<p>Is creating and leading a community service program with 50 members a good example of commitment to impress adcoms, as opposed to perfunctory participation in many extracurriculars? I’m especially wondering if it is in the case that the program I created is pretty original.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a good example of commitment and leadership. Will it impress adcoms? Why should you care? If you are really committed to your mission, that should be reason enough to do it.</p>
<p>Good point. How do adcoms generally see if what you’ve done is genuine, as opposed to perfunctory?</p>
<p>It will be easy enough to tell if you describe what you’ve done, why you did it, what challenges you faced and what you learned. If there’s any adult oversight, get a letter of recommendation from them, in addition to your academic recs.</p>
<p>Are you the girl whose mommy set up a 501(c)3 for her…and whose daddy’s big wallet paid for her trip to Tanzania so she could dig holes in Africa to get her Girl Scouts Gold Award, “impress adcoms,” and appear “genuine”?</p>
<p>Just kidding. But no, seriously. Don’t be like the girl I described…and yes, this is a real example. </p>
<p>As long as you are enjoying what you do, what does it matter? :)</p>