Why are extracurriculars so hard to join in college now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To all the wannabe bankers and consultants, whose children there are other avenues. My dc, best friend didn’t get into the top clubs for fiancé kid or consulting at their T20, took a different route he just applied to the quant finance firms, who are really a true meritocracy and got multiple offers, and got internships and then tried banking the next year and consulting this year. All the top firms in the nation. Funny part he placed the best in the entire school this year with multiple quant offer that pays un godly amount of money. Puts the Goldmans and McKinley’s to shame. So there is light at the end of tunnel. Seek other alternatives if you can’t make it to the clubs.

Sure they did.

DP. The PP is right, these competitve clubs are not needed provided you are at a top20ish school that is a target of top firms.
Multiple kids at Penn go into quant without being in the top clubs. Every year the rumors among parents start that clubs are needed and upperclass parents or alums share the truth that it is not needed. They are not all wharton either, in fact most top quant hires are from Engineering or the college(math or physics) lately. In fact humanities majors get MBB consulting all the time in addition to stem majors.

Is this true? They do have them. quant trading clubs specifically even. I hope you're right because my laid back kid would not be willing to fight for a spot, but is interested in quant.

yes. it is true. Kid is a senior and the unecessary angst happens every fall. Kid's friends (SEAS) who got Jane St and other top internships were more than half not in "the" clubs. Just smart kids. Plenty of Penn kids don't care about finance, chase top research instead, like mine, and want to start companies or go phD. Or both, eventually. Anything is possible there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does Duke not have club sports cuts? Do they really take 200 kids or as many apply to a club soccer or basketball game out-of-town?

Can a Duke parent address this?

My child is at Dartmouth and even then club basketball had deep cuts. A basketball team plays 5 players. 100 tried out.

Duke does NOT cut for club sports! Sure "team A" can travel more and compete more, but the other kids are involved and enjoy it a lot. Academics are intense; many do not want to spend the time traveling for sports. They have pre-med classes or other more important dreams to chase at Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does Duke not have club sports cuts? Do they really take 200 kids or as many apply to a club soccer or basketball game out-of-town?

Can a Duke parent address this?

My child is at Dartmouth and even then club basketball had deep cuts. A basketball team plays 5 players. 100 tried out.

Duke does NOT cut for club sports! Sure "team A" can travel more and compete more, but the other kids are involved and enjoy it a lot. Academics are intense; many do not want to spend the time traveling for sports. They have pre-med classes or other more important dreams to chase at Duke.

Ok, and Duke is just one school. Most top schools do cut for club sports. I certainly know UCLA, Berkeley, USC, and Stanford all do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College is no longer a time to explore sadly. Many engineering clubs at top schools have applications and interviews you have to pass to make it into the club. Greek life is selective as always. Club sports are even more selective than varsity sports teams at large high schools. It’s insane

Not true for all schools. For example, I can think of a few hard-to-get-into colleges that do not have cuts for club sports. So don't get discouraged or generalize.

If open access to joining clubs and sports is a priority for you or your kid, focus in on that and ask people to name schools that fit your needs. But don't assume that all schools are the same.

Which ones? How do you know?

Duke, as I shared above.

This information is on the school website (see below), and we spoke with students about it when we visited.

In addition, Duke, like most other schools, has countless intramural teams at all levels. Whether you’re an experienced player or a newcomer, there’s an opportunity to play. But it’s up to you to find the right level and fit.

Website: https://recreation.duke.e...ort-clubs/

"Join one of the 30+ Sport Clubs for the opportunity to represent the Duke community in local, regional, national, and international competitions. Teams are formed, organized, and governed by their members and welcome both veteran athletes and newcomers. Sport Clubs operate in an inclusive environment and require no tryouts or cuts to participate.

Participation in Sport Clubs affords individuals the ability to continue playing organized sports at a competitive level post-high school, or to try a new sport that they have always wanted to learn while representing Duke University. Each club seeks to foster exciting athletic experiences for participants of all skill levels, while fostering inclusive communities. Sport Club participants can find a sense of community, have a chance to build lifelong friendships, hone and develop their sport specific skills, and develop team-oriented leadership and transferable skills that will pave the path to a successful future."

Club level at a D1 school is similar to varsity level at D3, and for many sports, if you play Club at D1 and transfer to a D3 varsity, you loose one year of eligibility at the D3 per NCAA guidelines. So yes, a popular club sport at a D1 will have cuts and presume this would be the case for lax, etc at most D1 colleges.

And for Duke while there are technically no cuts for Club teams the ‘A’ team will travel and be more competitive than or IAs….so in essence, a cut without calling that.

