Did you know that Cornell’s acceptance rate for their class of 2008 was almost 30%? Twenty years later, the acceptance rate has dwindled to a mere 7.34%. As these percentages continue to plummet, the rat-race of college admissions becomes more and more challenging for each graduating class, and it seems that some students are willing to do whatever it takes to get into their dream school.
As a result, a new phenomenon that has become increasingly popular is the creation of nonprofits or youth organizations as a “passion project.” The main goal for the founders is to show these prestigious colleges their leadership skills and dedication to solving communal, national, or even global problems.
At first glance, everyone benefits from this scenario. The founders of the nonprofits get to go to their dream school while the money obtained helps people in need. If both parties benefit, is there really an issue?
As it turns out, yes. Because it is more complicated than just considering who benefits and who doesn’t.
Perhaps the most ironic part of it all—the majority of these “nonprofits” are not actually what they claim to be. To become a nonprofit, you must file for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. Although it can be a long, tedious process, the effort that goes into it proves that nonprofit founders genuinely care about what they do for their cause. If these “nonprofits” do not do so, it just indicates straight-up lies and borderline illegality, which goes to show that such endeavors should be approached with caution.
Additionally, at the root of the lies are the intentions of the founders. The idea behind founding a nonprofit should be the pure desire to help others who are not in a position to help themselves. It shouldn’t be: I want to get into Stanford so I’m doing this to boost my application.
The founders only do things “for” the organization when it improves their image. A lack of passion behind the creation of the project leads to a lack of enthusiasm when doing events for the project, and without the actual desire to help, the nonprofit goes nowhere. Moreover, most of these founders just end up donating their funds to another larger and more accomplished nonprofit, acting as supplemental to these larger, more reputed organizations.
That’s not to say that the sentiments behind starting a nonprofit to get into a prestigious university aren’t understandable or common. Admission rates drop year by year, so it is normal for students to add new experiences to their extracurricular activities, hoping to take their application to the next level. The intentions behind starting the nonprofits may not be completely pure, but that doesn’t mean that these kids want to hurt people.
However, the main thing to keep in mind is that admission is never guaranteed. You could generate over $500,000,000 each year for your cause and Stanford may still pick someone else. Why do something for a cause you barely care about when you might still not get into your dream school? Additionally, the majority of applicants with nonprofits who do get picked have showcased that they truly care about the problem they’re working to fix. It’s not like they just started an organization to “Save the Turtles!” during April of their junior year; the people who do get picked because of their nonprofit have been working to fix it before high school even started.
Starting a nonprofit is not the only way to show a college that you are a worthy candidate. Volunteering for existing nonprofits, starting school clubs, and getting a job are all ways to show a college the same dedication and leadership skills that a “nonprofit” does. There are ways to bolster yourself without “working” for a cause you don’t actually care about.
