school for my kid - great grades, mediocre extra-Cs, okay scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haverford likely out of reach unless scores go up by quite a bit…

Hardly. Just apply test optional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the poster who seconded Haverford, in part bc I thought, “if this kid were a girl, I’d recommend Bryn Mawr in a heartbeat!” I suspect with straight As and an interesting story, Haverford could be in reach — especially for a boy, and as PP pointed out, scores might well go up.

I do suggest a visit to Northfield, MN, bc both Carleton and St. Olaf could be a fit. Maybe hit Grinnell on the same trip?

OP, is it true that ECs aren’t emphasized in the same way in other countries? If so, colleges will know that and the limited ECs won’t matter as much.

ECs are 100% not emphasized the same in other countries. But the US college race does emphasize them, and OP's student is American.

[Anonymous]

Since the PSAT is out of 1520, that 1350 is more like a 1420-1450 on the SAT. If he can get it up to 1500 and just make up some extracurricular/leadership bull crap (it's not like they verify), he can be competitive pretty much anywhere.

[Anonymous]

My kid did international high school, and I know a little bit what you mean about maturity and independence, I think he needs a city backdrop maybe not nyc or la but he will die at a school in the boonies. He’s also going to want some international presence in the student body,
These are not tippy top schools, but look at BU and GWU as targets. If he raises his sat, he will have more interesting options.

[Anonymous]

We're giving "extra-Cs" a pass?

[Anonymous]

In China and India EC's don't matter because the only EC is more homework/studying for regular subjects in cram schools. I don't think that's better than ECs.


What is the scene in other countries? Do people just agree to chill out after school, and colleges admissions avoid favoring extra preppers?

[Anonymous]

In the uk, I know kids at Oxford Cambridge LSE etc who basically did nothing for EC’s. It’s a different world. Most secondary schools don’t even offer them, if they do there is nothing serious about being class president for example, and the small privates don’t have rigorous sports teams. Because of this cultural nuance I believe international applicants are reviewed differently than us applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're giving "extra-Cs" a pass?

Honestly I can’t understand the subject line

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're giving "extra-Cs" a pass?

Honestly I can’t understand the subject line

OP here, I meant Extra- Curricular Activities. That is what we call them here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since the PSAT is out of 1520, that 1350 is more like a 1420-1450 on the SAT. If he can get it up to 1500 and just make up some extracurricular/leadership bull crap (it's not like they verify), he can be competitive pretty much anywhere.

You are suggesting that he lie? And isn't the idea not that you were on the tennis team, but that you were the captain of the tennis team and student body president.

[Anonymous]

Macalaster has a very global vibe and student population but otherwise a SLAC vibe, traditional campus even though it’s in a city (and Minneapolis isn’t exactly nyc)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the PSAT is out of 1520, that 1350 is more like a 1420-1450 on the SAT. If he can get it up to 1500 and just make up some extracurricular/leadership bull crap (it's not like they verify), he can be competitive pretty much anywhere.

You are suggesting that he lie? And isn't the idea not that you were on the tennis team, but that you were the captain of the tennis team and student body president.

Yes. Who's actually calling the school to verify that the applicant was indeed captain of the tennis team? No one, especially at a big school like UF that gets 100k+ applicants every year.

[Anonymous]

Everybody lies about being captain. Especially at schools where there are three or four captains.

[Anonymous]

Has he worked? Volunteered? Had family responsibilities? Spent lots of time on his own doing an activity he loves? All of those things will count as extracurriculars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did international high school, and I know a little bit what you mean about maturity and independence, I think he needs a city backdrop maybe not nyc or la but he will die at a school in the boonies. He’s also going to want some international presence in the student body,
These are not tippy top schools, but look at BU and GWU as targets. If he raises his sat, he will have more interesting options.

I agree with Haverford (apply test optional), closer to a city. Maybe Macalester as a safety.

Jesuit colleges might hit the sweet spot of not too small/generally in cities, can find reach/match/safety all in Jesuit schools like Boston College, Holy Cross, U of San Francisco, Gonzaga, Marquette