academics but nothing else

[Anonymous]

DD attends a challenging HS and has great grades and truly amazing test scores with minimal studying. She's sure to get good teacher recommendations and has taken a good amount of APs. In school, she's a model student and I know I'm her parent, but she's a really smart kid. Out of school, however, she's totally unmotivated. No extracurriculars. None. She used to do some, but quit due to dislike. Watches TV all the time and gets her homework done by procrastinating then freaking out. Obsessed with comedy shows and writing, yet completely unwilling to try and make that a hobby at least. That's almost entirely due to her social anxiety, but now that she's a senior there's no way to start over. What kind of school wants a student who's very weak on extracurriculars but very good on academics? Is there hope?

[Anonymous]

There is hope. State schools base admissions primarily on grades and SATs. She will be okay. Hopefully she will blossom in college.

[Anonymous]

What kind of schools is she interest in?

[Anonymous]

I forgot to mention-She won't be valedictorian but she's in the top 20% at least. She wants to be far away (specifically, Chicago, but I don't have any idea why.)

[Anonymous]

The PP is right. There are schools out there for her and she will mature and find her way in college. She needs to get to a place outside of the BS of high school where she can gain confidence and realize her potential. Encourage her to apply to schools that will have plenty of opportunities for her - a great state school would probably be great not only because of their focus on scores more than extracurriculars, but also because they will have lots of opportunities for her to explore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of schools is she interest in?

Probably smaller schools in bigger places. She dreams of Northwestern but knows it's out of reach. She thinks she wants to do public policy or law. And, needless to say, the party scene is not her #1 concern.

[Anonymous]

22:17 here - top tier schools (Ivy, UChicago, Northwestern..etc.) will demand more than just excellent stats but as you move away from those schools, the process is less holistic and more stats driven. A lot of state schools you can overcome weakness in EC with strong stats. But, again, this wouldn't work at top tier schools.

[Anonymous]

I was like your daughter, but living in Europe so there were no extra-curricular expectations anyway, which means that ostensibly, I did very well.
And no one addressed my social anxiety, which was in fact debilitating and became a significant handicap later on in my life.

So please take your DD's social anxiety seriously, get her the help she needs. Everything she does will be limited by that, and trust me, it's a severe limitation to have.

[Anonymous]

Carleton maybe. She might want to address this in the essay.

[Anonymous]

I doubt Carleton -- its very hot. She has two options 1) the stat schools as others noted; or (2) good, but not elite, liberal arts colleges that want to show U.S. News they have students with high SAT scores to bring them up in the rankings. If she has truly "amazing" test scores, a lot of liberal arts colleges will want her regardless of her lack of ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD attends a challenging HS and has great grades and truly amazing test scores with minimal studying. She's sure to get good teacher recommendations and has taken a good amount of APs. In school, she's a model student and I know I'm her parent, but she's a really smart kid. Out of school, however, she's totally unmotivated. No extracurriculars. None. She used to do some, but quit due to dislike. Watches TV all the time and gets her homework done by procrastinating then freaking out. Obsessed with comedy shows and writing, yet completely unwilling to try and make that a hobby at least. That's almost entirely due to her social anxiety, but now that she's a senior there's no way to start over. What kind of school wants a student who's very weak on extracurriculars but very good on academics? Is there hope?

Foreign Schools - but she has to be really good academically - if you want to apply to oxbridge, you can only pick one or the other and your interview will be focused in the field you want to study.

McGill

Some State schools.

[Anonymous]

OP, I empathize. I have two kids who sound just like your daughter - great students but zero interest in extracurriculars. To be honest, I can understand why. So many clubs, etc. are complete BS and they just prefer to come home, read, write, do their own thing. I think it's such a shame that these days, kids are supposed to come up with some kind of circus act or sideshow to prove they're "well-rounded". Whatever happened to having a creative and rich inner life without the need to constantly participate in clubs and teams? Where are the colleges that appreciate the smart introvert? I think Europe has it right in that they don't base university admission on how many activities a student is involved in, but rather on what kind of grades and test scores the student achieves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I empathize. I have two kids who sound just like your daughter - great students but zero interest in extracurriculars. To be honest, I can understand why. So many clubs, etc. are complete BS and they just prefer to come home, read, write, do their own thing. I think it's such a shame that these days, kids are supposed to come up with some kind of circus act or sideshow to prove they're "well-rounded". Whatever happened to having a creative and rich inner life without the need to constantly participate in clubs and teams? Where are the colleges that appreciate the smart introvert? I think Europe has it right in that they don't base university admission on how many activities a student is involved in, but rather on what kind of grades and test scores the student achieves.

It's not just these days. It was going on in the early 90s in this area too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I doubt Carleton -- its very hot. She has two options 1) the stat schools as others noted; or (2) good, but not elite, liberal arts colleges that want to show U.S. News they have students with high SAT scores to bring them up in the rankings. If she has truly "amazing" test scores, a lot of liberal arts colleges will want her regardless of her lack of ECs.

Agree with point 2--probably easy to get in if test scores are very high. As for point 1, it depends on the state. I might have missed which state we're talking about here, but UVA, to take just one example, has always been keen on students with great test scores and great outside activities.

[Anonymous]

What makes her say she wants to do law or public policy? Public policy in what? Can she figure out some non-TV activity that would give her a little exposure to those things?