If your child was accepted at a Top 20 School, what were their extracurriculars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I wrong to think the high school is a key variable here? I think if you have top rigor, grade and score from a top HS (Sidwell/ TJ type or Dalton/ Stuy in NYC), you don’t need those insane ECs to stand out, esp if full pay.

Your high school is always the most important factor. No one wants to admit that on this site, especially with so many public school parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP I see posts like OP’s on here so often but at our school (independent feeder school not in DVM or NYC), those kinds of ECs are almost unheard of. Kids play varsity sports, do things like write for the school paper, theater, debate, and each year 25- 30 out of 100 seniors get into Ivy/top 15. I’ve never heard of anyone publishing any research let alone develop an AI service used by real corporate clients

That's because the kids at this school get in because of the wealth and accomplishments of the parents. In the normal world, students tend to need to distinguish themselves beyond theater club.

What do you mean? This parent dare not donors. These days, you need 7-8 figure donation to move the needle on admissions at a top 20

a kid working on cars and getting paid as a part time job is retro authentic, and an absolute gem on the application - rich parents funding wood working hobby meh

Looks like this car thing is the new rich person EC because I know two kids (one is the son of a billionaire) who are both working in garages. I wonder which college counselor is advising this.

I know another one, headed to Northwestern this fall.

[Anonymous]

Soccer

[Anonymous]

Placed a few competitions (National, International) in area of academic interest - this was especially important when one person from a team is given an individual award at the state level.

Internships in same area of interest.

Ideated and led a project to teach younger kids basics of area of interest.

StuCo

A couple of random clubs

Founded a club based on personal experience with bias.

Really focused on learning and “doing” their area of interest. So naturally had a spike.

Admitted to multiple HYPSM. But the alum interview was key to getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I wrong to think the high school is a key variable here? I think if you have top rigor, grade and score from a top HS (Sidwell/ TJ type or Dalton/ Stuy in NYC), you don’t need those insane ECs to stand out, esp if full pay.

Your high school is always the most important factor. No one wants to admit that on this site, especially with so many public school parents.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I wrong to think the high school is a key variable here? I think if you have top rigor, grade and score from a top HS (Sidwell/ TJ type or Dalton/ Stuy in NYC), you don’t need those insane ECs to stand out, esp if full pay.

Your high school is always the most important factor. No one wants to admit that on this site, especially with so many public school parents.

+1
Known public magnet with median SAT 1520 gets the same percent unhooked into the twelve ivy+ schools as the private with median 1380 SAT. The UVA % of the graduating class who is accepted is also similar.
High school matters.

[Anonymous]

too identifying

[Anonymous]

JV level sports freshman and sophomore year.
Small roles in theater performances in junior and senior year.
College summer program on film making.
Made a documentary about homelessness.

[Anonymous]

state president of well known club - also held national and international roles and smaller club roles along the way.
Regional and state student council roles.
Tons of other stuff but those were the most impactful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:state president of well known club - also held national and international roles and smaller club roles along the way.
Regional and state student council roles.
Tons of other stuff but those were the most impactful

Should have included internship in niche area of interest that was part of "compelling story".

[Anonymous]

DD headed to ivy from strong public. 2 varsity sports (capt, national awards), co-president/vp of 2 community service clubs, lifeguard. she also had published research and presented at national conference. yes, parents helped with connections but she did the chart reviews, data-mining, manuscript drafting, and powerpoint talk herself. no woodworking, theater, auto mechanic, or finance relatives here!

[Anonymous]

Job in a charity based thrift shop
advanced Chinese outside of school
advanced solo musician (with exams to qualify)

summer of advanced language immersion in Canada (French)
summer of volunteering in an African country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP I see posts like OP’s on here so often but at our school (independent feeder school not in DVM or NYC), those kinds of ECs are almost unheard of. Kids play varsity sports, do things like write for the school paper, theater, debate, and each year 25- 30 out of 100 seniors get into Ivy/top 15. I’ve never heard of anyone publishing any research let alone develop an AI service used by real corporate clients

Same outcomes at our non-DMV private.

But kids do unusual sports outside of school (fencing; sailing; squash; equestrian) and that gets noticed esp if there are accolades.
PT Jobs/internships too.

Niche hobbies (woodworking; agricultural related; beekeeping; birdwatching; urban farming) are also growing more common.

But no businesses with corporate clients etc.

Same outcomes at our DMV private.

Don’t worry, high schoolers publishing “ground breaking” research in respected journals is not the norm.

You seem to really hate on kids that are interested in science and science research. In our public high School there is a 4-year research program and yes, part of it is a research project summer of junior year. I don't know if it is correctly categorized as and EC or regular rigorous coursework. It is a bit of both. It is not popular but it exists and the geeky kids that do it tend to do really well with their college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Varsity athletics at a recruitable level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP I see posts like OP’s on here so often but at our school (independent feeder school not in DVM or NYC), those kinds of ECs are almost unheard of. Kids play varsity sports, do things like write for the school paper, theater, debate, and each year 25- 30 out of 100 seniors get into Ivy/top 15. I’ve never heard of anyone publishing any research let alone develop an AI service used by real corporate clients

Same outcomes at our non-DMV private.

But kids do unusual sports outside of school (fencing; sailing; squash; equestrian) and that gets noticed esp if there are accolades.
PT Jobs/internships too.

Niche hobbies (woodworking; agricultural related; beekeeping; birdwatching; urban farming) are also growing more common.

But no businesses with corporate clients etc.

Same outcomes at our DMV private.

Don’t worry, high schoolers publishing “ground breaking” research in respected journals is not the norm.

You seem to really hate on kids that are interested in science and science research. In our public high School there is a 4-year research program and yes, part of it is a research project summer of junior year. I don't know if it is correctly categorized as and EC or regular rigorous coursework. It is a bit of both. It is not popular but it exists and the geeky kids that do it tend to do really well with their college admissions.

DP but it doesn’t really make sense for a high school student to do research, unless they’re extremely prodigious. For the most part, they can’t contribute much.