Thoughts on ECs for junior--do we need anything else?

[Anonymous]

Boy, varsity athlete playing year-round (but doesn't want to play in college), public school 3.9 UW/4.3 W (not VA or MD), 1520 SAT, 11 APs total by graduation, humanities kid, founded & president of school debating club, Model UN, several seasons of coaching kids teams in youth sports, has worked in construction over the summer (when not doing sport), doing internship with federal judge, volunteers w/Special Olympics. History or Econ as potential major.

Not a whole lot of time to do much else, but is there any EC that's obviously missing? He is hoping for a top 20, SLAC or mid-sized. Double egacy at Ivies but obviously a long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boy, varsity athlete playing year-round (but doesn't want to play in college), public school 3.9 UW/4.3 W (not VA or MD), 1520 SAT, 11 APs total by graduation, humanities kid, founded & president of school debating club, Model UN, several seasons of coaching kids teams in youth sports, has worked in construction over the summer (when not doing sport), doing internship with federal judge, volunteers w/Special Olympics. History or Econ as potential major.

Not a whole lot of time to do much else, but is there any EC that's obviously missing? He is hoping for a top 20, SLAC or mid-sized. Double egacy at Ivies but obviously a long shot.

Concert pianist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy, varsity athlete playing year-round (but doesn't want to play in college), public school 3.9 UW/4.3 W (not VA or MD), 1520 SAT, 11 APs total by graduation, humanities kid, founded & president of school debating club, Model UN, several seasons of coaching kids teams in youth sports, has worked in construction over the summer (when not doing sport), doing internship with federal judge, volunteers w/Special Olympics. History or Econ as potential major.

Not a whole lot of time to do much else, but is there any EC that's obviously missing? He is hoping for a top 20, SLAC or mid-sized. Double egacy at Ivies but obviously a long shot.

Concert pianist.

The oud would be better--more unique.

[Anonymous]

If I were an AO I would say there are not enough hours in a day to do all of those things to the level you are saying and would call BS.

Sounds like a kid curating a resume for college and not being a normal kid. And the fact that you are asking this question is further proof of that. At some point it is all too much and sounds very phony.

Chill the F out.

[Anonymous]

Being a relaxed, normal kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boy, varsity athlete playing year-round (but doesn't want to play in college), public school 3.9 UW/4.3 W (not VA or MD), 1520 SAT, 11 APs total by graduation, humanities kid, founded & president of school debating club, Model UN, several seasons of coaching kids teams in youth sports, has worked in construction over the summer (when not doing sport), doing internship with federal judge, volunteers w/Special Olympics. History or Econ as potential major.

Not a whole lot of time to do much else, but is there any EC that's obviously missing? He is hoping for a top 20, SLAC or mid-sized. Double egacy at Ivies but obviously a long shot.

Impossible to tell.

- Where does his GPA fall at the school in his class?
- Where does 11 APs fall by graduation (compared to the rest of the class)?
- WHere do others from his school with similar stats get in in other years?
- Many of the activities are meh: non-recruited sport, school debate club, model UN
- Can't tell about volunteering at Special Olympics (years? hours? what does he do? frequency? etc)
- Internship with federal judge (while it sounds great throwing it out there, what federal judge is taking a high school student as an intern - nepotism? what is he actually doing)?
- construction - if he only does it when not doing his sport and sport is year round, sounds de minimus
- coaching kids sounds good but again difficult to say without knowing more (hours/week, what is he doing exactly, paid/volunteer, etc.)
You need to ask the school's college counselor

[Anonymous]

Don’t do Econ
History is better or frankly something more niche? What exactly area in history does he focus on

Independent research project?

[Anonymous]

I know I will get hate for this, but have him keep taking the test until he gets 1550+. My DC got a 35 and had mid-ECs. In at a top20. I think the test score helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I were an AO I would say there are not enough hours in a day to do all of those things to the level you are saying and would call BS.

Sounds like a kid curating a resume for college and not being a normal kid. And the fact that you are asking this question is further proof of that. At some point it is all too much and sounds very phony.

Chill the F out.

Most clubs are pretty fake as are leadership in sports and the kids aren't doing much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I were an AO I would say there are not enough hours in a day to do all of those things to the level you are saying and would call BS.

Sounds like a kid curating a resume for college and not being a normal kid. And the fact that you are asking this question is further proof of that. At some point it is all too much and sounds very phony.

Chill the F out.

Disagree, it’s definitely doable. My kid did similar and was admitted to his first choice SCEA.

[Anonymous]

GPA seems low. Doomed for life since can’t get into T20. (This is a joke)

[Anonymous]

Construction job is a breath of fresh air to AOs. Really unique. A lot of T20s would appreciate an EC like this!

[Anonymous]

You need to look at your own HS' Naviance data- that is the important missing data, where do kids like him get in/strike out. Agree with others taking the SAT again to try for a higher score might be worth it but it depends on how many times he has already tried and what the level of prep has been.
Perhaps trying for a competition at one of national/international MUN delegations, if he doesn't already have awards.
Essays and recommendation letters matter- they want to be able to picture the student as a member of the community (will they be a good roommate, contribute in class, lead the college debate team, etc) and they want to hear from the 3rd parties that this kid is special . . .
It is a tough get even with high stats, keep things in perspective.

[Anonymous]

Work on his story/narrative to tie what he has done to what he wants to study at each particular school he isp applying to. He also needs stand out LOR, does he have teachers that think he is amazing. Everything he has done is great, but if there is no compelling narrative to make the top school pick him out of all the would be history applicants the lilihood of an elite school goes down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Construction job is a breath of fresh air to AOs. Really unique. A lot of T20s would appreciate an EC like this!

LOL. Nope. My DC is at a DC private. He knows 4 classmates that did construction for the past few summers. It isn’t uncommon even for HHI kids.