Do universities really care about leadership experience?

[thirdculturekid]

I'm looking at applying to some of the UK's top unis, and was wondering if it make that much of a boost to your application? Will it be a deciding factor to whether or not I'm accepted? Is it worth going through all that extra responsibility, time and effort?

[Luka Petrovic]

If you and another person perform academically the same, all your marks are the same or equivalent. They will have to decide with other means. Extra-curriculars, volunteering and awards are the most common way to do that. Committing yourself to a cause, a charity or other local organization, competing in sports, writing and other pursuits. All of these things allow you to prove yourself outside of school. Universities don't just want good students, they want people who will reflect well on them in the future, and hopefully make enough money to donate some money back to the university! So yes, as it gets more difficult to get into a programme, the more emphasis is put on the leadership and extra-curricular experience.

[susanne]

Well, to be frank, not everyone can be a leader, or have the opportunity to be a leader. And honestly I don't think some universities cares that much about your extra-corricular when you are just applying for admission

however, leadership makes a HUGE difference when you are applying for scholarship, and for some subjects it's advisable to have leadership experiences in relevant clubs (e.g. journalism)

[flinquinnster]

I think that whether universities care about leadership depends on the university itself, and particularly the country it's in. My impression is that admission into most of the top Australian universities (for most courses, at least) is based on a far more rigid academic requirement which is essentially blind to many leadership roles or even extra-curricular involvement. So that's how you end up with ridiculous requirements like a minimum cut-off of 44/45 in IB for law at a certain Sydney University... However, for certain courses, and for scholarships, that experience is definitely still beneficial.

But I am well aware that in the UK and US, a more holistic approach is favoured, and leadership is a great thing to talk about, as it can boost and enhance your academic credentials.

[susanne]

I think that whether universities care about leadership depends on the university itself, and particularly the country it's in. My impression is that admission into most of the top Australian universities (for most courses, at least) is based on a far more rigid academic requirement which is essentially blind to many leadership roles or even extra-curricular involvement. So that's how you end up with ridiculous requirements like a minimum cut-off of 44/45 in IB for law at a certain Sydney University... However, for certain courses, and for scholarships, that experience is definitely still beneficial.

But I am well aware that in the UK and US, a more holistic approach is favoured, and leadership is a great thing to talk about, as it can boost and enhance your academic credentials.

Medicine is also ridiculous; 43/45 at the very least and it's generally expected that you have to do well in UMAT to get in.

But apparently experiences in Medicine is required (e.g. red cross); and also to a number of other courses you apparently have to take a TAFE subject as a precursor as experiences are necessary,

and I agree with you on the last point

[cricketcrazynerd]

Like my careers teacher says, if there are two students with the same academic profiles, the unis will give the individual will the leadership experience the upper hand. But, for most universities, academic results are the most important.

I think that whether universities care about leadership depends on the university itself, and particularly the country it's in. My impression is that admission into most of the top Australian universities (for most courses, at least) is based on a far more rigid academic requirement which is essentially blind to many leadership roles or even extra-curricular involvement. So that's how you end up with ridiculous requirements like a minimum cut-off of 44/45 in IB for law at a certain Sydney University... However, for certain courses, and for scholarships, that experience is definitely still beneficial.

But I am well aware that in the UK and US, a more holistic approach is favoured, and leadership is a great thing to talk about, as it can boost and enhance your academic credentials.

Medicine is also ridiculous; 43/45 at the very least and it's generally expected that you have to do well in UMAT to get in.

But apparently experiences in Medicine is required (e.g. red cross); and also to a number of other courses you apparently have to take a TAFE subject as a precursor as experiences are necessary,

and I agree with you on the last point

No, for some unis in Australia for medicine, you need a 37+ or a 39+, I don't remember the names but a few weeks ago some uni reps came in to meet us and mentioned these minimum ib scores. Also, even UMAT isn't necessary for all the unis- at least for the post graduate medical courses. I wanted to medicine before so I've done a lot of research on this. For example in melbourne uni, for the bachelors of biomedicine, you need 38/45 and after completing that you can go straight into the actual medicine thing. No UMAT is required- just English, Maths and Chemistry.

[susanne]

Like my careers teacher says, if there are two students with the same academic profiles, the unis will give the individual will the leadership experience the upper hand. But, for most universities, academic results are the most important.

I think that whether universities care about leadership depends on the university itself, and particularly the country it's in. My impression is that admission into most of the top Australian universities (for most courses, at least) is based on a far more rigid academic requirement which is essentially blind to many leadership roles or even extra-curricular involvement. So that's how you end up with ridiculous requirements like a minimum cut-off of 44/45 in IB for law at a certain Sydney University... However, for certain courses, and for scholarships, that experience is definitely still beneficial.

But I am well aware that in the UK and US, a more holistic approach is favoured, and leadership is a great thing to talk about, as it can boost and enhance your academic credentials.

Medicine is also ridiculous; 43/45 at the very least and it's generally expected that you have to do well in UMAT to get in.

