How important is joining clubs? What clubs are you in and what do they do?
From a university standpoint, being in clubs is only important if you have a leadership role in them or have founded them. At my HS they didn’t do much, people just created them and joined for the leadership positions, then they didn’t do shit all year. Just my opinion/experience, though.
Yeah, some form of “award farming” is present in most clubs (I know in Model UN, you learn to fear the “gavel hunter”), but that’s just the way things go. Some people will always be extremely competitive.
When joining clubs, follow your interests, and don’t be afraid to fall from the beaten path. I promise you every university you apply to will have seen thousands of Model UN/Debate/Language Club/Chess Team members.
You definitely want to become a part of SOMETHING. Whether or not it’s a club is up to you. Ultimately, you just want to pursue something that you’re interested in with as much depth as possible. A lot of people find that in a club, others create their own organizaitions, etc. It’s really up to you. Don’t be so worried about college admissions. Just be sure that whatever you do, you do it with passion and depth. Ultimately, IMHO, that’s what colleges are really looking at.
It’s good to be in at least one club, it makes your application stand out. It’s true that they’re a lot more important if you have a leadership roll.