Found a Non-Profit, Become President of 3 Clubs, and Graduate a Year Early — Just For a Chance at Getting Into College
Getting above a 3.0 isn’t enough to go to college, but there’s no good reason for it.
The title isn’t a joke. As a high school junior, my peers have been starting genuine non-profit organizations, founding multiple clubs, and doing so much more to add to their college applications. I’m guilty of this, too. I’ve tried to join more prestigious clubs or get internships — yes, partly for money, but also to “pad out” my resume. Yes, those who create non-profits, join social movements, and the like are creating real change, but they shouldn’t need to.
There are so many college prep and guidance resources that encourage high schoolers to create passion projects, maintain 4.0+ grades, find leadership positions in clubs, and get internships to increase their chances of getting into prestigious colleges. Here is a quote from just one that I found online:
“If you wait until junior year or senior year, there won’t be any opportunities for leadership positions...You won’t have established that depth of commitment to particular extracurriculars. Freshman year is a great time to start”, says Connie Livingston in a U.S. News article. This makes it seem like the point of joining clubs is to join their board panel, not to find passion and fun in them. It sounds like ‘What’s the point of joining if you can’t become president and put it on your application?’
And it’s not just the internet and advisors feeding this to us: I’ve heard my friends talk about college, and it can hurt to hear. “Colleges don’t care about sports unless it’s varsity and you’ve been playing for years.”
Not everyone has the time, money, or resources to be able to do so much. Not everyone can even do more than the “bare minimum” of going to school. Some can’t afford to spend so much time outside of school because they have work or household responsibilities like taking care of a sibling or cooking dinner.
In addition, not every extracurricular, especially the most prestigious ones, is accessible. Some have financial requirements, even if not explicitly stated. Some have entry fees, like Key Club or honor societies like CSF. Some don’t require an entry fee but require a fee to actively participate, like Model UN. Not everyone can pay these fees.
We can’t judge students based on the amount of extracurriculars they do because of these barriers. If we’re determining the worth of students based on extracurriculars, what happens to those who can’t do after-school activities or pay an entrance fee?
The school system has increasingly become a pay-to-play system, and this has bled into earlier and earlier levels of this system. Colleges need to start valuing more than these ”prestigious” extracurriculars that require time and money that not everyone has. In recent years, college advisors have said that activities like Model UN, which require club members to travel around for conferences and thus pay for travel and entry fees, matter less in college admissions because they are essentially pay-to-play. In this way, we see the system growing and improving, but this may cause some to think they need something even more extravagant, like starting a non-profit, to get a leg up. Everyone has value, and high school students have more value than how many clubs they’re president of.
The title isn’t a joke. As a high school junior, my peers have been starting genuine non-profit organizations, founding multiple clubs, and doing so much more to add to their college applications. I’m guilty of this, too. I’ve tried to join more prestigious clubs or get internships — yes, partly for money, but also to “pad out” my resume. Yes, those who create non-profits, join social movements, and the like are creating real change, but they shouldn’t need to.
There are so many college prep and guidance resources that encourage high schoolers to create passion projects, maintain 4.0+ grades, find leadership positions in clubs, and get internships to increase their chances of getting into prestigious colleges. Here is a quote from just one that I found online:
“If you wait until junior year or senior year, there won’t be any opportunities for leadership positions...You won’t have established that depth of commitment to particular extracurriculars. Freshman year is a great time to start”, says Connie Livingston in a U.S. News article. This makes it seem like the point of joining clubs is to join their board panel, not to find passion and fun in them. It sounds like ‘What’s the point of joining if you can’t become president and put it on your application?’
And it’s not just the internet and advisors feeding this to us: I’ve heard my friends talk about college, and it can hurt to hear. “Colleges don’t care about sports unless it’s varsity and you’ve been playing for years.”
Not everyone has the time, money, or resources to be able to do so much. Not everyone can even do more than the “bare minimum” of going to school. Some can’t afford to spend so much time outside of school because they have work or household responsibilities like taking care of a sibling or cooking dinner.
In addition, not every extracurricular, especially the most prestigious ones, is accessible. Some have financial requirements, even if not explicitly stated. Some have entry fees, like Key Club or honor societies like CSF. Some don’t require an entry fee but require a fee to actively participate, like Model UN. Not everyone can pay these fees.
We can’t judge students based on the amount of extracurriculars they do because of these barriers. If we’re determining the worth of students based on extracurriculars, what happens to those who can’t do after-school activities or pay an entrance fee?
The school system has increasingly become a pay-to-play system, and this has bled into earlier and earlier levels of this system. Colleges need to start valuing more than these ”prestigious” extracurriculars that require time and money that not everyone has. In recent years, college advisors have said that activities like Model UN, which require club members to travel around for conferences and thus pay for travel and entry fees, matter less in college admissions because they are essentially pay-to-play. In this way, we see the system growing and improving, but this may cause some to think they need something even more extravagant, like starting a non-profit, to get a leg up. Everyone has value, and high school students have more value than how many clubs they’re president of.
