Founding a Club or Startup vs. Doing Research: An Honest Comparison
Updated: 9th October, 2026
TL;DR
Founding a club or startup and doing research show different strengths, and neither is the right pick for every student. Founding something shows drive and leadership. Research shows depth and focus. Either one only helps if you stick with it, and the Common App gives you just 10 activity slots, so each entry has to earn its place. If you want depth with expert guidance, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor.
What does starting a club or startup show colleges?
Founding something shows leadership and follow-through. Starting a club, a nonprofit, or a small business takes a different skill set than research. You recruit people. You manage a loose project over time. You handle setbacks that have nothing to do with grades, like funding falling through or members losing interest. This is a strong signal if you want to show leadership, especially if the thing you built ran for more than a semester.
The honest limit: founding something is easy to start and hard to keep going. Admissions readers can usually tell the difference between a club that met twice and folded, and one that ran for two years with real work behind it. You get up to 10 entries on the Common App, with 150 characters to describe each one, so you need clear proof of what you built and what it did. Not sure what else counts? Our guide to the types of extracurriculars that actually count can help.
What does doing research show colleges?
Research shows steady work on one hard question. It usually means months of focused effort, often with a mentor's help. That depth in one subject matters more for some majors than others. A student aiming for a research-heavy STEM major gets more from it than a student aiming for a business major. Our guide on how admissions officers evaluate research shows how readers judge it.
The honest limit: research can feel generic if the topic wasn't a real interest to begin with. Our guide on choosing a research mentor and subject area walks you through avoiding that mistake. Research also doesn't show the same people skills that founding something does. If you haven't started yet, see how to get research experience in high school.
What does a strong version of each one look like?
A strong club or startup story has a clear before and after. There was a real problem or gap. You built something to address it. You can point to specific proof that it worked, whether that's membership numbers, money raised, or a concrete result for the people it served.
A strong research story has a clear arc too. You started with a real question. You hit real obstacles along the way, not just smooth progress. You ended up somewhere more specific than where you began, even if the final answer wasn't what you expected.
In both cases, the details do the work. Numbers, dates, and specific outcomes make your story easy to believe. Vague words like "impact" and "passion" don't.
What is the most common trap with both paths?
The most common trap is making a small, short-lived effort sound bigger than it was. A club that met three times gets described as an "organization." A two-week research summary gets described as a "study." Admissions readers go through a lot of applications and can usually tell.
The fix is simple. Describe a real effort honestly, and it still reads well. Oversell a thin one, and it reads worse than if you'd said nothing at all. MIT Admissions has written that it values commitment and quality over a long list of activities, and the same idea applies here. One honest, well-described activity beats three inflated ones.
How do you decide between a club and research?
Use this quick comparison to see which path matches your goals and how you like to work.
Factor | Founding a club or startup | Independent research |
Best shows | Leadership and follow-through | Depth and focus |
Fits well with | Business or leadership goals | STEM or research-heavy majors |
Real risk | It fizzles out fast | It feels generic without real interest |
Time needed | Ongoing, loose structure | Set length, often 8 to 12 weeks |
You do not have to pick just one. Pick based on real interest, not on which one "looks better." A student who likes organizing people will do better founding something than forcing a research project for the resume line. The same is true in reverse. If an internship is also on your list, our guide on summer research programs vs. summer internships breaks down that choice.
Which path should you pick?
Both paths are real, and both can be done badly. Pick the one you would actually keep doing past the first few weeks. Not the one that sounds most impressive on a list.
Two questions can help. Which one would you work on even if nobody was grading it? And which one could you still be doing a year from now? The honest answer to those usually points to the right path.
Frequently asked questions: founding a club or startup vs. doing research
Can I do both a club and a research project?
Yes, and plenty of strong applicants do. Most pick one as the clear main activity and keep the other as a smaller supporting one. That setup lets you show both leadership and depth without spreading yourself too thin. Just make sure you can give each one enough time to produce a real result.
Does one look more impressive to admissions readers overall?
No. Readers evaluate each one on its own terms, based on depth and follow-through, not on which category it falls into. A thin club and a thin research project both read as thin. For more ideas on what stands out, see our list of things that look good on college applications.
What if my club or startup didn't succeed in the end?
That's often still worth including, honestly described. What you learned from a setback can be just as strong a story as a clean success. The key is to be specific about what went wrong, what you changed, and what you took away from it. Vague lessons don't land, but concrete ones do.
Is it better to found something in a field related to my intended major?
It helps, but it's not required. A leadership story unrelated to your major can still work well, especially if you're applying to a broader liberal arts program. If your goal is a research-heavy major, a related project adds more weight. Whichever you choose, make sure the activity matches something you care about.
How many people need to be involved for a club to count as real leadership?
There's no minimum number. What matters is evidence of sustained effort and a real outcome, not the size of the group. A small club that ran for two years and produced clear results says more than a large one that met twice. Focus on what the group did, not how many people signed up.
Is starting a club better than joining an existing one?
Not always. Starting a club shows initiative, but only if it lasts and does real work. Joining an existing club and taking on a real role, like running events or serving as an officer, can show leadership too. Start your own if nothing covers your interest. Otherwise, go deep in the club that already exists.
Not sure you want to build something from scratch, or want a research project with expert guidance from the start? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor for an independent research project that ends in a college-level paper. Apply here. If cost is the main barrier, also look at the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.