A little background about me: I really enjoy student council. I love photography so much, and I have been interested since a young age. I am also helping my school with photography in other clubs too, but taking countless photos, editing every one, and distributing it to every singular person in the photo is tiring and burns me out. I also think I might write my essay on my passion for photography and class historian for one year already.
I would love to run again, this time for either vice president or historian. In my school, every position of student council does literally the same thing (so president does the same thing as secretary). We only have minor changes. So the only difference of me being historian would that I would take pictures, making my job a little harder.
I really want to go to a top 20 school. My dream school is Stanford. I know there is no true nor correct answer to this, but I really just want advice, especially if you have experience or go to a t20.
I don’t know if historian would “set me apart” by any means, especially since I think the common opinion of most admission officers is that vice president would appear more impressive as they have more responsibility (again my school has the same amount for any position). But I am just looking for which position would help my chances of getting into a t20 more. I am not running for these positions for the sake of getting in, I would do them regardless; however, my choice between these two is focused more on college as I would equally love both of these positions.
I would apply as a biology major, looking to go to medical school. So, it would not be like I was applying as a photography major into art. Photography is more of a passion and hobby for me.
Which position do you think I would run for that would make me look like a better applicant for schools such as Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and UPenn?
It isn’t the title that gets you admitted. It is what you accomplish. You can have a title and do an average job or not have a title and still go above and beyond for the group or cause. How will you impact your community, be it the college or greater community, for better?
I hear this so much, but I also hear so many students paying thousands of dollars for a college counsellor telling them to do activities for the title, an activity they are not actually interested in. And these people will tend to get into ivies and t20s. Even though this situation isnt the same, I thought it was partially similar. Do you have even the slightest inclination to say which would be better, especially with my background and interests I provided above?
Many of the kids who apply to top schools were president of this, captain of that, valedictorian, etc–the bar has been set so high that none of these things really sets kids apart. To set yourself apart you gotta have a hook, a spike these days or essays that resonate with the admissions readers.
You are expecting AOs- who will spend maybe 20 minutes on your entire file- to parse the nuances between student government roles at your school. Frankly, it’s just not that important a category. You have an elected role - tick. Unless there is something further- say, in an essay or an LoR- that will be it.
Whichever you would be most passionate about and therefore give you the most grist for interview or essay questions. Whichever your own special talents will enable you to accomplish something concrete that will interest other people. If you’re thinking “what will look best to top colleges” you’ll never make it to a top college. Do good things. Be successful in your setting. Have fun.