Non-competitive extracurriculars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is interested in foreign policy and is using her gobs of downtime this summer to take a some Coursera classes and paying extra to take the quizzes earn a certificate showing she completed a series of classes in an area she is interested in. She was supposed to be doing a similar program overseas this summer. No idea if it will help. But it could if she applies directly to a school of foreign policy. At the very least, it shows she did something productive this summer and has a genuine interest.

I think it will be helpful espcially if she writes that is her intended major.

Thanks. Fingers crossed. She is definitely all in on applying directly to foreign policy schools at places like Georgetown, American, GW (but t
TOO CLOSE TO HOME MOM) or FP/IR somewhere like Tufts. But she’s a rising junior and college admissions are going to be harder to gauge than they were for her sibling. Her amazing (free) summer program was cancelled. Going overseas next summer is a big question mark. She may or may not get ACT/SAT scores, she had a good first AP score, but will colleges take it seriously, distance learning, her big elective that she loves and has spent years participating likely canceled for the year, and she’s a musician who has no good opportunities to play with other musicians— just zoom lessons.

It felt like college admissions were a crap shoot for her 2019 sibling. And now ???? I’m telling her to work hard, keep doing productive thingsshe she enjoys (as much to keep her from being depressed as to add to a college resume) and it will work out. But, I have no idea whether that’s true. Finding a Coursera sequence that was similar to her summer plans helped. But yikes. She’s facing a crappy junior year.

Anyone else whose heart is breaking for their high schooler want to form a support group? Yes, I know she could have dead family members and it’s small potatoes in the big scheme. But, it’s still hard.

Sorry to derail. One of those parenting days.

I have a kid with similar interests who had just really found his niche with extracurriculars, and it will be hard if everything is on hold this year, on top of cancelled internships. However, DC has been spending a ton of time this summer researching/studying on his own, and I do think he can demonstrate a real passion for his interests, one way or another. I just keep telling myself that they're all in the same boat, and our bright, hardworking kids with involved parents will be fine. I do worry about kids who don't have as good a support system at home and will fall through the cracks. We were lucky in that DC's school handled distance learning as well as could be expected, and, looking at the positives, it was a growing experience in terms of dealing with adversity and learning to be responsible for organizing his time and work. Still, rising juniors face so many obstacles and uncertainty through all phases of the process. Even if there is a vaccine and things start getting back to "normal" during the Senior year, I fear that they'll be judged by the standards of normalcy, when their experience has been nothing like that. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is interested in foreign policy and is using her gobs of downtime this summer to take a some Coursera classes and paying extra to take the quizzes earn a certificate showing she completed a series of classes in an area she is interested in. She was supposed to be doing a similar program overseas this summer. No idea if it will help. But it could if she applies directly to a school of foreign policy. At the very least, it shows she did something productive this summer and has a genuine interest.

Definitely the opposite of what OP was asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is interested in foreign policy and is using her gobs of downtime this summer to take a some Coursera classes and paying extra to take the quizzes earn a certificate showing she completed a series of classes in an area she is interested in. She was supposed to be doing a similar program overseas this summer. No idea if it will help. But it could if she applies directly to a school of foreign policy. At the very least, it shows she did something productive this summer and has a genuine interest.

Definitely the opposite of what OP was asking.

NP. How? It’s not competitive, is cheap, can be done at home, and requires motivation.

[Anonymous]

OP said something like pottery or carpentry, not an academic pursuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP said something like pottery or carpentry, not an academic pursuit.

You can do Coursera or EdEx in almost anything. Doesn’t have to be as academic as foreign policy. One Coursera, of the most popular courses is offered by Yale on How to be a happy person. You can take a class in Molecular Gastronomy (super fancy cooking) or how to play the guitar from Berkelee or how to make a comic book.

[Anonymous]

Sticking with an activity over time (as in, "I've been taking pottery classes for x years") is definitely a plus on an application as it shows interest and dedication. Let her be proud of who she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you're overthinking it.

