A quick note about changing trends in what colleges are looking for.
When I began the college unit in the 1990’s, colleges seemed to like volume on extracurricular activities and overall engagement in the community. That changed in the early 2000’s. I noticed that colleges moved to appreciating a student who may have tried out multiple activities in their freshmen and sophomore years with an emerging focus as my students entered their upperclassmen years.
It’s great to be one of those kids who “run the school” as I used to tell my seniors, but it’s also nice to see you developing a budding or continuing passion where you invest the majority of your energy.
Of course, it’s great to see a fourth chair violinist also be a star on the student council.
Nevertheless, if you work your way up to student council president by your senior year of high school, you may be identifying a passion for civic leadership that may just be the topic of one of your shorter essays in your college application. Just food for thought.
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