full pay family with good student but no real EC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since she's full pay with good stats, someone will take her. And having a job, ever at all, is good.

But what does she do all afternoon and evening? Honestly it seems like a pink flag for social issues or low processing speed, if it takes her that long to get her work done.

School ends at 4:15. Has a studio component so an extra class. And commute is about an hour. Evening she does school work.

She doesn't want to continue studio interest in college so won't be too helpful

So home by 5:15, and no EC's at all? Sounds like she has ample time for relaxation and sleep. That is unusual but agree with PPs there are plenty of schools that focus on stats not EC's. Also agree that strong test scores would help a lot, particularly in differentiating her from all the other 4.0 kids at her school.

[Anonymous]

What year is she? A junior given that she doesn’t have test scores yet? If so, look for a volunteer opportunity in the community she can start doing ASAP.

Nothing fancy. Just something that will be good for her personally (widen her lens of how much need there is and experiences that will her grow a little) and that she can do consistently from here on out. Reading or visiting or helping with Bingo at a senior center? Plugging in weekly to a soup kitchen (prep behind the scenes?) clothing sort for a women’s shelter? The key is to find something that already exists that knows how to use her time for good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any T75 school that will really like a kid who doesn't check a box for FA.

4.0 GPA from nyc public school - where she'll be one of many with a 4.0. Doesn't have testing yet.

Smart but just not a lot of extracurriculars: did a travel thing, worked a summer job. not super involved in her HS, which wasn't a great fit.

Wants medium to big. Traditional college experience.

Well it sounds like she’s got a few things to for the activity section plus the supplemental essays. Getting into a college below the top 30 is a fair bit easier for someone with high stats.

[Anonymous]

Pitt didn't ask for DC's ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pitt didn't ask for DC's ECs.

Yep, the state schools are the way to go. Still, test scores matter at most and I'd be concerned that her school is grade inflated. Plus in my experience the students involved with club ECs, especially leadership, tend to get better teacher recs.

[Anonymous]

Make them up and fill them out yourself. That’s what I did for my kids. It’s a race to nowhere the way people waste their time with activities.

[Anonymous]

She's had a summer job. That is a fine EC. Many people have mistaken impressions about ECs. It's not so much the activity itself but what you put into it, what you get out of it, your thinking. Normal ECs are often enough even for highly selective schools. It's the whole package that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's had a summer job. That is a fine EC. Many people have mistaken impressions about ECs. It's not so much the activity itself but what you put into it, what you get out of it, your thinking. Normal ECs are often enough even for highly selective schools. It's the whole package that matters.

No ECs during the school year is not remotely normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since she's full pay with good stats, someone will take her. And having a job, ever at all, is good.

But what does she do all afternoon and evening? Honestly it seems like a pink flag for social issues or low processing speed, if it takes her that long to get her work done.

School ends at 4:15. Has a studio component so an extra class. And commute is about an hour. Evening she does school work.

She doesn't want to continue studio interest in college so won't be too helpful

Is the studio thing an art thing or architecture thing? This in itself can be an EC, if she devotes so much time consistently, even if she doesn’t want to pursue that in college.

[Anonymous]

What are her interests? Hobbies? She could volunteer. Learning a language counts as an EC. Tutoring at her school or younger kids could count.

[Anonymous]

U Minnesota also had an easy application.

[Anonymous]

Maybe not having the “regular” slate of EC’s will help her stand out.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes students have hobbies that they don't realize are ECs and fine to include in their app.

[Anonymous]

I think if she is commuting that far from school and has hard classes, I could see not having much time for ECs. My kid plays a sport (not recruitable) but daily practices means he comes home late too. We are hoping his niche interest and some activities that don't take up too much time will be enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since she's full pay with good stats, someone will take her. And having a job, ever at all, is good.

But what does she do all afternoon and evening? Honestly it seems like a pink flag for social issues or low processing speed, if it takes her that long to get her work done.

School ends at 4:15. Has a studio component so an extra class. And commute is about an hour. Evening she does school work.

She doesn't want to continue studio interest in college so won't be too helpful

So home by 5:15, and no EC's at all? Sounds like she has ample time for relaxation and sleep. That is unusual but agree with PPs there are plenty of schools that focus on stats not EC's. Also agree that strong test scores would help a lot, particularly in differentiating her from all the other 4.0 kids at her school.

she's home by 6 (there's sometimes coffee with friends for a half hour after school). and homework is 3-4 hours a night. in her defense, it's not super unusual for kids at her school not to have other activities beyond studio.

I'm not really asking for ideas for EC. I'm asking what schools will care about full pay