<p>In the past few weeks at my school, we've been having elections for different clubs. Well, I noticed that the majority (almost everyone really) of people elected weren't the most qualified candidates by any means. It came down to things like who had more friends or who was prettier. A touch shallow, right? While my leadership positions do exist, I'm just wondering if this is something others have experienced or is it unique to my school? And do colleges realize that leadership positions mean that you're popular, not necessarily a good leader?</p>
<p>It happens in the real world too, get used to it.</p>
<p>good leaders are popular</p>
<p>I understand your perspective. Sometimes it seems that the most popular people have the most leadership positions, even if they aren’t necessarily the most qualified. Hopefully, in an ideal situation, students would vote for those who would do the best job and work the hardest etc etc. But I guess, and I know from experience - that doesn’t always happen. Luckily for me most clubs at my school weren’t student-voted upon; I was selected by either faculty and administration or by a club’s previous leaders who noticed my determination and appreciated my hard work. Look for clubs like that, and when in doubt, you can always start your own club to prove your leadership skills. good luck, and don’t let this tear you down. In the real word, while popularity still exists, people are much more appreciated for their originality, hard work, and passion than in high school, where a reputation for smarts or zeal for academics may actually work against you at times.</p>
<p>Just do the best that you can. I did not have any leadership positions at my school due to the same popularity thing that you mentioned, but I do not think it greatly impacted my college apps. I showed my dedication to my clubs, instead, by qualifying for the state competitions and in other ways. I also held a leadership position outside of my school.</p>
<p>My sister’s best friend is a regional rep from a top 20 school and I asked her about this. She told me that schools aren’t impressed by club positions since they know often it has nothing to do with merit. She told me that she’d much rather see an accomplished varsity athlete or musician or artist because those relate to talent. So don’t worry about it. Being a leader doesn’t help and not being one doesn’t hurt.</p>
<p>^^^^ I don’t think I have ever heard that before, ever. “Leadership positions don’t matter.”</p>
<p>I served as President of 4 different clubs. Maybe my school is different, but I go to a public high school in NJ with 1300 kids. I am by no means popular, I was just very active and passionate in the club, and I had qualities that showed I could lead. I often hear the popularity comment from kids who just lack the ability to lead in a club, since clubs are specific organizations that kids choose to be part of. When it comes to school wide student government, I would agree that it is often popularity, because all students are required to sit through speeches and vote, and they vote for the most popular.</p>
<p>Yes, getting a leadership position often depends on popularity. Yes, sometimes through no fault of your own you just aren’t popular enough. But that’s how leadership positions work in all of life, and it doesn’t mean that the people who have the positions didn’t deserve them.</p>
<p>Popularity often leads to real world success. Colleges are trying to assess who will be successful. Believe me, the guy who gets the promotion at work is often not the most qualified but the most successful political animal.</p>
<p>I agree with those who say it’s time to get used to it. In the real world, people don’t vote for others whom people view as unlikeable. People vote for the person whom they like best even if that means the least qualified person gets the office.</p>
<p>Think about it: Elections campaigns require many volunteers and donors. Who is going to work for free or donate money to a candidate that they don’t like?</p>
<p>As Redroses said, the same is true in the work world. While a total incompetent is unlikely to get a promotion, a person who is well liked may get a promotion or a job over someone who is an excellent worker, but not liked very much.</p>
<p>Eliyahu2123, you misquoted me, but I don’t care. Being an officer in a club won’t get you far on its own. You need to show a true interest in something. Leadership skills are important to schools but being president of a stupid high school club doesn’t necessarily reflect on that skill. In our school we often vote against people, not so much for people. In this year’s Chemistry Club election, we got together and voted for a foreign exchange student who doesn’t speak English well. Many clubs are a big joke and schools know it.</p>
<p>While I agree that in the real world it has more to do with popularity, but it’s a different type of popularity. There’s a difference between real world popularity and high school popularity. While I understand the mantra of “get used to it” when the leadership positions go to those that are the prettiest and not even remotely qualified, it’s rather irksome. Especially since, as someone said before, qualities like intelligence and a good work ethic work agaisnt you in high school. Someone also said that popular people make good leaders. I don’t know who the “popular” people are at your school, but they’re not the same as the ones at mine. The ones at my school are the pretty, skinny, dumb party girls. They also have GPAs of 2.7 and zero work ethic. While there are exceptions, they are just that, exceptions. Picture Mean Girls.</p>
<p>I’m not sure you quite get the point. The world isn’t always fair; the people who get leadership positions are viewed more highly, and those people are not necessarily the most qualified.</p>
<p>I understand that. I can comprehend that the world isn’t fair. I’m not so naive as to expect the world to conform to the idealistic notions of a sixteen year old. What I would like to know, however, is how to remedy a situation that seems unfixable. How does one go about obtaining leadership positions when one is not pretty, skinny, and does not play field hockey? It seems to be the general consensus on this forum that leadership positions are highly valued by colleges, however, as people have stated on this thread, leadership positions are more indicative of popularity. How does one obtain meaningful leadership positions?</p>
<p>There are lots of popular kids at our high school who are not the thinest or prettiest. Not sure that high school and real world popularity are so different. Becoming well liked is an art worth studying.</p>
<p>“Becoming well liked is an art worth studying.”</p>
<p>I agree :)</p>
<p>I guess our high schools are just different. At mine it’s completely dependant on superfical factors like beauty and weight instead of kindness or people geuninely enjoying being around you. It’s awful. It’s like something out of Mean Girls or Gossip Girl. Genuinely miserable. Perhaps it’s partially due to the fact that I go to an all-girls private school.</p>
<p>Did I mention my daughter is Blair Waldorf:)</p>
<p>That would be rather miserable, having Blair Waldorf as a daughter…</p>
<p>I guess all I’ve learned from this is that every single high school is different and this question was pointless because each situation is different. Lovely.</p>
<p>Colleges are smart if they choose candidates that are “popular,” meaning candidates that people like.</p>
<p>While the people on student government at my school are often popular, there are also some people who are not very popular on student government because people felt they were qualified to do the job. Also, I go to a large school, so sometimes people don’t really know the candidates. In a specific club, they often vote for whoever gives the best speeches. And because I go to a large school, the “popular kids”–the kids who drink and party and all that–are a small percentage of the population. So they can’t get elected on popularity alone, because their friends–the people who will vote for them–are not a majority.</p>
<p>Admittedly my school is a bit different because we’re a “nerd school”–a public magnet high school where you have to have good grades and score well on a test to get in. But I’d assume the popularity issue is somewhat mitigated at a large school by the school’s size.</p>
<p>Unfortunately you go to a private school, so I’d assume it’s rather small. But surely there are clubs the popular kids don’t join–i.e. math club–where the members will likely be less popular kids and where you might have a pretty good chance of being elected on merit?</p>