I am rising senior.
I will apply to some very selective schools, since I have high expectations, and I think I have pretty good ECs and GPA.
My ACT is not that good, but I will improve.
My concern is that I don’t have any kind of leadership position, from 9th to 11th grade total.
I tried very hard every year to get various leadership position such as science olympiad club president, physics research club president, student government association club vice president, dormitory floor leader, math club vice president, yearbook club vice president, and history club vice president.
I don’t know why I didn’t get a single position. Maybe the people here don’t like me, or I am genuinely a bad candidate for leader.
I even tried to make a film club, and it failed because not enough people gathered.
I didn’t try to get the leadership position just because of the benefit to college application. I genuinely wanted to do some of them (science olympiad, math club, physics research club), but some of them I was nervous of not getting any leadership position so I just applied without any passion (history club, yearbook, government association)
However, I am just curious if I will have some profound effect because of this, when I apply to college.
A lot of students in my class who are applying to some very selective schools have a least one leadership position, and I am the only one who doesn’t.
P.S. I know that some people still got into the highly selective colleges without any leadership positions, but they come from the minorities (latino, hispanic)
Try not to confuse “leadership” with “leadership positions”. If leadership is evident, through either your essays or your recommendations, then your lack of a title will be immaterial.
And even if there is absolutely no indication that you’re a leader, don’t despair. Even the most selective colleges understand that without good followers, leaders have no one to lead.
My kid had one leadership position, which meant nothing, and I am sure it was viewed as nothing. She was “fundrasing officer” for a club. She did well in the acceptance process, and I am 100% sure her “leadership” had zero impact. If colleges deny you, it is probably not due to leadership or lack of. Agree with the above advice, to lead by example.
@MadAstro, I think that you have missed the point about leadership and leadership positions. Selective colleges do indeed look to see what you have done with your time outside of your academic work, and they see leadership roles as evidence that you have been involved in something in a meaningful way. Usually, students are involved in an EC for several years and are then chosen for leadership roles- they don’t just show up and run for president of the group. When you say
either might be true- but it could also be simply that other people had contributed more to the group than you had. Why would the people who have been working on yearbook for 3 years- learning the jobs, doing the grunt work- vote in somebody for a leadership position who by their own admission was just looking to tick a box on a college app:
?
Finally, this:
-aside from being offensive and racist- is simply wrong. As the other posters have pointed out having a title on your application is not the only way to show that you have contributed to your community, nor is it the only way to show that you can and will take on responsibility for something beyond yourself. Your essays and recommendations can show that very well.
@collegemom3717
Well, I agree, but in terms of contribution, I think I am not inferior to anyone.
I was in science olympiad club from the beginning, and I went to every competition, I also won some awards, helped a lot of teams organize and prepare,… So forth.
Same in the math club.
And the one who got president was a newbie; he came into science olympiad club before 6 months, and he barely contributed, and he got the position.
Math club, the one who got the president position was very smart. He always got 1st place on regional/state math competition, however, he did not “contribute” to the club that much.
So, if you wanna talk about contribution, I pretty much did…
I have zero leadership positions and I will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall. Relax. It’s more about presenting what you did in the club than having a title.
With made up details, this is how you show leadership for Science Olympiad even if you don’t have a title:
"Science Olympiad, Grades 9-12. XYZ, ABC and QRS Award winner, worked with numerous teams helping them prepare for competitions, and helped organize teams by selecting members and arranging admission to competition. "
I do alumni interviews and if you tell me you were the President of the Basketweaving club, the first question is “What did you accomplish?”
Maybe the problem is that your expectations are over and above where you think you are statistically?
If your ACT is “not that good”, at the onset, why are you choosing schools who are known to admit students, with almost perfect scores, on the first try? How did you choose those schools?
You have a laundry list of ECs, which you already claim were not passions for you, except for the possibility of getting leadership positions. You don’t seem to understand the leadership qualities those expensive schools seek in their students. It is about quality, not quantity.