Rushed Leadership & ECs

[Kanogo]

Hey everybody! So I decided that I wanted to attend a service academy about a year ago and as a result of that, I rushed to sign up for as many leadership and extracurricular opportunities as I could. So far, I have been contempt with the work that I have accomplished, and I feel strongly that I have been growing and developing good character and leadership through these activities and positions. I also feel that I have made meaningful impacts and contributions through everything I did.
However, I notice that the Academies like to see consistency and long term ECs. With that being said, will the fact that I only have between one and two years of experience in my extracurriculars serve as a damaging factor in my application?

Thank you

 

[HopefulDad2026]

Personally, I think as long as you can show / demonstrate with examples the growth that you've experienced, and the differences that you made, I think you'll be fine. Remember leadership isn't just a position, you can have great examples of being part of a team or group working towards a goal and taking a leadership role over a particular situation. Use some examples like that as well, to tell the story.

 

[Devil Doc]

I've been studying up on this a little and learned that the Naval Academy conducts outreach efforts to middle school kids. This I suppose is to pique interest and also to inform those kids about what the portrait of a viable candidate looks like. Of course that includes leadership experience. Those leadership experiences would happen along the way and the candidate for admission would not have to:
"So I decided that I wanted to attend a service academy about a year ago and as a result of that, I rushed to sign up for as many leadership and extracurricular opportunities as I could."

I have no idea how your resume will affect your chances for admission but I will advise this. Do not tell this (bolded words) to anybody who has anything to do with you getting in. It doesn't sound good. Off-putting actually.

I've been a NHS reader (applications, resumes) four of the past six years and the resumes of high school kids these days are amazing. Some even unbelievable. By the time they got to me they were supposedly vetted so I didn't worry about embellishment. Anyway, the competition is tough out there. Lots of people want the same thing you say you want. Showing how much you want it is the key.

 

[LT360]

It is about quality--what impact did you have? how did you grow? what did you learn? are you leaving the role/organization better than you joined?

Above all there is no formula to gain appointment. I am sure there are MIDN that have a low number of EC/Leadership activities due to other responsibilities---job, family caretaker, etc.

 

[justdoit19]

A person can create something and have a fantastic, impactful, learning/leadership experience in one summer.

Quality trumps quantity any day of the year.

 

[ders_dad]

It does beg the question - why weren't you involved in leadership, athletics, etc. before this? Do you naturally seek out leadership challenges or are you looking to check boxes? You'll want to be able to answer this at some point.

 

[Kanogo]

It does beg the question - why weren't you involved in leadership, athletics, etc. before this? Do you naturally seek out leadership challenges or are you looking to check boxes? You'll want to be able to answer this at some point.

Thank you. I was actually a full-time competitive swimmer for 10 years. I made a lot of sacrifices because of it. When I realized that I was not fast enough to get recruited, I had to shift my gears to focus on leadership and ECs. In terms of what I am seeking, I am confident that I've done everything for the challenge and experience.

 

[Kanogo]

I've been studying up on this a little and learned that the Naval Academy conducts outreach efforts to middle school kids. This I suppose is to pique interest and also to inform those kids about what the portrait of a viable candidate looks like. Of course that includes leadership experience. Those leadership experiences would happen along the way and the candidate for admission would not have to:
"So I decided that I wanted to attend a service academy about a year ago and as a result of that, I rushed to sign up for as many leadership and extracurricular opportunities as I could."

I have no idea how your resume will affect your chances for admission but I will advise this. Do not tell this (bolded words) to anybody who has anything to do with you getting in. It doesn't sound good. Off-putting actually.

I've been a NHS reader (applications, resumes) four of the past six years and the resumes of high school kids these days are amazing. Some even unbelievable. By the time they got to me they were supposedly vetted so I didn't worry about embellishment. Anyway, the competition is tough out there. Lots of people want the same thing you say you want. Showing how much you want it is the key.

Thank you for that advice. I most certainly won't mention anything close to that.