And to the PP statement about Wharton, yes they’ve changed it so interviews are only one round now instead of multiple, to be more inclusive. Does not mean it still won’t be tough, maybe even tougher and connections will matter even more.

So if you aren’t on the top team for Duke who are you playing? Or are you just practicing and not competing with other colleges? Are the lower teams just like inter murals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard has at least 9 a capella clubs
https://harvardacappella.github.io/statement/

Harvard has 25 Engineering clubs
https://seas.harvard.edu/applied-mathematics/clubs-organizations

Give it a rest. There are plenty of opportunities.

All of these schools have hundreds of clubs! People are just obsessing about a handful.

https://dso.college.harvard.edu/list-student-organizations

Bc if you don’t have the club, the IB interviews/case studies are a flop.

I'm a banker. I happened to be an econ major who had done some internships, but I knew many bankers, a number of whom went on to be extremely successful, who got banking jobs out of college with an English major and no relevant experience. The banks could figure out without doing banking specific case interviews that these people were really smart and would pick up the material quickly, and they had great training programs that taught them everything they needed to know, with the rest taught on the job.

A good chunk of the people who go to banks end up in some very esoteric niche area where all of the garbage being taught in the finance clubs is largely irrelevant anyway. I have had a very successful career in banking and have not come within a mile of a DCF or any trading related concepts.

You are more than welcome to get involved with recruiting at your firm and industry trade group and help change things. Otherwise you just sound smug and you were lucky to get in the old and easy way.

Exactly. This guy posts here ALL the time. I mean, how serious is his job?
Lol

Perhaps it is a she? And perhaps you need a life if you keep track of how often people post here? And why do you care? Another loser with a kid who is president of the finance club at a Tier 3 school hoping to be a teller at a bank in flyover country?

You were responding to me.

Yes, I've seen "his" commentary A LOT. He thinks he's the authority. There's a certain patriarchal style that he has - where he tries to mansplain finance (retired Wall Street here). He's just off-putting and pretty distinctive - so you remember it (and because it's so frequent).

I'm not sure why you felt the need to insult me or my kids (none of which are in a finance club at their T10, mind you).

Until people started getting rude, I don't think that poster was doing anything wrong, at which point perhaps they over-reacted. They were just presenting an alternate perspective on how things used to be and some issues with how things currently are. If only these were our biggest problems in life. Oy vey.

+1 I appreciate hearing from people working in IB. Unfortunately, this part of the thread escalated with personal insults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To all the wannabe bankers and consultants, whose children there are other avenues. My dc, best friend didn’t get into the top clubs for fiancé kid or consulting at their T20, took a different route he just applied to the quant finance firms, who are really a true meritocracy and got multiple offers, and got internships and then tried banking the next year and consulting this year. All the top firms in the nation. Funny part he placed the best in the entire school this year with multiple quant offer that pays un godly amount of money. Puts the Goldmans and McKinley’s to shame. So there is light at the end of tunnel. Seek other alternatives if you can’t make it to the clubs.

Sure they did.

DP. The PP is right, these competitve clubs are not needed provided you are at a top20ish school that is a target of top firms.
Multiple kids at Penn go into quant without being in the top clubs. Every year the rumors among parents start that clubs are needed and upperclass parents or alums share the truth that it is not needed. They are not all wharton either, in fact most top quant hires are from Engineering or the college(math or physics) lately. In fact humanities majors get MBB consulting all the time in addition to stem majors.

Is this true? They do have them. quant trading clubs specifically even. I hope you're right because my laid back kid would not be willing to fight for a spot, but is interested in quant.

Right now rising tide lifted all Quants’ boats … Soon a decade long setback ( bear market + sideways) would have Quants battling other Quants . A bloody battlefield will be quite a sight!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is applying this year to UVA and even before he started the app, his hs classmates knew about these clubs and started networking with the officers. And we are oos. This is sick and should be barred

Welcome to the real world. How do you think people get jobs? Maybe your child should do some research and try to network with officers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All this hyper competitiveness for clubs is such crap. College should be when kids try out whatever they are intersted in

Every college has plenty of non-competitive clubs that anyone can join. Its generally the pre-professional clubs that are more competitive, but they can't accept everyone. They are run by students who can't manage a 2000 person club. This is good learning experience for students to learn how to hustle for jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard has at least 9 a capella clubs
https://harvardacappella.github.io/statement/

Harvard has 25 Engineering clubs
https://seas.harvard.edu/applied-mathematics/clubs-organizations

Give it a rest. There are plenty of opportunities.

All of these schools have hundreds of clubs! People are just obsessing about a handful.

https://dso.college.harvard.edu/list-student-organizations

Bc if you don’t have the club, the IB interviews/case studies are a flop.

