Early start: How do I prep my child 4 college admissions re: extracurricular projects, initiatives,
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Volunteerism, industry related activities (i.e. Coding), etc.- Now : elementary school/ middle school prep that is. Outside of good grades and some service work, sports, Music lesson, I wasn't thinking of "heightened college resume fillers" until high school. Parents around me seem overboard in engineering, invention, camps for elementary kids. I feel awful, I can't afford some of these camps. |
Anonymous
| Relax. |
Anonymous
DC is currently a freshman at a top 10 engineering school. He did not do any of those engineering camps. He did scout camp and a very inexperience games camp in Arlington where he played a game similar to dungeons and dragons all day everyday for four weeks. He was in heaven. His ECs were scouts (Eagle), orchestra (all four years of HS), participation in our congregation's youth group and he held a leadership position in the regional youth group from our denomination his senior year. In two summers, he participated in volunteering internships with non-profits in the area. One was working at a thrift store run by a non-profit (he was the only volunteer there that was not court mandated  ). The other was helping out an organizations backpack and school supply campaign. Apart from orchestra, he had no other participation in sports or other school related activity. He did not save the world or cure cancer.
|
Anonymous
|
It's a marathon, not a sprint. Whether or not your child goes to chess camp in second grade will not fundamentally change his life -- unless he is some kind of rare chess prodigy. Personally, I think it's useful for kids to have a variety of experiences, not all of the fiercely academic kind at that age. Our kids enjoyed a camp where they could bring their dogs and dress them up in costumes and take their picture when they were in elementary school. They also did scout camps.
Our daughter found her passion and her college major as the result of a summer job which introduced her to her field while in high school, and our son learned a lot of leadership skills as a camp counselor. Our kids also did a ton of volunteer/service work in high school. I personally would like to have back: the money I spent on Gymboree and the time I spent driving people to chess camp. There are multiple paths to success. Don't get trapped into believing that there is only one group of right activities and one way of being. |
Anonymous
|
Read "Excellent Sheep" and "How to Raise an Adult" to get some perspective on not getting sucked into this narrow college prep track.
My kids are in middle school and my approach is to encourage them to explore new things but also give them opportunities to do what they like. One does already have a deep interest in both art and science, esp. natural sciences. She will split her summer between a couple outdoor-education focused camps and a couple weeks of art camp plus a just plain fun field-trips camp that goes to water parks, movies, trampoline park, laser tag, etc. My other kid doesn't have a clear area of interest but casually plays a couple sports, plays an instrument in the school band and will spend most of his summer as a volunteer CIT at a general camp that he loves. |
Anonymous
Thanks for the helpful advice 
|
Anonymous
Curious how he did in Orchestra. Did he win any awards or stand out in any way or was he just a member? Also, did he have any hooks such as legacy or URM? |
Anonymous
No, seriously. If you're thinking about ECs as "things to do in ES / MS that will help my kid get into a good college," then you're doing it wrong. Relax and follow your kid's interests. A good rule of thumb is: something academic, something artistic, and something physical. |
Anonymous
Volunteering? |
Anonymous
|
Look, OP, college admissions folks see this shit for exactly what you called it: "heightened college resume fillers."
It's more important to have a couple real interests than to do things just to check off boxes. |
Anonymous
It is helpful, though. |
Anonymous
|
[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Relax. [/quote]
Thanks for the helpful advice [/quote]
No, seriously. If you're thinking about ECs as "things to do in ES / MS that will help my kid get into a good college," then you're doing it wrong. Relax and follow your kid's interests. A good rule of thumb is: something academic, something artistic, and something physical. [/quote] We did a variation of the above rule with our kids (musical, artistic, and a sport). All three found something different they liked and although they were recruited athletes for Ivy and top NESCAC schools, they still enjoyed their non-sport activities through college (so far). |
Anonymous
Actually, this is as helpful as anything else on this list. YOU don't prep your child for college admissions. They prep themselves. They do the work and devote the time. You are than the chauffeur, the wallet, the sounding board, and the cheerleader. Activities and interests keep kids occupied/out of trouble, help make them into interesting and engaged adults, offer opportunities for fun and learning, and if they are lucky, help them find a lifelong passion. That's how you should be approaching extracurriculars. Anything else is incidental. Help your child find activities and interests of their own. Do what you can to help them participate in those activities. If they lose interest, help them find other things to do. The end. |
Anonymous
| My daughter did ice skating, though never competed, and was in four music videos. The ice skating was sporadic, as I could afford it. She was in student govt in middle school and active in GSA. |
Anonymous
| Moving to Iowa and signing up for football worked wonders for my kid. Had we stayed in DC, he wouldn't have gotten even a glance from his current college. |