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QB Moderator
| Welcome to our chat about leadership. My name is Dawn and I will be moderating this chat.
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Williams (Mark)
| Hey everyone! This is Mark Robertson, assistant director of admission at Williams College (www.williams.edu). Feel free to ask me anything and everything, and if you have a question you'd rather ask by email, send it to me at mrobertson@williams.edu. Ask away! |
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jazzyrhythms
| Because of my involvment in Running Start(full-time college classes while in highschool) I have not been able to do very many things with my highschool. In fact I am only in 2 clubs(no positions) and a student director on the districts school board. How will colleges look at this? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Great question. Honestly, colleges like the QB partner schools look at each student as an individual and try to understand his or her accomplishments and activities in proper context. It's great that you're challenging yourself with college classes, and we'll understand that this is keeping you incredibly busy. We're not looking for superhumans, but solid school citizens who are involved and making best use of the resources available to them. If you stick with your current activities and work hard at them, colleges will see that you're committing yourself. |
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ghosty
| How important is leadership in the college application? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Leadership is important... we're looking for future leaders in many different fields! but first, you should understand what we consider "leadership." Leadership is not just running a club or organization or starting up a new group. It's someone who's committed to an organization and makes things happen. You don't have to necessarily be the most vocal. The biggest thing we're looking for on the non-academic front is follow-through. We typically like to see invovlement in 2-3 activities for two or more years each, culminating in some sort of "leadership" position, if possible. |
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QB Moderator
| We also have Alfie Daniels, Sr. Assistant Director of Admission at Wellesley. She is very exicted to answer any of your questions. |
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ShaquitaPack
| I haven't invovled in A LOT of things in HS but the things that I have were extremely time cosuming, for example, I was on my school flag team and participated with the marching band as well as being on the principal's advisory council and academic decathlon. I recently added Quiz Bowl and Key Club to my list of extracurricular activities. In your opinion, is this enough, or do i need to buckle down and be in everything I possibly can during my senior year? |
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Williams (Mark)
| As I noted before, follow through and dedication to a few activities is much more important to us than just building a laundry list of activities. That's, to us, the best way to identify leadership. And moreover, do things that are meaningful to you! When we ask you to write about what you've done and why you've done it, it's pretty clear to us those who are doing things because they're passionate about them and those who are doing them to pad their resume. Passion matters a lot to us, because it will show up on our campuses! |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| I agree with Mark's comments on the importance of leadership in your application. |
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tonyaj7
| How will I be able to continue my leadership positions in college. The same way in high school? |
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Williams (Mark)
| It depends on what you're doing now and what you hope to do in college... and also what type of college you choose to attend. I chose to attend Williams myself mainly because I wanted to be able to continue all of the things I loved in high school, and to add more things! And I found Williams to be a very welcoming place for student leaders. For example, I never wrote for a newspaper before I came to Williams, and by my senior year, I was editor of our student newspaper, the Williams Record.
It's probably unlikely, due to the demands of your schedule in college, that you'd maintain more than a few leadership roles at the same time in college. But it's possible, and at smaller liberal arts colleges like ours, it's very likely that you'll be able to jump right into important roles if you want to! |
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| Wellesley (Alfie) |
There are many leadership opportunities in college. Most campuses have hundreds of clubs, sports and even opportunities to serve in college goverment. Additionally, there also lots of communtiy services projects to get involved with |
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drlisacuddy
| what kind of oppurturnities for leadership are in college? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Really anything and everything... from running student organizations, captaining a sports team, directing a student play, or organizing a service project, or directing a diversity group. We also have students who are leaders in their dorms or the general Williams community. Nearly every single decision-making committee on our campus (including curriculum, residential life, dining halls!) has students on it who have a vote just as the professors do. So there's lots do, and frankly, we need all of those student leaders to be active! |
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tonyaj7
