I attend a very competitive high school that consistently sends many students to top colleges(ivies and others), so attaining leadership positions are pretty difficult at my school. I also wasn’t really thinking about college seriously during freshman/sophomore year, and most kids get a leadership position because they did that particular club for all four years. I’m not really going to go into details on my EC’s, but I do activities that I genuinely love and enjoy for the purpose of making my high school experience a great one.
Sorry for the blabbering, but I have competitive stats(33 ACT, 3.97 UW GPA) and I’m hoping that my essays will turn out great but I’m just really worried about having no leadership positions. It’s just when I read the “chance me” threads I see tons of applicants/other students from my school having numerous leadership positions, and that worries me because I’m afraid I won’t be able to stand out from the pack. I’m not applying to schools like HYPS, but fairly competitive schools like WUSTL, Emory, Georgetown, Tufts, etc.
Thanks so much, CC!
First off, you have to keep in mind that the schools you’re talking about applying to are reaches for everyone, even the ones who have lots of leadership positions. And if you want my brutally honest opinion, you probably are going to be slightly below the students with good grades.
That being said, keep in mind that leadership positions won’t necessarily make you “stand out.” The thing is that since so many people have leadership positions, it’s not necessarily that meaningful. But you said you chose ECs that matter to you, and I think you should hold on to that fact. If they mean something to you and make you interesting, then you can talk about them in your application–and that’s how you can stand out.
First of all, don’t read the chance me threads because half the time people greatly exaggerate their resumés. Secondly, no, leadership isn’t the be all and end all. Have you lead by example? Have you headed a group project at school, or instigated some kind of change in something? Do you babysit or look after younger siblings? Do you get things done of your own volition? Leadership doesn’t have to be “president of the club.”
Standing out from the pack is difficult for anyone. If everyone is “president of the club”, they aren’t standing out either, right? Set yourself apart by writing really good essays and emphasizing the ECs that are important to you and what you do with those ECs. If you list watching TV as an EC, that probably won’t work, but maybe you do a lot of gardening. You could list your vegetable garden and the hours you work at it, and the vegetables grown. If you love iceskating, even if you don’t do it competitively, you can list the hours you spend and what maneuvers you know. As an example, my D taught herself computer coding and created a number of web designs. She was interested in it, so she also did a summer computer course for college credit, and listed these things on her app. She didn’t try to win prizes, but she invested time in it, and it was meaningful to her. She didn’t get into the collegs you listed, but she did get into several very selective colleges that you probably have heard of. In short, don’t stress over the lack of leadership. There are other ways to stand out.
@Philipsych omg thanks so much! I fully understand that my reach schools are definitely reaches for everyone since they are so competitive and have crazy low acceptance rates. My ECs definitely mean a lot to me and I’ve been told they’re somewhat(?) unique, so I’ll definitely write about that!
@lindagaf tysm for the recommendations! When college websites say that they’re “looking for students with leadership,” can that also include ‘unofficial’ leadership like you mentioned? Do colleges normally infer that a student has leadership qualities, or should I try to explain how I attained various skills that could potentially make me a great leader(?) Quite honestly speaking, I’m pretty shy and I don’t want to try to say that I’m a leader because I don’t really believe that I wouldn’t be a great leader since I’m not that outgoing haha
Sure, they can infer leadership from your actvivites list, or from a teacher recommendation, or in other ways. Examples: your teacher mentions how you always lead group class projects, or every week you do swimming lessons for children, or you look after your two young siblings and cook dinner and do laundry every other day, or you created a petition in your town to put in place town recycling bins and got all your neighbors to bring their recyclable materials, or whatever it might be. In regards to teachers mentioning things, ask if they would like a reminder cheat sheet befroe they do your rec. Same with the souncelor’s rec too.