<p>So my question is, is what I did, the initiative and ability to “leave a mark” that everyone speaks of.</p>
<p>So I built an iPhone application that will make a centralized location for all the my school upcoming events,sporting events, service opportunities, and club meetings.</p>
<p>My principal loves it and requested that he writes my counselor rec letter, and I am happy with it.
Also I made it web based so people can get on a website and view it as well so its universally accessible.</p>
<p>But is it really THAT big of a deal?</p>
<p>Thanks guys</p>
<p>Oh and if your wondering, look up cypress bay In about two weeks on iTunes and you can check it out.</p>
<p>It could be significant at schools that are not super competitive.</p>
<p>Then what is significant?</p>
<p>When someone speaks of leaving a mark, it usually refers to a legacy in a school or community where they have initiated change that has impacted lives in a positive way.
What you did was pretty interesting, and certainly unique. It does not have a feeling of ‘legacy’ in that it was something you were clearly invested in, cared a lot about, and speaks to the person you are.</p>
<p>This is simply just my opinion. Hopefully you will get many that are helpful.</p>
<p>Congratulations on what sounds like a very cool app! Now that you have this experience, you may have the knowledge to be able to develop other apps. Perhaps work with the athletic boosters to link the app somehow for membership. Perhaps some additional features for booster members. Now you are starting to raise funds for your school in a unique way and it may have a more interesting twist in the eyes of an adcom.</p>
<p>It’s far more initiative than most students – including those applying to places like Harvard-- have demonstrated. Most students are passive and just do what they are told. They use club offices as resume decoration, and don’t even think about things they could be initiating. If they think about things that could be done to improve their clubs, schools or community, instead of trying to address those issues by taking action, they kvetch that no one is doing those things. </p>
<p>Will what you did guarantee your admission to the top school that care about things like leadership? We don’t know, but it could.</p>
<p>Will what you did help you get merit aid at schools that give that? We don’t know, but it could.</p>
<p>It’s interesting, certainly, and absolutely demonstrates initiative. But as NSM said, that may or may not be enough in hyper-competitive admissions pools.</p>
<p>well the idea is to take it to the next level, if it is popular of course, by offering it to every school in the county.</p>
<p>what about that?</p>
<p>
As an outside observer I think that’s a wonderful idea! However just so you’re not surprised, don’t expect it to be widely adopted. In fact it might not be adopted anywhere at all. For one thing there’s NIH – it wasn’t their idea. Second is the general resistance most people have to doing something different. There are just thousands and thousands of examples (both big and small) of this. Here’s just one - look at how the medical profession resisted adopting antiseptic methods.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be discouraging; by all means you should try to get other schools to use your useful creation, and I hope they do. I just mean to warn you that it might not be greeted with the open arms you might be expecting.</p>