I am doing a lot of other extracurriculars, but if anyone knows what ‘Relay for Life’ is, do you think this would be an important program to join when it comes to college applications? Is this something colleges look for? A lot of my friends are doing it, but it seems more like a social thing. Again, I am doing other extracurriculars/clubs but would this be something really helpful to also join?
I feel like Relay for Life is something that you’re supposed to do if you’re interested in and want to support the community of people affected by cancer. So if you’re doing this just to get into college, don’t do it. It doesn’t say anything about you or what you actually like to do.
You are already doing other things that you care about more; focus on those. It’s not that helpful for getting into college.
Reay for Life is supposed to be helpful for people with cancer, not kids trying to get into fancy schools.
^^^I agree. Short of being an Olympian, a recruited athlete etc. no one activity will make or break an application. Participate in Relay for Life if you feel it is a worthy cause and a valuable use of your time not because it could possibly give you the slightest edge on a college application.
@snarlatron Sorry that came across the wrong way. I do believe that aspect is the most important and I support that, but I was just wondering if it was still something important to include on college apps. I don’t mean to belittle the actual cause in replacement of an edge to be accepted into college. I apologize if it seemed like that.
Are you there to support? If you had organized the event then I believe it would be worthy enough to put, but if you are there to support I wouldn’t. Relay for Life is a great fundraiser and I believe you should do it regardless of whether it will affect your application. Remember, colleges are not going to care about EC’s that you do just to build you list as it doesn’t show them who you are but rather what you think they want you to be. Also, not having one EC will not ruin your application. I don’t believe it’s important to include on college apps, I do however believe it’s an important and good cause that you should support.
Relay for life is typically a 12 hour fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. RFL typically starts around 6:00 p.m. and goes until 6:00 a.m., mimicking the dark-into-light journey many cancer patients face. Participants are supposed to fundraise ahead of time and can do onsite fundraisers as well. There is typically food for purchase, entertainment, games, raffles, silent auctions, and more. The goal is to form a team and to have one person walking around the track at all times - the idea is that no one has to shoulder the relay or their journey with cancer alone. This event really does embrace the use of beautiful metaphors. RFL honors cancer survivors, cancer patients, those who lost their battle to cancer, and caregivers of cancer patients.
I have been involved with RFL for many years. Frankly, cancer related research and fundraising are my passion. There are a lot of ways to do Relay:
Are you going to just attend the event and NOT fundraise?
Are you talking about doing the one night/day event and fundraising?
Are you planning to be on the planning committee?
If you just plan on attending the event, it wouldn’t even merit mention on an application. If you fundraise a significant amount (I’d say >$1,000) that might be worth putting on your application. If you join the planning committee, which is a lot of fun and a lot of work, that definitely merits mention on an application.
I encourage you to partake in any of the above ways in Relay to check it out and see what Relay is all about, but do it because you care about cancer patients, cancer survivors, people who have lost their battle to cancer, and caregivers. Don’t do it to check a box off or fill in a blank line on an application.