10th grader with no interesting ECs, top grades and scores

[Anonymous]

DS is a 10th grader at a suburban public. He is in all AP and Honors courses and a straight-A student. Just got back from PSAT and was in the 98th percentile without prep. He is a smart kid but seems to have no interests or EC that will make a different. He is on the golf team, and that's all he really does at school, and he isn't a great golfer/won't be recruited. I am trying to figure out how to make him interested in college apps and start to develop a passion or interest in general. Summer after 9th grade he did nothing. He wants to go to a place like MIT or an ivy, and that just won't happen even with good ECs of which he has none. I mentioned this to my friend who works at a top DC private and she bluntly said, well he will get into a school like UMD or BC/BU if he is lucky. I was taken aback as this is a kid who is at the top of his grade and views himself as "better than" a school like UMD or a 40/50 school like BC or BU. He won't be hooked for admissions anywhere, aside from us being full pay which I know is not a hook but she said it can make a difference at some SLAC. What do I do??????????

[Anonymous]

Learn to accept reality.

[Anonymous]

If he has aspirations then the needs to figure out some extra activities or interests. He needs to spend time reading about what it takes to get into schools he’s interested in.

[Anonymous]

You could move him to a top private.

You can do well in college admissions from a top private with grades alone because there are very few kids who do well. There isn't a cohort of students with perfect or top grades like there are in public. A kid who has a 3.95% from Sidwell or similar is a true outlier.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he's not talented enough to carey the academica and the sport and also have a fake personality passion for college.

Go for UChicago ED

[Anonymous]

Not sure why he thinks an assembly line 98%ile kid deserves a spot at MIT or an Ivy. 98%ile means Top 80,000 in USA.

[Anonymous]

Get more interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why he thinks an assembly line 98%ile kid deserves a spot at MIT or an Ivy. 98%ile means Top 80,000 in USA.

Because 20-40 years ago that’s how it worked, so all the parents, teachers, and other adults in his life have been telling him that’s how it works. Also all the movies and TV shows he’s ever watched.

[Anonymous]

Even 20-40 years ago you needed some kind of a spike for an Ivy. Your kid should just invent one - he is good at everything so he should just create a hook for himself based on some online research on what it takes to get into an Ivy

[Anonymous]

It’s your job to set expectations. There are many super smart kids at UMD with great test scores and grades. He needs to understand that (and so do you). You should also realize that he could do several great extracurriculars on top of his current grades/scores and STILL not get in to ivies or MIT. That would not be unusual, it is in fact the most likely outcome.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest a well chosen summer camp/program/etc. that could align with a choice of major or area of focus. Even if it looks a little "pay to play" it could give vocational insight.

I would let your kid know that the lack of ECs is making him uncompetitive for top schools and that's his choice.

But he will probably be able to excel at a state flagship if he's a good student.

I would recommend you have him watch Youtube videos about schools that aren't the usual suspects (not Ivy, not UMD). Ask him to pick out some schools to take a closer look at over the next two years. Find out why he picks the ones he does.

I always recommend Pitt. It's my undergrad alma mater. You can go anywhere for grad school with a Pitt degree and high GPA.

[Anonymous]

He is going to be fine. There is no reason a 10th grader should be interested in college apps or focusing on something to get into college. He sounds like a good kid and a good student. Let him be that.

[Anonymous]

Where does he get the idea that he is better than a school like UMD? Your friend is right, these days a kid like him is lucky to get in there. You need to reset his expectations. Fine to strive for MIT or an ivy but like others have said, even kids with perfect applications are not getting in those places. He needs to find activities he enjoys not try to just build up his college application.

Just as an example, my kid had 36 ACT 4.0 from a top public magnet, 13 APs, decent ECs, varsity athlete and is a proud student at UMD with many kids like them.

[Anonymous]

He has a shot at T20 to 30. I’m not sure about ivy……his resume doesn’t stack up against the competition

[Anonymous]

I agree with OP's original analysis.

I think OP needs to explain that college admissions really has changed now, and that being smart is no longer enough to be confident even of admission to UMCP. Make it clear that if DC has no non-academic differentiator then their college admissions offers might be limited to colleges visibly below UMCP.

I know a lot of MIT graduates. Being smart is required there but is not enough. They are receiving applications from HS students with strong STEM-based ECs.

Maybe if DC wants to study STEM, and only if DC is a US Citizen (green card is not good enough), then DC can try to get a HS internship at a local Federal lab (e.g., NSWC at Carderock, NIH, NIST in G'burg, ARL in Adelphi, FDA's lab at White Oak, or NRL in DC). That would be something to put on a resume, and it might also validate that DC really wants STEM. Some local defense contractors also have HS summer internships (e.g., Aerospace Corp, CNA, LMCO, Mitre, NG).