Not OP, but I have this same question. My daughter has been taking guitar lessons for four years. But she doesn’t perform as part of Amy group. It’s not an activity she can really “prove” she does. It’s like listing knitting as an extracurricular activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sticking with an activity over time (as in, "I've been taking pottery classes for x years") is definitely a plus on an application as it shows interest and dedication. Let her be proud of who she is.

But it can’t be proven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sticking with an activity over time (as in, "I've been taking pottery classes for x years") is definitely a plus on an application as it shows interest and dedication. Let her be proud of who she is.

But it can’t be proven.

A lot of ECs on college apps can’t be proven. There is a benefit of the doubt idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's main extracurricular was outside of school. It was a passion and unique and without a doubt mattered to admissions (we know this because reference was made to it in the acceptance letter).

Anything that shows your child used their time in a productive and focused way counts.

Anything that SHOWS. Show being the key word. A lot of times just taking something g as a hobby doesn’t show anything. You can’t prove it. What if a kids hobby is running, but there not part of a team, and haven’t participated in any races? How are they supposed to prove their involvement with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sticking with an activity over time (as in, "I've been taking pottery classes for x years") is definitely a plus on an application as it shows interest and dedication. Let her be proud of who she is.

But it can’t be proven.

A lot of ECs on college apps can’t be proven. There is a benefit of the doubt idea.

Yeah, but saying your involved with a club, without actually proving it is a lot different than saying you spend 15 hours a week reading or meditating or something. For it to be worthwhile as far as college admisssions go, I do think it’s necessary for it to be an activity where involvement can be shown. Even if it’s not required that the kid actually show it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son's main extracurricular was outside of school. It was a passion and unique and without a doubt mattered to admissions (we know this because reference was made to it in the acceptance letter).

Anything that shows your child used their time in a productive and focused way counts.

Anything that SHOWS. Show being the key word. A lot of times just taking something g as a hobby doesn’t show anything. You can’t prove it. What if a kids hobby is running, but there not part of a team, and haven’t participated in any races? How are they supposed to prove their involvement with it?

They can participate in races (5ks, half marathons) without being on an xc team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you're overthinking it.

Not OP, but I have this same question. My daughter has been taking guitar lessons for four years. But she doesn’t perform as part of Amy group. It’s not an activity she can really “prove” she does. It’s like listing knitting as an extracurricular activity.

Yes it’s tough. I have a nephew who is a really excellent home-chef. Has taken some classes but mostly improved through many hours YouTube videos, trial and error, knife skills practice. “I enjoy cooking” doesn’t really capture the extent of his commitment.

[Anonymous]

To all the "you can't show that activity to a college" posters: This is why you work with your kid on writing skills so he or she can express eloquently why an activity is a passion. Don't push a kid who cooks or takes guitar lessons out of love for those things to spin their wheels in extracurriculars solely for a college application. It's OK if the kid isn't a Nobel-novelist-level writer; what matters is being able to form and express thoughts about why the activity matters to THEM.

Like an earlier PP said, admissions officers like sincere and new things, different from the same clubs and competitions all over most applications.

And I posted this earlier, but, again: Applications have "tell us more about you" sections plus many have platform for submitting videos or other forms of "portfolios." It's fine to send a good video of the guitar player giving a solo "concert" or the potter can send photos of her favorite pottery she's made and captions to describe why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son's main extracurricular was outside of school. It was a passion and unique and without a doubt mattered to admissions (we know this because reference was made to it in the acceptance letter).

Anything that shows your child used their time in a productive and focused way counts.

Anything that SHOWS. Show being the key word. A lot of times just taking something g as a hobby doesn’t show anything. You can’t prove it. What if a kids hobby is running, but there not part of a team, and haven’t participated in any races? How are they supposed to prove their involvement with it?

A student does not need to prove an activity. Needs to find language to describe it in a meaningful way on the app. The key is in the language used, which might show not only what the kid did, but how the kid thinks.