<p>I personally don't do this, but I've seen so many people from my school do this. And the sad thing is that it works because they get into HYPSM but many of the people who I thought did things because they like them did not (even with similar grades...).</p>
<p>I don't like it because I thought that by doing activities just for colleges, you lose your individuality and high school is more about just getting to a presitigious college...high school is suppose to give you a foundation for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>However, with all that being said, like I said, colleges can't tell the reason you did certain things. I am sure they will be impressed by two club presidents even if one had a different goal than the other. I am asking this also because I've seen club presidents do absolutely NOTHING for the club (they could care less, as long as they are president), but they still write they are the club president on their app (becasue it was just for colleges), and they end up going to top colleges. Just as an example, last year, on the Mandlebrot, our math club president, who got into HYPSM!! came in to take it, and after he found out it was on a Friday afternoon, he was like "wow, why am I wasting my time for this...I already got into all the good colleges," and left. And that really bothers me.</p>
<p>So I am just wondering what you guy's opinions on this is, and have you seen people do this and still go to top colleges?</p>
<p>It depends on what do you mean JUST for college. If they just want a title to put on somewhere, that’s ******baggery. If they want to actually do things, get leadership experience, work with people, etc, then I don’t see a problem with it. I do a lot of things mainly because they’re good experiences for my future career choices, even if I might not necessarily enjoy them. That sort of thing I understand. More superficial things… nah.</p>
<p>I doubt that writing “club president” had much to do, at all, with these students being admitted to top colleges. Listing club membership and club leadership is just fluff, unless you can show that you helped the club accomplish something material. Anyone can join a club, and anyone can start a club and appoint themselves “president” at most high schools.</p>
<p>What do I think of them? I think they are the majority of kids on campus with college ambitions. Please do not be naive to believe otherwise. </p>
<p>Have you ever seen a high school year book from, say, the 1950s? Most schools had about four clubs and about 10 percent of the class participated. My grandpa asked me the other day what EC stood for. He couldn’t believe kids “waste their time” on clubs. Its a foreign concept for him – and he has four college degrees.</p>
<p>It annoys the **** out of me. People at my school do swim, track and cross country for colleges because they are non-cut sports, then they don’t go to practices. I don’t think anyone has ever been kicked off swim/track/xc before (though plenty plenty plenty don’t letter), so basically they get to put SWIM TEAM–9, 10, 11, 12 on their college app but don’t wake up a 5 am to go to practice every day. Then, there are kids on varsity who don’t letter, so essentially they look the same as the ones who never come.
This year our water polo captain quit the team once she was accepted to her top college.
I think, though, that most adcoms can tell. Whenever I hear of people doing Key club I usually think of that, which is sad, but whatever.
(@ Old College Try–I try talking to my grandmother about applying to college and everything goes right over her head. In her day (early 60s) she pretty much walked down to U WA and signed up…lucky…)</p>
<p>Our school isn’t competitive to the point where we have kids doing stuff just for college apps. But i’d be pretty ticked if kids did that on a consistent basis and were able to get away with it.</p>
<p>A lot of people at my school do that…which kind of makes me mad, but still, I know that its probably not their fault, because a lot of parents push their kids way to hard to do those activities also.</p>
<p>I thought that volunteering was a necessity for college my freshman year of high school so I joined Octagon and CSF for that reason. However, I felt like I wasn’t getting anything out of those clubs and quit both of them (Octagon my sophomore year and CSF first semester senior year). I guess I just couldn’t go through with stuff I didn’t enjoy doing. (Though I did do volunteering at a hospital since I was actually interested)</p>
<p>i think it’s disgusting how people do stuff for college instead of participating in activities they actually like. i mean of course it works and of course i probably do it to an extent also, who doesn’t. it’s just ridiculous that college admissions have led teenagers to become so stressed.</p>
<p>The college admissions game isn’t asking students to do ECs they aren’t interested in to get in their college. That’s up to the kid. </p>
<p>What a waste of time for the student if he isn’t enjoying what he is doing! That kid is missing out on a great educational experience (that’s what ECs are for).</p>
<p>I blame the college admissions game that puts such an emphasis on these factors. Seriously, to have a good shot at a top school you have to be the President of “something”! So, no I don’t blame the kids who would normally rather not do this kind of stuff.</p>
<p>I agree with Morsmordre to the extent that it really is the fault of the admissions process. Instead of using EC’s to distinguish their applicants, they could simply make standardized tests more difficult or keep the emphasis on rigorous academics.</p>
<p>I will admit to being one who has participated in certain ECs simply for college. That being said, while I joined most of my clubs out of the belief that they’ll keep me competitive, I ended up enjoying the activities/competitions, meeting new people, and learning about the area of study. The same applies to my internships, volunteer work, independent research etc. So to that end, though I may have started my ECs for colleges, I feel like I still gained a lot from them.</p>
<p>Do you think the HYP etc. colleges will look at an applicant and say “Great SATs, great GPA, wonderful essays, fabulous recommendations, but, no, we can’t accept him. He wasn’t the president of a club.” ?</p>
<p>Admissions staff read thousands of applications, and test scores only play a part in admissions. Clubs and other ECs can show a well-rounded student, but it’s quality, not quantity.</p>
<p>I’ve heard them state time and time again on visits and interviews that they would rather see a student fully committed to a few clubs or activities than have a laundry list. The admissions guys can see through this, you know. Essays and recommendations will show commitment.</p>
<p>I didn’t say anything about a laundry list. Also, I would not believe most of what the admissions officers say since they tend to speak in lawyerese if you ask them the real pressing questions. As for the information, it’s been a joke amongst some of my friends whenever talking about the admissions process about how important it is to be the President of xyz and I think without exception of all of my peers that got into top schools in hs held a Presidential/highly influential leadership role in clubs. But, if you don’t fully trust my anecdotes, you can look at the decision threads. I didn’t think that this was actually disputed information. </p>
<p>Though obviously, yes you can get into top schools without being a President of something but you can also get in without having a SAT score over 2000, or ranking in the top 15% of your class. But would I take take those odds? The answer is a resounding “No”.</p>