I’m going to be a freshman in high school this year and I was trying to pick clubs to join. I don’t know which ones would seem most appealing to colleges of the clubs I like, or how many is a good number of clubs. I am interested in:
-Spanish Club
-Science Olympiad
-Speech and Debate
-Literary Magazine
but I do not know which of these would be best to join, or if doing all of them would be too much. I was also considering starting Key Club at my school. How could I get started on this? Would it be better to wait until next year to start it?
Which clubs would be best for me to join?
Personally, I find Speech and Debate an extremely rewarding club that I am the VP of at my school. It also doesnt hurt that it looks great on apps. SciOly is fun if you want to be creative and in the science realm, so to speak. I don’t know about the rest. Spanish Club at my school is nothing. It meets once a month to eat and stuff.
But seriously, join the clubs that you enjoy. What are you interested in? Hobbies? Find clubs that correspond to your interests. Don’t do something for colleges.
To start a club, at my school you need approval from the someone up in the administration and to find a teacher who is willing to be the supervisor of the club. I’d most definitely wait till Sophomore year though. Get used to your high school first and find out how everything works.
It’s generally a good idea to join the clubs that you enjoy because you will be more motivated to accomplish things which translates to a more fulfilling high school career. Freshman year will be the time to sample everything (check out the introductory meetings at least); over time, drop the ones that you’re not doing much for. If you’re looking at top colleges they like to see, by the end of junior year/beginning of senior year, leadership (e.g. president of a club), initiative (e.g. starting a club, making a significant contribution to a club), and achievement (e.g. honors/awards through the clubs you join). It would be better for you to only have a few clubs where you can demonstrate these vs a lot where you just show up to the meetings/events.
As for starting the club, I would wait and acclimate since you have plenty of time (besides, very few upperclassmen would want to join a club lead by a freshman which might make your initial push to recruit members difficult). I’m not sure of the specifics of starting a club but I would imagine that you would first get in contact with the national key club organization (their website has some info) and work through a process at your school.