Some background:
-Incoming high school senior in Los Angeles attending a religious school
-High school requires certain amount of hours doing community service each year
-Middle-class income
So for confidentiality reasons I’m not going to giving all the specifics, but here’s the premise:
I co-founded and currently am executive-director of a service project (hesitant to call ourselves a “non-profit” since it sounds way too official and legally, we are not technically a non-profit). But essentially it’s a way to make compulsory community service a little more personal.
This project means a lot to me: It has helped me develop perspective, allowed me to deromanticize the “hard work” always attached to pursuing one’s goals/dreams, as well as inspired me in being more proactive and confident and less anxious (to list a few things).
My partner and I are currently in hopeful talks with a more official non-profit organization who has agreed to help sponsor us and provide funds. In addition, my partner and I successfully co-hosted a drive at our school to gain supplies to help us with our project. We also have some plans when the school year begins to talk to the community service office at our school to attempt to integrate our service project into the school community.
My questions is how will colleges view this?
There seems to be a negative aura surrounding “self-started non-profits nowadays” especially since they seemed to be tagged as “parent-funded, parent-run, and exclusive to the resumes of the wealthy.” Looking for advice from anyone else who has co-founded (as a high schooler)/worked in a “non-profit.” In addition, the fact that this is my second-choice topic for my college essay (although I do have a completed draft of it), seems to lend more credence to the idea that this service project isn’t authentic and is merely a “resume-booster.”
Secondly, how can I help spin the EC off as an activity that I have dedicated much time to and something I care much about? I plan on listing it as my second activity on the CommonApp, but outside of that, does it just come to how I explain the EC? Should I heavily consider making my essay about this service project the top choice for the CommonApp essay?
*I plan on applying to a few top-tier schools (including some Ivies)
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post, and any insight is truly appreciated!