But apparently experiences in Medicine is required (e.g. red cross); and also to a number of other courses you apparently have to take a TAFE subject as a precursor as experiences are necessary,

and I agree with you on the last point

No, for some unis in Australia for medicine, you need a 37+ or a 39+, I don't remember the names but a few weeks ago some uni reps came in to meet us and mentioned these minimum ib scores. Also, even UMAT isn't necessary for all the unis- at least for the post graduate medical courses. I wanted to medicine before so I've done a lot of research on this. For example in melbourne uni, for the bachelors of biomedicine, you need 38/45 and after completing that you can go straight into the actual medicine thing. No UMAT is required- just English, Maths and Chemistry.

REALLY? are you completely sure that it doesn't require us to sit GAMSAT? The only university that doesn't require me to sit for GAMSAT is Cook's University, and the medical reputation isn't as good as Adelaide Uni's medical faculty;

but in terms of scores, it's really competitive and in SA you usually need 99+ to have at least a chance to get into med, not sure if bonus points are applicable or not;

[cricketcrazynerd]

Like my careers teacher says, if there are two students with the same academic profiles, the unis will give the individual will the leadership experience the upper hand. But, for most universities, academic results are the most important.

I think that whether universities care about leadership depends on the university itself, and particularly the country it's in. My impression is that admission into most of the top Australian universities (for most courses, at least) is based on a far more rigid academic requirement which is essentially blind to many leadership roles or even extra-curricular involvement. So that's how you end up with ridiculous requirements like a minimum cut-off of 44/45 in IB for law at a certain Sydney University... However, for certain courses, and for scholarships, that experience is definitely still beneficial.

But I am well aware that in the UK and US, a more holistic approach is favoured, and leadership is a great thing to talk about, as it can boost and enhance your academic credentials.

Medicine is also ridiculous; 43/45 at the very least and it's generally expected that you have to do well in UMAT to get in.

But apparently experiences in Medicine is required (e.g. red cross); and also to a number of other courses you apparently have to take a TAFE subject as a precursor as experiences are necessary,

and I agree with you on the last point

No, for some unis in Australia for medicine, you need a 37+ or a 39+, I don't remember the names but a few weeks ago some uni reps came in to meet us and mentioned these minimum ib scores. Also, even UMAT isn't necessary for all the unis- at least for the post graduate medical courses. I wanted to medicine before so I've done a lot of research on this. For example in melbourne uni, for the bachelors of biomedicine, you need 38/45 and after completing that you can go straight into the actual medicine thing. No UMAT is required- just English, Maths and Chemistry.

REALLY? are you completely sure that it doesn't require us to sit GAMSAT? The only university that doesn't require me to sit for GAMSAT is Cook's University, and the medical reputation isn't as good as Adelaide Uni's medical faculty;

but in terms of scores, it's really competitive and in SA you usually need 99+ to have at least a chance to get into med, not sure if bonus points are applicable or not;

yeah...im legit sure check it out urself

[susanne]

Like my careers teacher says, if there are two students with the same academic profiles, the unis will give the individual will the leadership experience the upper hand. But, for most universities, academic results are the most important.

I think that whether universities care about leadership depends on the university itself, and particularly the country it's in. My impression is that admission into most of the top Australian universities (for most courses, at least) is based on a far more rigid academic requirement which is essentially blind to many leadership roles or even extra-curricular involvement. So that's how you end up with ridiculous requirements like a minimum cut-off of 44/45 in IB for law at a certain Sydney University... However, for certain courses, and for scholarships, that experience is definitely still beneficial.

But I am well aware that in the UK and US, a more holistic approach is favoured, and leadership is a great thing to talk about, as it can boost and enhance your academic credentials.

Medicine is also ridiculous; 43/45 at the very least and it's generally expected that you have to do well in UMAT to get in.

But apparently experiences in Medicine is required (e.g. red cross); and also to a number of other courses you apparently have to take a TAFE subject as a precursor as experiences are necessary,

and I agree with you on the last point

No, for some unis in Australia for medicine, you need a 37+ or a 39+, I don't remember the names but a few weeks ago some uni reps came in to meet us and mentioned these minimum ib scores. Also, even UMAT isn't necessary for all the unis- at least for the post graduate medical courses. I wanted to medicine before so I've done a lot of research on this. For example in melbourne uni, for the bachelors of biomedicine, you need 38/45 and after completing that you can go straight into the actual medicine thing. No UMAT is required- just English, Maths and Chemistry.

REALLY? are you completely sure that it doesn't require us to sit GAMSAT? The only university that doesn't require me to sit for GAMSAT is Cook's University, and the medical reputation isn't as good as Adelaide Uni's medical faculty;

but in terms of scores, it's really competitive and in SA you usually need 99+ to have at least a chance to get into med, not sure if bonus points are applicable or not;

yeah...im legit sure check it out urself

SOMEONE COULD"VE TOLD ME THIS EARLIER SO THAT MY MOM WOULDN"T BE TORMENTING EVERYNIGHT OVER UMAT AND USING CAP_LOCKS

but seriously, screw life

Med is apparently one of the most painful courses in university, as in "IB" painful

[Sandwich]

What everybody else said. It also depends what you're applying for: if you want to apply for Medicine and Law in particular than yeah you'll probably want to stick some leadership experience on there. It doesn't have to be a big deal but you do need to show that you can be self-motivated, you can be responsible and so on.

In other news, Medicine is certainly more painful than the IB There's a lot more of it, for starters!