I am going to try to keep this short. Simply, my #1 extracurricular is the school newspaper and I won’t be able to be editor in chief during my senior year. I am one of the few male journalists on a very large school newspaper and I have been one of the most active members since my freshman year. However, the advisor denied my requested position for managing editor/copy editor and gave me the news editor position. Two other members who are my age received the positions that I wanted. The news editor is lower than the other two positions and now my chances for editor in chief are ruined.
Although I will continue to participate in the school paper, I want to redirect my focus to something new. I have organized a group of friends to help me create my own online paper that will hopefully become more popular than the current school paper (<5% of the student body actually reads the current paper). I have often complained to the editors that the articles that we write do not relate to the students and are boring (club elections, town budgets, etc). My online newspaper will cover of the topics that I have envisioned such as unrecognized scientific achievement and major controversies regarding students unelected to the class executive board creating positions for themselves.
So I guess what I am asking is whether or not colleges will care that I will not be editor in chief. How big of a loss is the position of editor in chief? I must reiterate that journalism is my #1 activity and may even be the topic of one of my college essays. If this is a problem, will my strategy of a new paper compensate for this loss?
This will mean very little in the long run. Colleges will not see it as a “loss” because they did not know you had the opportunity to become the Editor in Chief. Rather, they will see it as "Wow this kid likes journalism and he did it for all four years. He even showed dedication and took on leadership of being news editor senior year. You’re overthinking this.
Edit: Also I took a look at your other thread, and it looks like you are a rising junior. It is not the end of the world. One girl who was on the yearbook committee joined junior year and jumped from being an editor (the lowest non-staff position) to being Editor in Chief her senior year. I was initially frustrated because she was the section I was a section leader of and I had been a part of it for 4 years, but it turned out for the best. Trust in the process and if you show enough dedication, you can still be EIC. If not, it is not the end of the world.
Former EIC of a large HS newspaper here. The problem with writing about your school newspaper in your essay is that you’ll come off as one-dimensional. That’s already your biggest EC, but surely you have other impressive life experiences, etc. you can touch on. I think starting your own online paper is pretty cool. It should be noted on your Common App in your activity descriptions, and possibly on a relevant school-specific supplemental essay. But try to pick something else, lest you come off as bitter or one-dimensional.
Being one-dimensional only relevant if you're shooting for absolute top schools, like HYPSM. If trying for, say, Colgate or similar small liberal arts schools, writing about the paper might be a viable option. Class rank and SATs?
I have a slightly different view. You weren’t able to become president (editor in chief) so you decided to start a club where you would be president. Sounds like bloated self achievement to me.
@“Erin’s Dad” Actually, there are no positions because I do not believe in positions. I made it clear to my friends that I would not be editor in chief because I do not want anyone to feel as if they’re lower than me. Creating a new paper is not a way for me to feel empowered, rather it is an opportunity for me to use my time more wisely and obtain the leadership skills that I will miss out on while being a lower position. It’s human to feel bitter when things don’t go your way, but this online paper is not a means of revenge. I do not appreciate your belligerent conclusion because you do not know any of the minutiae.
Erin’s dad beat me to it. I think it’s ironic that you’re writing an article about people making up new positions because they got beat out, and yet that’s exactly what you seem to be doing by creating this to get the leadership position you missed out on. I’d let it go.
Your title will be valued for what it is, not for what it isn’t (they won’t look at it and think, ‘not editor in chief’). And honestly, in that context, your current title doesn’t sound like it’s too far off. It would be nice to say you’re EIC but I very much doubt that it would make a significant difference during the holistic review process. Take off with the alternative paper, sounds interesting. Bonus points if you can get it recognized/legitimized by the school.
In my opinion, while the title may be a big deal to you, the difference will not be very obvious to colleges. I was editor of my HS paper, and it represented little work and meant very little (unlike your position), but colleges didn’t know that! ESPECIALLY as you’re a skilled writer, you’ll be able to communicate to colleges how passionate you are about journalism and how the HS paper contributed to that (and you to it). You’re disappointed about the position and title, but I wouldn’t really expect it to impact college applications.
I think recent comments have been missing the mark. While it is true that being EIC isn’t a “silver bullet,” your reasons for starting the alternative paper seem to be based around free speech concerns. For instance, if your intentions truly were to become more critical of the school’s policies and your school paper wasn’t willing to be a forum for that, that’s not a school paper worth the EIC time investment.
If you can find an artful way to weave a free speech observation into your essay (when I say artful, I mean with tact and precision) then that could be an interesting item to include.
Thousands of students are accepted by colleges everyyeR without being editor in chief. Perhaps (based on your choice of title and statement thT you complain quite a bit) the advisor felt you wanted the position for self-serving purposes and others were better suited.
Your chance of a good school is not busted. But be careful how you relate to faculty or you could bust your chance for good letters of reference.