@two girls Here are some activities and leadership positions I have.
Activities:
Environmental Protection Club (9-12)/(10-12)
Gardening Helper/Tutor (9-12)
Caldwell Nursery Job (10-12)/(11-12)
Park Volunteering (11-12)
Monarch Butterfly Garden Volunteer (10-12)
Wildflower Hour (11-12) Leader
Project Garden (11-12) Leader
Citizen Climates’ Lobby Intern (11-12)
Pollinator Garden (11-12) Volunteer
WC Community Garden/Care of Park Branch Brook Park (11-12) Volunteer
Young Mulchers of West Caldwell (10-12) Founder
The list will be shorter to make sure I have 10 activities. Wildflower Hour is a project I started in my local library where I’m making a wildflower bed and I want other people in the community to help out. Project Garden is a project I’m going to start next year, where I want to expand my school’s garden, try to get people to help out, and try to expand this to other schools. Young Mulchers of West Caldwell is a business my friends and I are doing this summer where we ask people if they need help mulching. Prob going to get a leadership position for EPC next year also.
Your list of activities looks good, but long. How involved are you in each of these activities? I wouldn’t worry so much about the number of activities; I would focus on a few that you really enjoy and try to become deeply involved.
The word “leader” is not that important. What is important is what you do.
Are you a rising junior? Remember to craft a list of schools that includes safeties and matches. I remember your list being very reachy.
@twogirls I know, these are just activities I have now and I will give it in a Common App format for next year when I start my applications in July. By leader, I mean founder and project coordinator.
Your projects sound like variations of the same thing. What’s the point of just having all these gardening projects to get people to help you? Why can’t you have a single garden that has butterfly-attracting plants, pollinator plants, wildflowers, while pursuing environmental awareness in the garden? Isn’t mulching important to all those things? Are you applying to a horticulture, agriculture, or botany program at a particular school? It sounds to me like you’re trying a little too hard to fill your list with activities and that you think you need to have a “spike.”
How much meaningful time do you spend at all these activities? What is your goal and what duties have you taken on as leader? Remember that you should be thinking about the sustainability of these projects once you leave school too. Is there an adult mentor who is involved with this?
@Lindagaf I talked to numerous people who attend great schools and they say that a spike is what going to make you stand out. Why would I join numerous clubs I don’t like just to be “well rounded” which makes people get rejected from these schools?
@Lindagaf Yes there are adult mentors but I’m doing most of the advertising for people who want volunteer hours. I would do one garden but there are numerous gardens where I live.
@Lindagaf Also, I don’t think anyone would do something in high school if it is to get into college, unless you’re a three sport athlete, join every club in your school, be part of Math Team, Science Olympiad, and English National Honor Society to try to be “well rounded” which I’m not??? and everyone who goes to great schools says you should focus on the stuff you like and try to make the most out of your passion with the resources available to you, which I am.
“Numerous people” are overrating the importance of a spike.
You should not join clubs just for the sake of joining clubs. Nor should you try to be something you’re not. Going back to my earlier comment (with a twist), “numerous people” are overrating the importance of being well-rounded.
Many colleges look to build a well-rounded class. Some of those students will be well-rounded themselves, while others may have a spike. But I doubt that any kid is admitted solely because of the spike (although it may help,assuming everything else is within range).
But I think what @Lindagaf is saying, and I agree, is that many of these clubs seem to be a variation of a theme. Maybe they’re not, but founding one solid club is better than founding 3 clubs that don’t do much. And founding/joining a lot of clubs may raise the question of how time can one physically devote to each. More does not equal better. And a title can be meaningless.
NHS doesn’t matter as their requirements vary from school to school. However, if it’s a productive organization at your school, I would recommend joining for activity and tassel. You should mention it on your application, unless you have superior stuff to replace it.
National Merit Scholar or National/State AP Scholars should be mentioned proudly as those are the highest academic awards in this country. As far as National merit commended or basic AP Scholar designations go, probably every other applicant at good colleges has those so no big deal.
State AP scholars are unlikely to be any rising seniors, since this is based upon the highest number of exams. National AP Scholar requires 8 AP exams, so it’s possible for a rising senior to have. Whether that’s the best use of one of the limited number boxes given that scores are self-reported on the application and all AOs know how to count is a different question.
Their admissions website has a number of other good articles which are applicable to colleges other than MIT. I’d read through some of them before relying solely on current students.
For selective colleges, applicant’s job is to differentiate themselves from other applicants, whether through essays, ECs, LORs, SES, etc. NHS status would not be able to do that. But it is an honor.
You seem to be very interested in highly selective schools that have low acceptance rates. I think it’s fine to apply, but you also need realistic choices.
I think you have too many clubs/activities with the same general theme. 2 clubs of this sort should be sufficient, with the intention of being deeply involved in them. There is a lot of overlap here...young mulchers with project gardening etc. Most of these activities are repetitive. That is what I meant when I said that your list looked long, but I suppose I didn’t communicate that clearly.
Why do you need a club totally devoted to mulching? Can’t members learn about mulching while volunteering at the park?
A laundry list of activities won’t matter. It looks like you are spreading yourself too thin in an effort to impress.
Gaining acceptance to highly selective schools doesn’t happen by creating long lists of what you think schools want to see, or by developing many clubs as a rising junior in areas that you think are of interest to you now ( or in recent history). You have to be YOU, you have to naturally do what YOU love, what drives YOU etc. Then, as a rising senior, you can apply to schools that are the right fit.
Wanting to major in environmental science or something similar does not require such a long list of overlapping activities.
To be inducted into NHS, in general you need the four pillars: Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character.
Guess what colleges are looking for? Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character.
So NHS is a way of the school honoring the students who excel in those four pillars. That is a very good thing! We honor football players and band members and such…let’s also honor academics!
Also, parents love to see their children publicly honored.
But the “Title” of NHS is not necessary. But those other things are.
@domt73 I may be wrong …but to me it feels as though you are forcing an application by checking boxes off of a list. The students I know who attend/attended schools that you are interested in…did not do this ( I am sure some do). Things just evolved naturally over the course of their schooling, with guidance provided when necessary.
Remember…there are lots of great schools out there.