Is there a point in me doing clubs?

[xnfs93hy]

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I just want to go to Rutgers for UG now and I really hate the clubs my school has, I have two years left. Is it worth it? My cousin told me that the shadowing physicians thing would be 1,000 times better than an after school club. I am also taking honors, AP, and community colleges courses this year and next and have over 100 hours over community service. Even though I am just talking about Rutgers I still feel like I need to join clubs or do more volunteering I feel like I have nothing to offer. Help me =[

 

[xnfs93hy]

I just mention this because I think at this point I basically will have to apply to state schools. I may have a good two years but I don't think that is enough to "stand out". I will hopefully be at least in the top half and have over a 3.5 GPA.

 

[HumidBeing]

So, don't participate in the school clubs if you hate them. You could find other organizations in your community to become active in. There are loads of interesting things to do outside of school activities. For instance, several of my sibs participate in Venture Scouts, which is a co-ed branch of Boy Scouts for 14-21 year olds. They put in several hundred hours of volunteering a year, and have a lot of fun doing it because they plan and arrange the activities. Every month they spend one weekend on a volunteer activity and one on a high adventure activity, like white-water rafting, caving, or rock climbing. They've spent 10 day trips manning and living off of sail boats exploring the Florida Keys, a 2 week trip wilderness backpacking in Glacier Nat'l Park, and hiked quite a bit of the Appalachian Trail. On every one of those trips, one or the other of them was in charge of planning and coordinating and leader to a group of the Scouts on the trip. They don't participate in order to build their applications, but because they enjoy what they do: however, I've seen a big growth in their confidence and leadership skills because of their involvement.

There are always community activities that you can get involved with. Perhaps you'd be interested in something like a Junior Optimist club, Civil Air Patrol, Model U.N, scheduling regular hours to work at your local food bank, volunteering to assistant coach youth sports teams, or any of a broad array of options that you can find locally if you look. Your activities do not have to be health or academically related. In fact, you may come off as a more interesting person and better candidate for college if they aren't all in that category.

 

[URHere]

I just want to go to Rutgers for UG now and I really hate the clubs my school has, I have two years left. Is it worth it? My cousin told me that the shadowing physicians thing would be 1,000 times better than an after school club. I am also taking honors, AP, and community colleges courses this year and next and have over 100 hours over community service. Even though I am just talking about Rutgers I still feel like I need to join clubs or do more volunteering I feel like I have nothing to offer. Help me =[

When I was applying to undergrad, I found that high school extracurriculars didn't matter nearly as much as GPA, SAT score, and the essays I wrote for each school. However, when I actually got to college, I realized that my lack of extracurriculars in High School (I was much like you sound: a million AP courses, CC courses, honor society officer, but not much else) were more of a disadvantage to me than they were to my admissions process. In college, I found a ton of other students who were passionate about specific sports, or debate, or some random obscure club...and I just didn't have the same experience that they did. As a result, I had to spend a decent chunk of my college career just figuring out what I enjoyed, and I still really wish I had figured that out sooner.

If you don't like what your school has to offer, then don't join those clubs, but try to become involved in something else that you enjoy outside of class. It is 100% worth it.

 

[xnfs93hy]

When I was applying to undergrad, I found that high school extracurriculars didn't matter nearly as much as GPA, SAT score, and the essays I wrote for each school. However, when I actually got to college, I realized that my lack of extracurriculars in High School (I was much like you sound: a million AP courses, CC courses, honor society officer, but not much else) were more of a disadvantage to me than they were to my admissions process. In college, I found a ton of other students who were passionate about specific sports, or debate, or some random obscure club...and I just didn't have the same experience that they did. As a result, I had to spend a decent chunk of my college career just figuring out what I enjoyed, and I still really wish I had figured that out sooner.

If you don't like what your school has to offer, then don't join those clubs, but try to become involved in something else that you enjoy outside of class. It is 100% worth it.

Alright. Although, how are doing AP classes and college courses going to hurt me?

 

[malfee]

Alright. Although, how are doing AP classes and college courses going to hurt me?

I think he was saying that his taking of AP courses hurt him, perhaps because his academic load may have been too hefty. I don't know for sure, but that's how it sounded.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I think he was saying that his taking of AP courses hurt him, perhaps because his academic load may have been too hefty. I don't know for sure, but that's how it sounded.

 

[HumidBeing]

I don't know what you find so funny about that. Everything has a cost. When people overload on academics, it is at a cost to participating fully in other activities. Opportunities that can help you develop a broader range of interests and become a more interesting person are lost. Too heavy an academic load can also bring down your GPA.

In the end, just having a 3.5, being in the top 1/2 of your class, and taking a boatload of courses, is less likely to cinch you the deal of getting into the school you dream about than taking a lighter load, doing better, and showing that you are actively involved in other areas besides academics.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I didn't think that was a particularly funny post, either. I'm hoping that wasn't an arrogant "Pfffft. Academics too hard? Ha!" type of laugh. You'll get knocked down a few dozen pegs come college if that's the case.

Don't do any extracurriculars or clubs that you don't enjoy just for resume padding. That's preposterous.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I didn't think that was a particularly funny post, either. I'm hoping that wasn't an arrogant "Pfffft. Academics too hard? Ha!" type of laugh. You'll get knocked down a few dozen pegs come college if that's the case.

Don't do any extracurriculars or clubs that you don't enjoy just for resume padding. That's preposterous.

I apologize. No, it was just the way malfee typed it. A hefty course load, I found that funny the way he TYPED IT. No I am not immature and now I regret saying it.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I imagine pretty much everyone on SDN thought they had it all or mostly figured out in high school. While it may be true that you're lightyears ahead of your peers in terms of maturity, you have a lot to learn in the next few years, believe me. That's not a personal attack but rather a fact of life. Everyone grows up.

