Anonymous wrote:If you are talking the finance clubs and secret society type clubs, that can be crazy.

Club sports and club music groups are quite another. My kids played club sports and it was a great experience. At a major DI school, still got to keep playing the sports they loved and had university funding for road games to drivable locations. They also were funded when they qualified for the national club championships and flew.

Club sports offer much of the competition and camaraderie and teamwork with far less commitment. One of the top players on my son’s club team had quit the varsity team because it was interfering too much with his engineering work. Club sports proved to be perfect.

As with anything, it’s up to the kids to take some initiative and get involved. They can become leaders of the clubs by their upperclass years

This is exactly like my son’s experience at an Ivy. There are at least 4 former Varsity players who didn’t like the V. coach. A few transfers who played at the D3 level. Internationals who are amazing players. And a bunch of players that were recruited elsewhere - but got into the Ivy on academics and chose it over lower ranked schools. Their flights, hotel, etc were funded when they made Nationals. It’s a great group of kids that have a common love of the sport.

If you are talking the finance clubs and secret society type clubs, that can be crazy.

Club sports and club music groups are quite another. My kids played club sports and it was a great experience. At a major DI school, still got to keep playing the sports they loved and had university funding for road games to drivable locations. They also were funded when they qualified for the national club championships and flew.

Club sports offer much of the competition and camaraderie and teamwork with far less commitment. One of the top players on my son’s club team had quit the varsity team because it was interfering too much with his engineering work. Club sports proved to be perfect.

As with anything, it’s up to the kids to take some initiative and get involved. They can become leaders of the clubs by their upperclass years

It is good to understand this before they head off to campus. The fact that all of these activities are really not accessible is never discussed in all of the marketing materials or the tour. They these universities sell themselves as having all of these wonderful opportunities, which in fact, are not available to most of the students.

I don't think it's a reason to not choose a certain University, but understand that you're not going to be able to access extracurricular clubs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at Harvard. Getting into most clubs is brutal. Getting into final clubs is a blood sport.

Besides final clubs there are dozens of clubs that students can join at Harvard. If you child complains of having difficulty find a suitable one maybe she can ask classmates, roommates or favorite teachers.

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Anonymous wrote:Before, clubs were an outlet for nonacademic interests- sports, the arts, hobbies, cultural affinity, religion- whatever. They weren’t treated as potential professional networks and springboards.

These exist and are quite popular at both ivies mine attend. There are hundreds of clubs total, less than half have cuts. Some have auditions and cuts for the performing arts. Many do not! The professional network ones are the most competitive but also the least needed. Multiple experienced parents and school officials have weighed in over the years showing data that the majority of coveted jobs have not come from these clubs. On campus recruiting is available to all, and the interview and transcript matter most. The question comes up every year at parents weekends. Leadership in a no-cut club is just as advantageous on a resume or as a talking point in an interview, and TAing, researching with a professor, and summer internships are more important than any club. Both schools provide extensive internal funding for summer experiences that are not paid positions, and professors are happy to help students get opportunities.

At my athlete-heavy LAC several decades ago, the only clubs that seemed to have a ton of interest were the club/intramural sports and outing clubs. And those were open to all. But that was several decades ago and the student body has changed at many places since then. Different interests, more varied interests which may be more interest/competition with clubs now.

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. So many articles about this lately:

California schools: https://edsource.org/2025/college-clubs-becoming-just-as-competitive-as-getting-into-college/724506

Yale: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/yale-college-undergrad-clubs-competitive/675219/?gift=W1EZ6nF_0Pz_BkLDXD99AZBk6EfQf6oeIUyR_Iq4kds

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/09/13/meyers-what-yale-can-do-to-make-clubs-less-exclusive/

https://www.michigandaily.com/news/campus-life/students-reflect-competitive-nature-business-organizations/

https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2017/09/inside-cornells-most-selective-finance-and-consulting-clubs

Ugh. So many articles about this lately:

California schools: https://edsource.org/2025/college-clubs-becoming-just-as-competitive-as-getting-into-college/724506

Yale: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/yale-college-undergrad-clubs-competitive/675219/?gift=W1EZ6nF_0Pz_BkLDXD99AZBk6EfQf6oeIUyR_Iq4kds

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/09/13/meyers-what-yale-can-do-to-make-clubs-less-exclusive/

Anonymous wrote:Before, clubs were an outlet for nonacademic interests- sports, the arts, hobbies, cultural affinity, religion- whatever. They weren’t treated as potential professional networks and springboards.

Yes! Thank you. They weren’t strategic or competitive.

Anonymous wrote:DC is at Harvard. Getting into most clubs is brutal. Getting into final clubs is a blood sport.

Besides final clubs there are dozens of clubs that students can join at Harvard. If you child complains of having difficulty find a suitable one maybe she can ask classmates, roommates or favorite teachers.

Before, clubs were an outlet for nonacademic interests- sports, the arts, hobbies, cultural affinity, religion- whatever. They weren’t treated as potential professional networks and springboards.