<p>“A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.”</p>
<p>It depends which clubs you join. You could waste your time with resume “boosters” (Do they even work? One would thing colleges would see right through them.), or you can spend your time doing worthwhile things, like Science Olympiad, FIRST Robotics, etc. </p>
<p>If your school has a theatre department, I guarantee that you will find something that interests you there. I use to think that theatre was just for theatre geeks, but there’s a ton of (varied) work that goes into a show. Besides the actual acting/singing, stage crew builds the set, musicians play the score, tech crew works the light and sound, and if you’re arts-and-crafty there are the props and costume departments. Your school may even allow you to get involved in the business side of things. If you are looking for a worthwhile way to spend your free time, check at your school’s next show.</p>
<p>At my school, yes, NHS hardly does anything - a few community service projects every other month, but Key Club is actually about the only club that does anything. It’s basically completely student-run; we volunteer at events around town about twice a month, and have ongoing donation collections. Although, I live in Houston, so that might mean that there are more volunteering activities in a large city? I’m a bit surprised at the rep Key Club seems to have, searching around on CC. I guess I’ll have to demonstrate that it’s an actual, substantial club on my app…I definitely do intend to continue community service through college and afterwards.</p>
<p>LOL davidthefat, the Key Club you described sounds like our Student Council. 
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And they have winter camps and leadership summits and all this other stuff…</p>
<p>When I saw the title, I though he was referring to nigh clubs. Oh well, what a disappointment.</p>
<p>The OP is correct for about 75% of the members in such clubs. My school’s NHS is full of people who care more about getting drunk at parties than actually helping people. But we also have a club about providing aid to homeless people, and they actually care about what they do–the girl in charge is one of the nicest people ever and I always see the members hard at work sorting donations and whatnot.</p>
<p>The problem, obviously, is not the clubs–it’s the people in them. And you can’t kill off all the phonies in the world, though I’m sure Holden Caulfield has tried. I just don’t bother joining NHS or anything like that because I know the environment is not conducive to volunteering or whatnot. I volunteer on my own time because I know what I stand for–you don’t need a club or certificate or whatnot to help people, ffs.</p>
<p>@kyoakyoa Exactly, I am in my robotics team… Just love it.</p>
<p>I think, like many people have said, you’re making the mistake of overgeneralizing by applying your experience with these clubs at your school to these clubs everywhere. For example, our California Scholarship Federation (CSF) club does peer-to-peer tutoring. Every member must do a certain number of hours each semester and maintain a certain GPA to stay in CSF–this is not to glorify the members but to make sure they will be competent tutors. There are some people in CSF who are doing because they think it will look good for college, but a lot of people (such as myself) enjoy tutoring others and helping out. And for many, I think it’s a combination–they know it won’t hurt their applications, and they also enjoy helping others and contributing to the community/school. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing–people who need help are getting it, and for free. So what if that has the side benefit of giving some selfish kid a slight resume boost?</p>
<p>I guarantee you, if colleges stated that these clubs had no pertainment to college admissions, all of these clubs would be empty or wouldn’t exist.</p>
<p>I doubt that 95% of the people in these clubs actually care about what they’re doing. In fact, 95% of the club members are doing the community service hours for personal benefit. It’ll boost their application and that’s about it.</p>
<p>I agree. Most of my friends joined Key Club and CSF for that nice sash they’ll get when they graduate and that Disneyland thing(and, of course, for college). I joined Key Club for a month or so and found out it was a complete waste of time because I was volunteering at events that I’m not even interested in.</p>
<p>Instead, I quit most of my clubs by the middle of November, including key club and am a now volunteer at a hospital and an after-school program for kids, an intern as a lab assistant for research, and a member of a research program at my school --all of these are things that I’m truly passionate about.</p>
<p>These clubs are ultimately what you make of them. If the students don’t take them seriously then obviously the progress, or lack of, will reflect that and thats such a loss for everything the students and the community can gain</p>