I'm a banker. I happened to be an econ major who had done some internships, but I knew many bankers, a number of whom went on to be extremely successful, who got banking jobs out of college with an English major and no relevant experience. The banks could figure out without doing banking specific case interviews that these people were really smart and would pick up the material quickly, and they had great training programs that taught them everything they needed to know, with the rest taught on the job.

A good chunk of the people who go to banks end up in some very esoteric niche area where all of the garbage being taught in the finance clubs is largely irrelevant anyway. I have had a very successful career in banking and have not come within a mile of a DCF or any trading related concepts.

You are more than welcome to get involved with recruiting at your firm and industry trade group and help change things. Otherwise you just sound smug and you were lucky to get in the old and easy way.

Exactly. This guy posts here ALL the time. I mean, how serious is his job?
Lol

Perhaps it is a she? And perhaps you need a life if you keep track of how often people post here? And why do you care? Another loser with a kid who is president of the finance club at a Tier 3 school hoping to be a teller at a bank in flyover country?

You were responding to me.

Yes, I've seen "his" commentary A LOT. He thinks he's the authority. There's a certain patriarchal style that he has - where he tries to mansplain finance (retired Wall Street here). He's just off-putting and pretty distinctive - so you remember it (and because it's so frequent).

I'm not sure why you felt the need to insult me or my kids (none of which are in a finance club at their T10, mind you).

Your children are "whom," not "which."

English/grammar teacher here—- Actually, “which” can be used to refer to things OR people, but “whom” is used exclusively for people.

[Anonymous]

UVA Pickleball club is very competitive, there are tryouts, and why should they accept beginners? https://www.instagram.com/p/DNd_oMHyUcb/

if you want to join a club that you're interested in, bring something that people actually want to be associated with you. Otherwise, please STFU. That's my 2c.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds insane to me. Do employers actually care about clubs? Can't the students locked out of a student club just start their own club?

Club approvals and funding is an effort. You need to be really motivated to go through this process. It's easier to find something else to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA Pickleball club is very competitive, there are tryouts, and why should they accept beginners? https://www.instagram.com/p/DNd_oMHyUcb/

if you want to join a club that you're interested in, bring something that people actually want to be associated with you. Otherwise, please STFU. That's my 2c.

Is there a way to learn pickleball at UVA? Because it seems like the idea has become “Students arrive at university with a particular set of skills and perfect them. But it is no longer possible for college students to try new things.” Which seems to me like a terribly depressing vision for a university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA Pickleball club is very competitive, there are tryouts, and why should they accept beginners? https://www.instagram.com/p/DNd_oMHyUcb/

if you want to join a club that you're interested in, bring something that people actually want to be associated with you. Otherwise, please STFU. That's my 2c.

Is there a way to learn pickleball at UVA? Because it seems like the idea has become “Students arrive at university with a particular set of skills and perfect them. But it is no longer possible for college students to try new things.” Which seems to me like a terribly depressing vision for a university.

Nobody stops you from learning pickleball; However, you try new things on your own time, and NOT on other people time. It is no different than applying to UVA. There are over 64,000 applicants for 4,000 spots at UVA. UVA can't accept all 64,000 applicants, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this hyper competitiveness for clubs is such crap. College should be when kids try out whatever they are intersted in

Every college has plenty of non-competitive clubs that anyone can join. Its generally the pre-professional clubs that are more competitive, but they can't accept everyone. They are run by students who can't manage a 2000 person club. This is good learning experience for students to learn how to hustle for jobs.

I agree with this. There are so many opportunities to be involved other than pre-professional clubs: student government, service organizations, workout clubs, sororities and fraternities, religious organizations, performing arts, being a resident advisor, part-time jobs on campus, etc., etc. And all of them provide leadership opportunities. Kids are not relegated to a life of isolation and iced out of jobs after graduation due to not getting a bid to a pre-professional club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this hyper competitiveness for clubs is such crap. College should be when kids try out whatever they are intersted in

Every college has plenty of non-competitive clubs that anyone can join. Its generally the pre-professional clubs that are more competitive, but they can't accept everyone. They are run by students who can't manage a 2000 person club. This is good learning experience for students to learn how to hustle for jobs.

I agree with this. There are so many opportunities to be involved other than pre-professional clubs: student government, service organizations, workout clubs, sororities and fraternities, religious organizations, performing arts, being a resident advisor, part-time jobs on campus, etc., etc. And all of them provide leadership opportunities. Kids are not relegated to a life of isolation and iced out of jobs after graduation due to not getting a bid to a pre-professional club.

It is not supposed to be like that, but unfortunately it is how it operates in the real world. Ever heard of "It's not what you know, but who you know" or "It's not who you know, but who knows you"? That's why.