Anyway, I think the issue was more over what you were laughing about. I went to high school with plenty of people who threw largely threw away their high school years studying which is completely absurd, in my opinion. There's plenty of time for that when you're in professional school and actually working towards a definite career. High school should be all about having life experiences you can grow personally from, not beating your brain into submission with all sorts of fairly useless information just to be at the head of your class.

 

[ylrebmik]

I imagine pretty much everyone on SDN thought they had it all or mostly figured out in high school. While it may be true that you're lightyears ahead of your peers in terms of maturity, you have a lot to learn in the next few years, believe me. That's not a personal attack but rather a fact of life. Everyone grows up.

Anyway, I think the issue was more over what you were laughing about. I went to high school with plenty of people who threw largely threw away their high school years studying which is completely absurd, in my opinion. There's plenty of time for that when you're in professional school and actually working towards a definite career. High school should be all about having life experiences you can grow personally from, not beating your brain into submission with all sorts of fairly useless information just to be at the head of your class.

I agree! My first two years I had a lot of fun. Junior year... not so much fun because of school work. This year I'm going to balance them out a little better but still, I wish I could have focussed more on unique things rather than trying to be the best... I have to write an essay for colllege right now about particular life experiences or events that have changed me and would make me a good match for that college... thing is, I don't have anything incredibly unique that changed my life. But I know so many people that have just studied... studied.... "no can't hang out... gotta study" ... and they have great grades but I don't think they remember anything from high school besides the books.

 

[Electrophile]

jefgreen, I thought of something while I was reading your thread on Down Syndrome. That may be something you'd be interested in doing? If you like animals or have a dog, doing animal assisted therapy with people with developmental disabilities would be really really rewarding.

For school clubs, I went to two different high schools. We had a ton of different clubs. We had Health Occupations Students of America, Future Physicians of American, student athletic training (I learned some AWESOME taping and bandaging techniques here), science club, Science Olympiad, Academic Decathalon, and so on. I'm sure one of these should appeal to you.

 

[ertraumashield]

Clubs will help for colleges. The only problem is is club dues! I'm personally going to do/continue doing the Latin Club, Spanish Club, The Greek Club (I'm president and founder), World culture club along with other clubs.

Again, you should do volunteer work, get your first AID and CPR license's, and shadow physicians. Also, if you hate your school clubs, why don't you start your own? I'm the president and founder of the greek club, and it can be work, but it's also a lot of fun plus your in charge. (Okay, so I'm an Alpha, I like it when I'm in charge.)

Anyways, e-mail me if you have any other Q's! Best of luck! 🙂

 

[ylrebmik]

Clubs will help for colleges. The only problem is is club dues! I'm personally going to do/continue doing the Latin Club, Spanish Club, The Greek Club (I'm president and founder), World culture club along with other clubs.

Again, you should do volunteer work, get your first AID and CPR license's, and shadow physicians. Also, if you hate your school clubs, why don't you start your own? I'm the president and founder of the greek club, and it can be work, but it's also a lot of fun plus your in charge. (Okay, so I'm an Alpha, I like it when I'm in charge.)

Anyways, e-mail me if you have any other Q's! Best of luck! 🙂

You really like languages don't you? Are you goign to major in any?

 

[ertraumashield]

I don't know. I'm not that great but not bad at languages, but currently take Spanish and Latin. I really want to learn Greek, Arabic, Italin, and I used to speak Romanian when I was in the orphanage and I'd love to learn it again. I love learning about different people and different cultures, so maybe! But for now, medicine is my main major.

 

[Electrophile]

Latin & Greek=super helpful for medical terminology!

 

[ertraumashield]

Latin & Greek=super helpful for medical terminology!

Thanks! That's why I'm takeing Latin. :] Plus it's an amazing language!

 

[xnfs93hy]

Clubs will help for colleges. The only problem is is club dues! I'm personally going to do/continue doing the Latin Club, Spanish Club, The Greek Club (I'm president and founder), World culture club along with other clubs.

Again, you should do volunteer work, get your first AID and CPR license's, and shadow physicians. Also, if you hate your school clubs, why don't you start your own? I'm the president and founder of the greek club, and it can be work, but it's also a lot of fun plus your in charge. (Okay, so I'm an Alpha, I like it when I'm in charge.)

Anyways, e-mail me if you have any other Q's! Best of luck! 🙂

I was thinking of doing all of that except the clubs. The whole thread was basically "I don't think I should do clubs, should I? What else should I do?". I thought of basically everything you said, shadowing physicians, STARTING a club, getting licensed for First Aid, CPR etc. already believe it or not. All good stuff I think. You mention your are continuing to do a few clubs but it says you are premed? Are you in college? Just curious. If anyone else has some good advice on approving my app I am open to all ideas 🙂

 

[ertraumashield]

I was thinking of doing all of that except the clubs. The whole thread was basically "I don't think I should do clubs, should I? What else should I do?". I thought of basically everything you said, shadowing physicians, STARTING a club, getting licensed for First Aid, CPR etc. already believe it or not. All good stuff I think. You mention your are continuing to do a few clubs but it says you are premed? Are you in college? Just curious. If anyone else has some good advice on approving my app I am open to all ideas 🙂

I'm sorry. I'm actually a sophmore in high school, I have no idea why it says pre-med. (Although I do know a lot of medicine, and I should be a med. student by now.):] Anyways, I mean, I got my first Aid/CPR, I've interviwed some of the best surgeons in the world, I know a lot of med. students, and I was a clinical volunteer. I mean, I do everything I can to get good grades and make sure I get into a great college. :] And hopefully everything works out.

Anyways, e-mail me or write on my profile wall. Let me know if you have any Q's. Best of luck. :]