I was thinking of creating a club at my school and I was just wondering how good it looks. Could it make the difference between getting accepted if I have no other leadership positions? I’m planning on applying to Rutgers NB, and want to get into the honors college, not just an honors program.
Starting a club is not a big deal in an of itself. It is really all about what you do. A student can do great things at a club that exists and that can be a more valuable EC than starting a club that doesn’t do much of anything. Certainly if there is a club you want to start because you are passionate about something that doesn’t exist at your HS then go for it - be sure you have a plan, goals etc. for the club – but don’t start a club simply because you think it looks good to colleges.
@happy1 I am pretty passionate about the club that I want to create. It’d be a creative writing club. When you say it matters what you do, do you mean in terms of helping the community overall, like fundraising?
It doesn’t have to be fundraising – if it is a creative writing club perhaps you could come out with some kind of literary journal, sponsor a poetry contest, tutor young elementary school writers etc. It is good to aim for something that will be a definitive accomplishment of the group.
@happy1 do you think a literary journal would conflict or be too similar if there’s already a school newspaper? I was thinking the club would focus more on short stories and novel writing. In general, in the writing community, there’s a month where people all over the world attempt to finish a novel or reach a designated word count in a month. I’m not sure if doing a contest with that would count. Or maybe a short story contest would work out too. Thanks for the ideas by the way.
Starting clubs and businesses seems relatively popular on CC.
Our HS has a literary journal as well as a newspaper. The literary journal is poems/short stores etc. and comes out only once year. Anyway, that was just one suggestion – sounds like you have other good ideas. Best of luck with it.
If you create a club, you need to make sure it is not a club of 1.
You also need to make sure that it is not just your acquaintances, nor self-serving.
Many of my students would probably not have time for this kind of club because they already have intense writing assignments for their AP classes.
If you need suggestions, your ASB advisor would have some good suggestions. They usually have the rules of creating a club, fees and general membership, and funding requirements. You also need to find out about the treasurer responsibilities and how you deposit to your joint account.
@“aunt bea” Yeah. I realize that most students do have a lot of classes it wouldn’t have much time for writing. Which is why I was thinking of doing short stories but your probably still correct, thanks for the advice
You have any experience writing that makes you think you can effectively lead this? And Nanowrimo is no tip. 50k isn’t even usual novel length and quality matters more than just writing.
I created something like this in high school and, with the help of a couple of teachers, met with a group of students once every few weeks to workshop pieces (prose or poetry). We also occasionally hosted lit nights at a local coffee shop where we read our work. Once the coffee shop put us in contact with local adult writers and we had a joint reading.
The club was separate from the school’s lit mag, which already existed, but but there was both a lit mag and a newspaper.
I think starting a club is great! I was nervous to do it, esp as a senior (thinking it would look bad to colleges), but I’ve never regretted it. I brought recycling back to my school and get to spend 30 min twice a week talking with my friends as we collect recycling. It’s also something I’m proud of and have used at multiple interviews as an example of my leadership and dedication. I did have to do a bit of research, convince my principal and staff, and earn $500 from the community for supplies, but I found that there are a lot of nonprofit organzations willing to help.
Maybe look up other local writing organzations for ideas/field trips? and definitely get in touch with your school newspaper and lit magazine so your club members have a place to submit all their writing. I think it would be fine to encourage all sorts of writing, including poetry. (Isn’t the lit mag just a submission and editing club? Or do they create all their poetry there?) I also recommend learning what other schools do at their creative writing club by asking friend from neighboring schools and other students on here. You should be prepared to pitch your club.
Make sure that the club has guildlines for how often to meet, and try not to be too boring or time consuming. Also before doing anything else, you should have a few english teachers in mind and ask if one of them would even have time/be willing to be your sponsor.
As an introvert and relatively unconfident student, I struggled a lot to not give up every time my club proposal was denied. Hopefully you don’t have this problem, but if you do, just keep thinking back on your motivations for starting the club. You will be so proud afterwards to see your peers working together, your dream coming true, the club’s picture in the yearbook!!, etc. So don’t let anyone discourage you if you truly feel passionate abt this!
@agentaquastar Thanks for the reply 
I am pretty introverted and I’m afraid that my club maybe rejected because theres a club that critiques art and writing, but I feel the club I would be creating would be different from that. It’s cool that you actually got all that funding for the recycling club. Do you host elections for club president and stuff like that?
No, I’m just the pres since I founded it and have put the most effort into leading each meeting and managing the remind. I haven’t figured out how it will be in the coming years, but I want to make sure that the students who helped out the most are leading the club next year. My club is very relaxed and we like it that way. It will probably be different for your club, so make sure you work it out.
Make sure you clearly backup your argument for why your club is unique, if they ask. Don’t tell me why you “think” it’s different; tell me why you “know” it’s different. But even if your club gets rejected, this experience will only help you in the future (interviews ask when you’ve failed in smth, etc). You can prove your dedication to creative writing by what you choose to do after: continue to write on your own or with a group of friends, join one of those competing clubs you talked abt or a local muse/writing group in your community, etc
-passion and commitment can be just as/more important than being president of a club! and don’t give those up just bc you’ve failed in one small attempt.