Why are extracurriculars so hard to join in college now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really sad. I’ve heard it’s intense and competitive for clubs even at the private level - ivys, Georgetown, Boston College, etc.

I think it’s a huge reason to opt for a smaller school where there are more opportunities to participate and not as much exclusivity.

My kid is at an ivy and while there are some competitive clubs that reject almost everyone, there are also many open clubs, or students can start their own. The ratio of club spots and number of total clubs is much more favorable at her school and her friend at a different ivy than their friends at UVA and VT. William and Mary also has favorable ratios because it is smaller. Yet not so small that it feels like you cannot get away from annoying people (LAC)

You were doing fine and then you just couldn’t help yourself from letting your stupidity shine on through. Bless your heart.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most clubs are open to anyone. It's just that people make a ton of noise when they encounter the ones that have a tryout/application/etc.

Not true for Greek life and club sports

Again, MOST clubs are open to anyone. SOME have a tryout or application.

Clearly, for a club sport, you have to show some talent or aptitude. Same for anything that requires performances or competitions.

Greek life doesn't even count because we all know practices differ from place to place. At some schools, you're guaranteed a spot IF you fully participate and fill out all the ranking spots.

But what if it's your first time trying the sport?

That tends to be what intramural sports are for. "Club" sports are still often relatively competitive, whereas intramurals are more just for fun / trying-it-out / "make a team with your freshman hall and give it a dumb name" level. Sometimes a club team (see lots of ultimate teams) will have two tiers to it, with the "A" squad being what most people think of as a "club"-tier (go to nationals if you do well) level, and a "B" squad being more casual / beer-league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of clubs at my son's school have an interview process and the sports teams have cuts.

He tried to join 4 clubs. Got into 2.
One, a sport, had over a hundred kids try out for 30 spots. Didn't make the team. Tried to join an investment club and didn't get an interview. The VP only got in as a second semester Junior. They invest 2 million. So, kind of a big deal. He didn't realize that it is the hardest club to get into. Got into a business fraternity. Also, didn't realize it was a tough one to join. Loves it. It has been awesome for him so far. Lastly, joined a club associated with his major. They took everyone.

Another example, he would love to join the pickle ball club but he feels that he isn't good enough. Even though he says he is a very good player for someone with a non-tennis background.

Where does that money come from? I had assumed "investment club" meant talking about stocks or making model portfolios!

OMG. I can't believe how naïve some parents can be. It's understandable regarding prior generations before the Internet but now…it's just...wow. I'm not saying I agree or am a proponent of the way things are – but it's easy to be aware.

[Anonymous]

The intensity of clubs depends on the type of club. Religious groups take everyone. Volunteer groups probably take pretty much everyone. Sports teams can only accommodate so many people - only five people play basketball at a time so you don't want 25 people on a team. Not going to have 200 people in an a capella or instrumental group. Pre-professional clubs should really err on the side of inclusiveness but also have to set limits.

But it is the pre-professional groups that drive me batty as they unfortunately serve as gate keeper to jobs. It used to be that anyone could apply for banking or consulting jobs (and there were a lot less people doing so). Now it is up to some junior or senior who thinks they are so important to control this. Which isn't cool.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

How is AI changing that recruitment?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

How does he/she sound smug? If anything, they are advocating for a more egalitarian way to hire? And the old way was not "easy." Do you work at a bank? Or is your kid the president of the finance club at a school so you need to prove what a wonderful snowflake they are?

[Anonymous]

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

Its just numbers. 2,000 student public HS vs. 25,000 student university. Both basketball teams still can only play 5 at a time.

[Anonymous]

Do you people ever take a breath? Or do you just leap from one life competition to the next? It sounds totally exhausting.

[Anonymous]

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?

[Anonymous]

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?

So many red flags in this post. Wishing you serenity, PP.