<p>As I'm looking at this huge scholarship book, I keep stumbling upon the words "leadership roles". Colleges also prefer to see leadership roles on apps. But where does that leave those, like myself, who aren't "leaders"??</p>
<p>It all depends on what you did and how you present what you did.</p>
<p>^And if we did little?</p>
<p>Then you get nothing?</p>
<p>You will be limited in terms of scholarships (especially merit ones), some colleges may be willing to overlook your lack of leadership if the rest of your application is stunning.</p>
<p>My kid got into U of Chicago with NO leadership in her ECs. A 3.7 UW GPA, too, and no hook. Stellar test scores, though. And I think her recs may have been very good. And while she had no leadership (no captain, no formal leadership position in any clubs or groups), she was the top scoring player from her school on an academic team. And had quite a few other activities that were “meaningful” (not just clubs where she attended, but things like a published poem, a painting that had sold for money, some community service).</p>
<p>So… you can succeed in college admissions even if you are not an obvious “leader”. But I will agree that there are certain scholarships where she will likely not be competitive because of the emphasis on leadership.</p>
<p>“top scoring player from her school on an academic team” - leadership</p>
<p>“published poem, a painting that had sold for money” leadership</p>
<p>The assumption that you have to lead others to claim leadership is a commonly assumed mistake. When you do things that make others look upto you, you have leadership.</p>
<p>^oh so like if I let say led the cellos during a concert/contest would that be a leadership?</p>
<p>In a less traditional sense yes. It is ideal to have some of the more traditional things like board positions positions, officer positions and so on for scholarships. But for college admissions the less traditional leadership is fine.</p>
<p>What counts as publishing a poem/other writing?
If you didn’t have to pay for it does it count? Does it have to be a certain quality of literary magazine?</p>
<p>Is volunteering that involves taking care of younger kids and directing their activities considered leadership?</p>
<p>For the first no it does not count if you have to pay (with the exception of the Scholastic art and writing award), for literary magazines you want something at least fairly well known. For the latter yes this would be considered leadership. Again it is a slightly less traditional form and would probably not be recognized for scholarships.</p>
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<p>You have redefined “leadership” in a way that is meaningless. I think a better answer is that colleges are looking for something that makes you stand out. Leadership is one possibility, but so is being good at something, having unusual interests, etc.</p>
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<p>By this, do you mean you actually did it? If so, are you like principal cellist or something? That statement is kind of confusing. </p>
<p>But if you were principal cellist, which it does sound like, that would totally be leadership. Even if it’s not as big as the concertmaster/mistress.</p>
<p>“You have redefined “leadership” in a way that is meaningless”</p>
<p>I don’t think so. People misunderstand leadership as only being elected to something or starting something. There are all kinds of leadership in a school and unless people put down what they have done on a piece of paper, they don’t get any idea as to what is important that they have done.</p>
<p>There are 800 kids in a school. Everyone wants to be a leader, then who does anything useful?</p>
<p>"By this, do you mean you actually did it? If so, are you like principal cellist or something? That statement is kind of confusing. "</p>
<p>I have the same question. The first cellist is automatically a leader.</p>
<p>“You have redefined ‘leadership’ in a way that is meaningless”</p>
<p>So do club officer positions in which you do nothing but hold a title, but apparently admissions officers still recognize that as leadership.</p>
<p>Leadership = being independent, in a sense
So if you did research on your own, or did some petition for something, I would definitely count that as leadership.
Granted, I’m not an adcom, but still.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013AppFY_download.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013AppFY_download.pdf</a></p>
<p>Above is a paper version of commonapp. Under ECs and work experience, they allow 10 activities. One of the lines expects you to list the following: “Positions held, honors won, letters earned, or employer” </p>
<p>Position can be a member of something or nothing at all. The description and conglomeration of all your activities is what matters to the college to see who you are as a person.</p>
<p>in a high school situation Leadership is anything where someone is charge of something. </p>
<p>Common examples: Club President, Football Captian, JROTC Major</p>
<p>Less Common: Club Secretary, JROTC Staff Sgt, Assiant Team Manager</p>
<p>^
So it has to be an recognized officer position with a title?</p>
<p>pretty much in terms of general high school leadership</p>