Extracurriculars for STEM major... would this be good enough to get into university with 20% acceptance rate?

Hi @SageFuture87991!

Founding and leading a club can look really good on an application, but I would caution against doing it for the sake of admission. Tons of students found a club late junior or senior year — to stand out, you'll have to really commit to growing the club so you can build some accomplishments within it.

You mentioned organizing fundraising efforts, which suggests you're on the right track. But keep in mind that you can't count on the "club founder" title getting you far — it's what you'll do with the title that matters.

If you think that's too much of a risk or want to invest your time elsewhere, then I would suggest pursuing a passion project of some sort (maybe related to your major). Conducting research, working with a professor, or even creating your own coding projects could also all look very good and give you something to discuss in your essays.

In short, it's always best to work on whatever genuinely interests you most. If you want a more detailed analysis of how your application compares at specific schools, be sure to check out our Chancing Engine (link on the sidebar). It takes into account your grades, test scores, and extracurriculars, and can tell you how these components stack up at each of the schools you're interested in.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions.

You could try coding an app and submitting it to a competition.

Or, create a website that teaches kids to code. Then you could combine that with the system you’re planning (have a non profit where older students teach younger ones how to code). You’d have a good leadership opportunity and would be showing enthusiasm in your spike