| I'm afraid that colleges will think I have too much on my plate. How do I show I'm dedicated? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Really good question, we know that you guys keep yourselves very busy, but your question really is how much is too much? Honestly, we don't expect students to stretch themselves so thin that they don't have time to enjoy the rest of their life! That's not what we'll expect in college, so why expect it in high school? Focus on the things that you love -- and that could be lots of things -- and if that's making you happy, then go for it! Your teachers and counselor will let us know just how dedicated you are in your recommendations. |
| Wellesley (Alfie) | Every college looks at many different things in the admission process. Receving the Questbridge scholarship is certainly looked at as a plus factor |
| Wellesley (Alfie) | It does not matter which activites you participate as long as you show that you are dedicated those activites |
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HerAirness21
| If someone won the Questbridge Prep Scholarship, how will that factor into your decision-making for the Questbridge Match Program and/or Regular admissions |
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Williams (Mark)
| Congrats! It's a great honor. Each of the QB partner schools uses a wide variety of factors in selecting students for Match scholarships. But this designation should put you in the competitive mix for our schools, so if you want to attend one of the partners, keep working hard and follow through with the QB application process this fall. |
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Williams (Mark)
| Great questions tonight, everyone, keep them coming! |
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Van Nguyen
| I'm confident that my commitment to 2-3 clubs "speaks" for myself. But, why does college application always ask for position held in clubs? Do they measure your leadership based on how many positions you hold? |
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Williams (Mark)
| We don't measure your leadership abilities only based on how many positions you've held, but your involvement does communicate to us how serious you are about the activities. Someone who just attends meetings and does little else is, in our eyes, less likely to get more involved in college than someone who's stepped up in high school. Again, there's nothing wrong with being a "joiner" who's deeply committed, but if you're a passive "joiner" then it's hard for us to imagine you doing more to us once you're on our campus. |
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QB Moderator
| If you have more questions, please feel free to ask them. I'll try to get to them! |
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jazzyrhythms
| What should I do over the summer to show leadership to a college? Also I know community service would be one thing-where do I look for oppurtunities? |
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Williams (Mark)
| There are tons of great things to do over the summer: get a job, volunteer at a local charity or school, find an internship, take a class. In terms of showing leadership, really in anything you do -- especially if you need a job to earn money -- there are opportunities to develop your leadership skills. Stepping up and taking on projects, leading a group, etc. As for service, you might check with your school or a community organization/charity to see if they could use your help! Or ask other students who've already graduated and been involved. |
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lionel11
| How flexible are colleges regarding leadership? For instance, in the college's measuring of leadership, is it useless if a student is a leader in class discussions, groups, and social settings but does not have leadership positions? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Certainly being a leader in those areas communicates to us your ability to contribute to our community. Being a leader in activities also does that. We're looking for a range of students who will "show up" on our campuses in a variety of ways, it's hard to say that one's necessarily more valuable than another. |
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Azhar
| Do colleges consider leadreship programs during the summer, such as the National Student Leadership Conferences, with the same regard as in school leadership (clubs etc.)? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Programs that students have to pay for to participate in are not considered as strongly as those that you're doing on your own. If you win scholarships to attend these programs -- and what you do at the program is significant -- then we'd look at it pretty closely! |
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Azhar
| Do colleges consider leadreship programs during the summer, such as the National Student Leadership Conferences, with the same regard as in school leadership (clubs etc.)? |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| Also, programs that you do over the summer have more meaning in the admission process if they directly relate to the interests you've indicated in your application
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ghosty
| To Williams College: How do you define leadership and what are some activities people with leadership do? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Interesting question... Leadership's a hard quality to pin down, but really we're looking for students who are going to make an impact on our community. We don't look for particular activities, necessarily -- you don't have to be student body president to be a leader. What you need to do is take on responsibilities and to follow through on them, including others.
