<p>I'm afraid to start one that I've been wanting to start for a while now because I've heard that the top colleges think it is cliche and reject kids who start charities. What is wrong with society?</p>
<p>I really want to start the charity but I also want to go to college</p>
<p>No it only can help (ridiculously) from what I’ve seen. But don’t start it if you’re a rising senior, it’ll look like it was just for college. Even rising junior might push it a little.</p>
<p>I don’t see a problem here. You’re not required to report all your ECs.</p>
<p>I don’t see a problem. You’re not required to report all your ECs.</p>
<p>I am rising sophomore </p>
<p>Please, PLEASE, do not “start a charity” to get into college. Do it because you actually want to do it. I started several clubs and programs in my community and it is an incredible amount of work. There is a driving force behind all of them that stretches far beyond applying to college. Arranging events, attracting participants and volunteers, raising money through grueling fundraisers, making sure your volunteers show up, keeping up with the money raised for your cause, getting the word out to the community so your charity isn’t a miserable failure, networking with officials to raise real support, the hours and hours of emailing, calling, and texting various people about the charity’s events, formally requesting permission for EVERYTHING (even things you didn’t know you needed permission to do)…must I go on? It’s a serious job. However, I do it because it’s rewarding to me and my community, not my application. Having an extra-curricular just because it would look good on a college application is ridiculously transparent to admissions reps. They look for genuine passion, not forced hooks.</p>
<p>Agreed with above poster; the responsibilities that come with something of this magnitude will be quite overwhelming if you’re just interested in padding a resume.
Slightly related: I knew a kid who was the president of my school’s Habitat for Humanity club. I had never seen someone so stressed out before, and she wasn’t doing anything that @mirandastern mentioned.</p>
<p>U have both misunderstood the OP’s post. Read it again.</p>
<p>Let me clarify: I have been wanting to start this charity since I was 8. I have heard from sources that starting a charity may decrease the chances of getting into a good college because I heard that many top universities believe it is cliche and students only do it to for college apps. I sincerely want to start this charity as I always have, but I am scared that I will not be able to go to a good college because of it.</p>
<p>As GMT mentioned, you can just leave it off your application. Boo. Nothing to be scared about. I wish we had a ‘Best of’ to click on, like craigslist, to nominate the funnist questions.</p>
<p>@gifmaster123
If you’ve been wanting to do this since forever, and are genuinely interested in <em>helping people</em>, you’ll be just fine. I don’t see why colleges would discriminate you about it. Heck, that kind of passion is something to be proud about.</p>
<p>@GMTplus7
I’m sorry. I did misunderstand the question, though I must say that OP didn’t originally specify why he wanted to create a charity. It all sounded just like resume padding.</p>
<p>Top colleges do not “reject kids who start charities”. They reject many kids, some of whom have started charities. They also reject kids with 4.0 and 2400 SAT. Is it a bad idea to have those numbers? Do it because you want to.</p>
<p>@Fredjan The above posters are absolutely correct. Do it because it is something you are passionate about. Take college out of the equation for a moment. Which is more important to you, the idea of helping others and following your passions, or the slight chance that it will decrease some hypothetical chance of admission. (which it WON’T). The only way it would sound cliche is if you are using it as a resume padder and don’t put your heart into it. Seriously dude, think about if it is something you want to do, have a plan, and then go for it if that is what you decide. But please, please, please don’t do it “for a college” or even think about them in the process. It’s not about them, it’s about the community that you are helping if the charity succeeds</p>
<p>@gifmaster123
I will give you a heads up if any major university ever agrees to take me on as an admissions officer. Until then, I think you are projecting a level of cynicism that just doesn’t exist at the vast majority of schools.</p>
<p>If it were me, starting a charity would be very close to an auto-reject, second only to ‘science research’. Frankly, I’m no fan of serial club starters either, but that is not nearly as bad :)</p>
<p>Alas, these schools are not looking to screen out inauthenticity as much as you might think. There is a certain amount of drive and determination signaled by someone willing to go through so much trouble just to stuff their resume for college applications (IF that is indeed the purpose), and such attributes do generate the outcomes schools like to see in their graduates.</p>
<p>@shawnspencer
They are correct. However, OP seems exactly like the person who <em>should</em> start a charity. </p>