Leadership qualities colleges look for

basketball gameLeadership is definitely a quality colleges are looking for when they review your application. It can be hard to recognize leadership activities if you’ve never thought about it before, so I’ll give you a few examples. The lower the grade you’re in, the more time you’ll have to do some of these activities, but late is always better than never. Here are some examples of how you can show leadership:

1) Be the captain or co-captain of a sports team.
2) Be the president or head of a club or organization.
3) Start a club.
4) Become a manager at your job.
5) Get high rankings in a JROTC program (if it's available at your school).
6) Get the lead part in a play.
7) Be the head of costumes, head of make-up, head of lighting, etc. for a school play.
8) Be the first chair instrument in band or orchestra.
9) Be an organizer for an event at your school.

Those are just some ideas - you might be able to think of more than match your interests. Remember that just being the head of an organization or having the lead part in a play doesn't automatically mean you're a leader. You have to show that people look up to you and you can manage the work effectively. If you're thinking about this for your college essays, talk about an obstacle you might have overcome in one of these positions.

If you're going to be a junior and you don't have much time to do any of those activities, you can still talk about being a leader in your family or in group projects. Do your siblings or cousins look up to you? Were you often the one in group projects that kept everyone on track? Think of a time where people looked up to you and you took charge. That’s leadership.

 

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