to actually be a leader. I expect whomever I interview to have a good explanation for why their interest in a particular area couldn’t be met elsewhere and to show some significant accomplishments - otherwise, I assume it’s resume padding and discount it as such. Other interviewers and admissions officers are on to this as well, so it isn’t impressing anyone.</p>