<p>So I'm a junior in high school who is a leader in several clubs, member of another, volunteers, internships, community college and AP classes, but a low GPA (3.74 W, 3.48 UW). A new club is starting on campus in the fall that will serve as a "big buddy" system for incoming freshman. It will take up some time however and I don't have much time to spare, so I want to make sure it's worth it before committing. Obviously it won't hurt me but will the time I put in be worth it on my college applications?</p>
<p>Absolutely.</p>
<p>What schools are you interested in?</p>
<p>Only do it if you’re really interested in it. Most colleges don’t consider ECs when it comes to admission. The few that do are colleges like HPYS that have such an overabundance of applicants with sky high stats that the colleges can afford to pick and choose from those applicants to create an active campus life. Just being a member of any particular club isn’t going to impress them.</p>
<p>A few items for you</p>
<p>1) Most colleges don’t give a flip about ECs. What type of schools are you targeting?
2) The schools that DO give a flip about ECs can usually spot the EC-monger a mile away. If you’re the type of person who already is concerned about gaming your profile to look good to selective college admissions officer well… that will probably be apparent to them…
3) Why don’t you consider the EC for its own worth? If your other time commitments won’t suffer or you’re willing to sacrifice them because the new EC is so valuable, then go for it. Otherwise – why continue down the road to disingenuousness now?
4) the club deserves people who really want to serve, not pad resumes. Which will you be? If the latter, then be honest and don’t join.
5) Another cheesy EC will take time from the most important aspect of any student’s profile: academic achievement. Will it hurt your grades? Then don’t do it.</p>
<p>Don’t… do that. Don’t. Don’t join a club for your resume. It’s not worth the time. Don’t look back and regret that you weren’t having fun during your best years because you were joining clubs for your college.</p>
<p>this times a million.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to the hypocrites on this forum who tell you not to do something for college</p>
<p>If I didn’t care about college apps I would play warcraft all day rather than doing bs internships and ECs</p>
<p>That being said, something like the “big buddy” system will not really help your chances so I wouldn’t do it if it’s a big time commitment</p>
<p>don’t do it. not worth doing it. it can potentially hurt your app. if colleges see that you join a club in 12th grade, no matter what your intentions were, they can think that all you are trying to do is fill up another blank line in your EC section of your App. i’m not just saying random stuff. i read this on the newspaper. </p>
<p>i did science olympiad this year and i spent 15hours a week. still i did not put it down so i won’t give them a false impression. play it safe.</p>
<p>AstonMartin: I can understand your suspicion. I didn’t *game *myself for colleges whatsoever. Frankly I was too naive to do so. I just cranked on my GPA and took the hardest courses possible. I rose to leadership in a mostly African American school district (I’m chinese). I worked jobs and didn’t do that many other ECs. My resume was very small. But what got me admitted to all schools applied was 1) my academic performance, 2) my recs and 3) the quirky fact that I was a Chinese student leader in an almost all black HS.</p>
<p>Now I’ve put in many years on the other side: as an alum interviewer from my HYP alma mater. I do say that the people who shamelessly beef up their resumes aren’t that hard to spot. For most CC denizens, I’m convinced that mostly their abilities to be chosen for selective colleges and which ones has already been set.</p>