Are any colleges interested in good students who are NOT joiners?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do good grades and long-term commitment to only one activity count for anything these days? My son is not a joiner. He's not interested in student council or leadership positions. He's a good student and has friends, but he's fairly cerebral and likes his alone time. In short, he's kind of an introvert like me.

I don't want him to have to change who he is just to rack up points for his college resume, so we haven't pressured him to do any activities he's not truly interested in. We feel that the main point of school is to learn and do well academically, and anything else is fine but not necessary. I'm wondering if there are colleges who would be happy to find kids like my son, who don't jump through all the requisite hoops just to look good on paper. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Look into UChicago, SJC, Reed and Macalester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids aren't college age but from what I'm reading it is all about having a deep passion, not having lots of activities on the resume. The selective colleges want students that have the grades along with the ability to contribute to the college community. I think it is harder if your kid hasn't find any long term commitments or the activity is something that doesn't impact anyone else like reading or playing video games.

This attitude is so ridiculous. Ninety percent of the kids in any high school have no deep, abiding passion for anything. They have likes and dislikes, strengths and weakness, sure. But passion? Give me a break. Probably most adults couldn't tell you what their passion is, so why saddle a teenager with this?

"Passion" is the new college applicant buzz word. It's becoming almost as common as "diversity".

[Anonymous]

Reed, university of Chicago, Trinity, Rice and quite a few others

[Anonymous]

Oh yes, Sarah Lawrence, and other formerly women's colleges

[Anonymous]

OP Your son would do well in European universities. The quiet academic is alive and well there.

Also have you looked at Brown?

[Anonymous]

Large state schools are number based - a sliding scale of GPA & SAT and you're IN. They're too large to evaluate holistically. UVA is an exception, though, in part because UVA is not that large. Your son might like the anonymity of a large school, perhaps UMichigan, UWisconsin.

[Anonymous]

It is true that few kids have a true passion BUT passion is NOT a buzz word.

Marketing passion is the center of the buzz. Like all marketing there are two groups,
those who polish up something that isn't much good to look better and those who have
a great product that really benefits everyone when it is marketed.

Anyone with true passion sticks out. What no one mentions is that about half of
the people with true passion end up having it held against them because it ends
up hurting their grades. Those are the ones who the schools are looking for, kids
who have so much passion that they can't keep up their grades because they are
trying to change their little part of the world.

[Anonymous]

Chicago and McGill are great suggestions. Wisconsin- Madison and UMichigan-Ann Arbor may be as well, for the stats-driven reason a PP mentioned. Don't know whether OOS changes the equation wrt admissions (it does wrt cost).

[Anonymous]

Bennington. (I wish I had gone there instead of "my Ivy").

[Anonymous]

My daughter fit this profile and did really well this year in admissions. I wrote a post about it (http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/546820.page).

I still don't know how the hell she pulled off her admissions offers. It's such a crapshoot, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter fit this profile and did really well this year in admissions. I wrote a post about it (http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/546820.page).

I still don't know how the hell she pulled off her admissions offers. It's such a crapshoot, OP.

I never go to the Parent forum but read your link. I was so impressed with your daughter's knitting EC. She sounds extraordinary! Best wishes for future success to her! What a kid!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes there would be colleges. But if he's hoping to get into a school that reflects his level of academics, he's going to be going against kids who all have similar grades as him, even if he's at the top of his class. So if you have 3 kids

1.. your son. Very intelligent but not involved in anything
2. Very intelligent. Captain of sports team and involved in student council all 4 years
3. Very intelligent and has dabbled in about 15 activities but hadn't committed to one

Which kid do you think the spot is most likely to go to?

ShE didn't say nothing. She said 1 activity. Most schools would take #2 first, then #1. Joining everything is OUT these days.

Kids shouldn't be penalized for joining a lot of activities and having a lot of interests. Isn't high school the perfect time of life to try new things? This dumb ass college admissions formulas are idiotic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is true that few kids have a true passion BUT passion is NOT a buzz word.

Marketing passion is the center of the buzz. Like all marketing there are two groups,
those who polish up something that isn't much good to look better and those who have
a great product that really benefits everyone when it is marketed.

Anyone with true passion sticks out. What no one mentions is that about half of
the people with true passion end up having it held against them because it ends
up hurting their grades. Those are the ones who the schools are looking for, kids
who have so much passion that they can't keep up their grades because they are
trying to change their little part of the world.

...or mane their grades would have sucked anyway and their "passion" is just the excuse...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one of the reasons that colleges do this is because introverts usually have higher gpas than extroverts. Sitting and quietly studying is after all a very introverted activity, and anathema to extroverts. However, those extroverts who are also leaders can be very useful to a college and to our society. So maybe even though they have lower gpas, the leadership position should count as a good grade.

bullshit

[Anonymous]

I agree that there are activities for a 'thoughtful quiet kid to participate in an impressive way". We also have insisted on one activity. For our DC, it was scouts. He was in Cub scouts and wanted to quit when he crossed over to scouts and we said fine as long as you find something else that builds leadership and skills, is social, adds to the college resume and gets you out of the house at least once a week. He said no to playing any instrument, Model UN, theatre, Lego team, rocket team, athletics were out... So he stayed in scouts and threaten to quit every year until about 9th grade. He is now a junior. He received his Eagle this winter and was the Senior Patrol Leader - which was a stretch but he found a way to do it quietly and will little fanfare (he turned out to be a great administrator and delegator).

I'm impressed by your son. He learned a lot that will be useful in a future job from his Scouting activities- possibly more than he could learn in an academic classroom. Good for him for stretching himself past his comfort level!