Student leaders on our campus do all sorts of things! We have nearly 200 student organizations, and our students run them all! The best one is to be newspaper editor :) |
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marianzhen
| are we allowed to start our own organizations in college if we don't find anything that we're passionate about? |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| Many college will allow you to start organizations if there aren't things that you're passionate about. However, I bet you'll find that most colleges will have something that pertains to your interest. Colleges literally have over 100s of things for students to get involved with
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marianzhen
| I have been involved in school activities and done college classes, however i've never done any enrichment courses in the summer, does that look bad? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Certainly not. Enrichment classes are not required at all for admission. If you want to take them and you think they'll be worth your time (and can pay for them) then go for it. If you need to spend your time doing other things, do those instead! Honestly, the classes you're already taking at high school will be plenty of preparation for college. |
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christine_tung
| Are most colleges aware of all the different leadership programs? Or is it necessary to include a description of the program (such as Boys State/Girls State) when including it in an application and/or essay? |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| This is a good question. I would say that most colleges are aware of the programs that exist out the for students, especially things like boys/girls state, national student leadership conference, etc. Certainly if the program has had significant meaning for you, than you should talk about how the program impacted you in your application. |
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marianzhen
| what if we couldnt afford those programs and didnt win any scholarships for theose programs, will colleges prefer a kid who has attended such programs over a student who hasnt? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Not at all. Programs that students have to pay for to participate in over the summer really don't mean much at all to us. |
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lionel11
| can great academics(i.e. rank 2 in a class of 967 and have MANY AP classes) balance out with not so great leadership? I'm in 3-4 clubs(don't hold any positions) and play tennis |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| Your academic performance is certainly more important than the activities that you have been involved, but it does not really take the place of leadership activites. As Mark pointed out earlier though, there are many other ways to demonstrate leadership outside of the acitivies that you are involved with. |
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christine_tung
| Are most colleges aware of all the different leadership programs? Or is it necessary to include a description of the program (such as Boys State/Girls State) when including it in an application and/or essay? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Hey Christine! We try our best here in admissions to keep up to date on all of the things that you guys are doing... but there are SO MANY things you're doing, so it's best to include a resume with your application that has descriptions of the programs and clubs you've participated in. For example lots of schools have a National Honor Society... but at some schools, it's the major service club, at others, it's just an honor society. |
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jazzyrhythms
| When applying to a college would it be benificial to tell them about things I did in clubs I was in when I was an underclassmen even though I only did that club for a year. |
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Williams (Mark)
| I'd recommend focusing on the clubs you've been most committed to, rather than those you just did for a year. |
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jazzyrhythms
| When applying to a college would it be benificial to tell them about things I did in clubs I was in when I was an underclassmen even though I only did that club for a year. |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| I'm not exactlly sure what you mean by underclassmen, but you should only focus on those activities you did in high school, and those that have been meaningful to you. |
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QB Moderator
| We have about 5 minutes left. |
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Azhar
| It seems like there is a conflict between the views of the both of you about paid summer programs. I know many cannot afford them, including myself, but finding the means to pay for them--doesn't that show drive and dedication? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Good point. Sure, if you're working to pay for these programs and include that in your application, it communicates something to us, and that's wonderful. We're just trying to convey that simply because you can put something on your resume that you've paid for doesn't mean it will hold much value to us in the admissions process. In the situation you described, we'd look at it more closely. |
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christine_tung
| I've been told that often times colleges don't really care about the community service you've done if you were not directly responsible for organizing the service or event, that they only look for leadership positions held during the community service done. Is this in any way true? |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| It is not entirely true. It will certainly be more meaningful to us if you have organized something, however it is important that you let us know that you enjoy community service even if you haven't been directly involved in planning it. |
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marianzhen
| how do colleges take in consideration of the neighborhood and background our school comes from? |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| That's something that we look at closely. Each college will look at each student individually within the context of the high school that he/she attends. We also look to see what types of opportunities have been available to you at your high school and what things you have taken advantage of. |
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chailattegirl88
| At our school, you're only allowed to hold two positions. Will colleges take that into consideration somehow? |
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Williams (Mark)
| If that's your school's policy, your counselors will communicate it to us. There are schools out there that only allow students to have ONE top leadership position. We're going to understand that that's the rule and look at your application accordingly. |
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marianzhen(Q)
| how do colleges take in consideration of the neighborhood and background our school comes from? |
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Williams (Mark)
| Most definitely! We try very hard to understand what opportunities are available to you at your school and in your neighborhood, and look at your application accordingly. We're a Questbridge partner because we want to make sure we're letting students from all neighborhoods and schools know about what schools like Williams might offer them in college. |
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QB Moderator
| Thank you all so much for coming to this chat session. I hope that you found the information helpful. Mark and Alfie, thank you so much for your assistance! |
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Wellesley (Alfie)
| Thank you all for joining us. If you have additional questions you would like to ask, please feel free to email me at adaniel1@wellesley.edu |
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Williams (Mark)
| Hey everyone, thanks again for a great chat tonight! Keep working hard and doing what you love and things will come together for you. If you have any questions about Williams, the Questbridge process, or college applications in general feel free to email me at mrobertson@williams.edu. Thanks again! |
