extracurricular: nonprofit organization

LostInTheShuffle
Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:20:59 +0000

I have started to reacquaint myself with the US college admission process (my D22 will be applying to college next fall) and have come across quite a few high-achieving high schoolers (those admitted to highly selective universities or winning merit scholarships/other accolades) who have started non-profits. My D22 has also noticed this and has responded “I probably won’t get in because I haven’t started a non-profit” when I mentioned certain selective schools or summer programs to her recently.

This is such a far cry from what’s expected of high schoolers 30 or so years ago. No one that I knew back then who got into the most selective universities started a non-profit (perhaps due to a lack of ambition or imagination!). While I know many high schoolers are highly idealistic and want to do good in the world, some have said a lot of this is merely “virtue-signaling” to colleges (and, going by the the profiles of the students mentioned above, it seems to be working).

What’s next in the ever-intensifying race to stand out (particularly given that TO might persist for some time and colleges will focus more on other areas of the college application)?