I’ve heard through the grapevine (from friends/relatives at competitive high schools) that colleges are starting to be even more picky about “nonprofits” started by high schoolers. My roommate from a study abroad program told me that out of her whole friend group (6 top students at one of the best 100 schools in the country), 4 of them had created ‘national’ tutoring nonprofits,with about 15-30 tutors in 5 different states. Two of them had even been featured in local news or received awards.
Three years earlier, my roommate’s older brother did something similar as his main EC and got into Penn ED. Now, nobody other than my roommate (Recruited athlete, Bowdoin) has been accepted to schools so far. Apparently none of the “nonprofit kids” at her school have been doing well because… there’s enough of them to be classified as the nonprofit kids! Previously it was something unique and impressive, but now it seems like there are so many nonprofits that a student really needs to be impactful to stand out.
As a HS student, I feel like I’ve learned and contributed much more by interning or being a youth advisor at established nonprofits. It doesn’t make sense for me, a teenage who is still practicing for my driving test, to try and do as much for the homeless as the already established local organization that is not only a 501c(3) but also has 10+ years of experience in the field.