There is no such thing as club credit.
It may relieve you or it may frustrate you, but it should be cleared up immediately: “credit” is a myth at LM, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise has not done sufficient research.
But then why does the term “club credit” per¬sist in our academic vocabulary? Simply because people have found, over time, that holding the illusory threat of this so-called credit creates a docile and obedient membership.
The school, in recent years, changed its pro¬cedure and stopped writing down the activities in which students participate on their official tran¬scripts. We now write resumes ourselves. And, as we know, the content on our resumes plays a significant role in the admissions process.
“The transcript, legally, was really only sup¬posed to be a representative of students grades,” said Guidance Counselor Marsha Rosen.
So while we might be under the impression that the right to tell a college we participated in an activity lies in the approval of a higher authority—a club president, a faculty sponsor, the Athletic Department—it turns out, we really are the Masters of our Fate in the end.
Yet clubs and sports still cling to the antiquated notion of club credit. When I participated in In¬teract, I was told that if I did not participate in at least 2/3 of the activities I would not get credit for the club. Coaches may point to drug and alcohol use as a surefire way to get kicked off the team and lose credit for any time spent working during the season. It’s time understand these threats are simply untrue.
“Players, for instance, is based on implicit and explicit trust that you fulfill an obligation—but that there really is no punishment or loss of so-called credit if you don’t,” says faculty sponsor John Grace.
So, it seems that no one is playing Big Brother during the college application process as we craft our resumes. Do we hope people are honest about their extra-curricular activities? Of course. But as James Madison kindly reminds us, “If men were angels no government would be necessary.”
Thankfully, just because there is no such thing as club credit, it does not mean people can get away with writing anything they want on their resumes.
“When student embellishes on applications it comes across pretty clear,” said University of Chicago Admissions Officer, Kathryn Volzer.
One might argue that we should reinstate authoritative oversight so that we can legiti¬mately have club credit. The problem is, guidance counselors already have so little time to oversee transcript truthfulness. So, I’m not arguing to reinstate oversight. I’m simply advocating we abandon pretending credit exists now that over¬sight is gone.
Is there really anything stopping you from saying you were the President of Speech and Debate when you were really only a member? Couldn’t you say you did French Club for three years, when in fact it was only two? Couldn’t you write that you did Varsity tennis sophomore year instead of writing Junior Varsity? The answer is yes, because there’s no such thing as club credit to prevent these little subtle lies. Big glaring dis¬crepancies can be noticed, but the smaller ones probably would go undetected by college admis¬sions counselors.
As we move away from the now-nullified idea of club credit, we must also face the fact that students embellish their resumes. Administrators, however, tend to be unrealistically optimistic.
“In all my years that I’ve worked with high schoolers I cannot think of an instance where someone has really lied on their resumes,” said Assistant Principal Dr. Arnold.
Activities and Athletic Director Don Walsh agreed. “Just as the schools assume that the stu¬dents are being honest we’d assume the same,” said Walsh.
And I agree. It’s regrettable that kids resort to lying on their resumes. But I also think it is time authority figures in clubs and sports stop threaten¬ing us with this supposed loss of “credit;” lying happens here, and we need to face it. We must revise our current system. We must encourage integrity.
Rachel Cohen
Class of 2010
