<p>I don't have any leadership positions in anything yet (activities I chose really have seniors and rare juniors for leadership). I'm in a lot of musical activities, which I enjoy. People say leadership is good because it shows committment, but then wouldn't the musical activities I'm in show committment:
-Orchestra
-Marching Band
-Small Ensemble Band
-Advanced Concert Band
-County Band
-Pit Orchestra
I know I will get leaderhip in marching band and orchestra, as there have been subtle hints. Even without leadership, wouldn't this show my committment (I really do like them. I wouldn't do them if it was just for college, and doing only academics would suck)? </p>
<p>I'm also in Model U.N. (possible youth secretariat) and Latin Club (toss up, as although I'm the only one in my grade taking it, I have to take a bus to the other high school in my district, so the Latin coordinator at my school doesn't really know me well), and I'm joining Latin Honors Society.</p>
<p>Later, I may do school newspaper, mathletes, and some other things, though I do need to get community service, if only I could find the time. I'm also doing a college summer science program at UPenn. My PSAT is decent, though I'd like to get it up for my junior year (190 currently), and I ended up with an 800 on an SAT2, which hopefully will make me stand out (yes, I know many here get 800s, but this is probably the smartest high school forum you'll find, so that's definitely not representative of everyone applying to top schools). </p>
<p>So how am I doing so far, and how will my committment (rather than leadership) look for college?</p>
<p>I think you're doing great if you can juggle all of those music activities at the same time. I had it pretty busy going to school orchestra, community orchestra, jazz band, and lessons at the same time. As a good concertmaster or drum major, you'd have a significant leadership role in holding both your section and the ensemble together.</p>
<p>I did about the same as you PSAT-wise, but my SAT's were far more important, and yours seem to be great as well. </p>
<p>It's best that you be committed to activities that you enjoy and feel strongly about, rather than struggle to become president of every club in your school to show colleges that you're a leader. If you like what you do enough, you'll naturally be a frontman in that activity, especially in music.</p>
<p>Yeah, it's very hard to juggle all those things around, but its worth it. I believe that technically I was the concertmaster for the concert band since I was 1st chair clarinet. I know that for marching band I'll get section leader, but for officer I don't know; it's pretty competitive. However, if I get section leader in my junior year (if my friend who would get section leader gets officer instead), I could show what I'm capable of. My orchestra teacher likes me and he told me he'd give me 1st chair. He told my mom he sees good things for me, so that's always good. </p>
<p>The only thing that would take away from the above is maturity. I'm mature, but sometimes I just get caught doing things that are not good (i.e., calling a teacher an idiot when he's standing right behind me. he's not associated with it anymore though, but you get the idea). I think everything should turn out fine though. Drum major is based a lot on popularity. I'm semi-popular, though there are people more popular than me. Then again, most of those people suck at music.</p>
<p>In your applications, the only way for you to show them that your commitment to music is both mature and assertive is through your essay. An essay where your words reflect your interests would suit you better than if you were president of 15 clubs but those roles showed no impact in your essay. Where are you applying? Are you considering a major in music?</p>
<p>Right now I'm really just starting to seriously think about colleges, particularly because of the UPenn summer program I'm doing. That'll be my first real college experience (though I'm commutting), so if I like it, I'll apply, as it is a good school and in a good location for me, as I'll be relatively close to home and friends, not to mention that Philly is very central, so it's relatively easy to get to New York, the Jersey Shore, and Washington D.C. I'll be applying to the more selective schools, with the most selective schools as my reaches (though they're really reaches for anyone). I think I heard that it's new that extracurriculars aren't going on the transcripts anymore because of people who join tons of clubs just for the sake of the transcript. Unfortunately, my school did not clarify this well. Does this happen for all schools now? I doubt that I'll major in music, though that's not to say I won't continue on with it. I enjoy science, which is why I'm doing the summer science program. Everyone keeps telling me "patent law" as a career, as it is a good, secure job which requires background in science, particularly chemistry, physics, and engineering. </p>
<p>I've heard people complaining about how they have to show extracurriculars through the essay, and I really have no idea what I want to write the essay about. All I know is that I don't want it to sound trite or corny, which is probably the hardest part. The one thing about marching band that sticks out is a problem that I have with marching. Basically, my hip is inserted in it's socket the wrong way, which cases my right foot to stick out. This does not look as bad as it sounds, as it really looks like my feet are placed like this: I /
This makes me walk in a weird way and not in a straight line. So, because of this, I have problems marching, especially in a straight line. However, I still wanted to make everything look good, so when I would walk, I would take my right foot and swing it around in midstep in order to get it to align to my left foot, which did end up hurting. However, I was able to improve and actually gain more control when marching, it is was good that I could do that. I guess this shows persistence, but I don't know if it would sound corny or not. For all I know, someone could interpret this as an "if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything essay," which would suck. How unique does this sound anway?</p>
<p>I'd think that flat-out turning such an experience into a "persevere and be great" message is a bit trite, and would not be fitting a unique circumstance such as yours. I'd turn your problem into a funny essay that reflects how much you like marching band, despite any discomforts. I'm reminded of a terrible crack on one of my friends at my old school, because she had the same predicament as you, except it was in her knee, and she was a soccer player. They said "So...if you run really fast, do you end up running in a circle?" Given the geometric qualities of marching formation, I'm sure you could say something amusing about it.</p>
<p>Does it matter whether you write a formal or informal essay? I think that my goal with thinking of what to write should be so I can't categorize my essay into a common theme (try hard, be thankful for what you have, etc.), so that it is highly original. I'm just glad that I still have over a year of more experiences before writing my essay. Another thing that I could write about, but would once again be trite would be getting a resolution passed by myself in model U.N. almost unanimously (only Sudan dissented :P) in my first year (this happened in January). It was a good experience (also a reason why I can get youth secretariat), but I think it would probably follow under that "persevere and be great" category that so many boring essays fall under. I'm just so happy that I won't have to do this for a while, but it's always good to start thinking about it early. </p>
<p>I'm probably gonna go to bed now; I got myself tired from talking about school too much, which I've gotta stop doing before I go crazy.</p>