Reply to school for my kid - great grades, mediocre extra-Cs, okay scores

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am the poster who seconded Haverford, in part bc I thought, “if this kid were a girl, I’d recommend Bryn Mawr in a heartbeat!” I suspect with straight As and an interesting story, Haverford could be in reach — especially for a boy, and as PP pointed out, scores might well go up.

I do suggest a visit to Northfield, MN, bc both Carleton and St. Olaf could be a fit. Maybe hit Grinnell on the same trip?

[b]OP, is it true that ECs aren’t emphasized in the same way in other countries?[/b] If so, colleges will know that and the limited ECs won’t matter as much. [/quote]

ECs are 100% not emphasized the same in other countries. But the US college race does emphasize them, and OP's student is American.[/quote]

Thank you!

OP here: this is also my sense. My kid COULD though be doing more extra curriculars and goes to a school where many are (doing more), e.g. there are national team athletes in this small country at her high school, which has almost no Americans but technically uses an American curriculum (APs are offered and kid is taking some). I've actually thought they might have a better shot at highly-ranked schools in Europe and UK (versus the US) for this reason. But we just heard about a child who applied to Cambrige (or Oxford) with almost 1600 SATs and 9, 5 scores on the APs he has taken so far, and the child was denied.
[/quote]

The applications will probably be read by the international team of the admissions office, which will have a sense of the importance of extracurriculars in that country but also potentially at that school. Schools in other countries with American curriculums often emphasize extracurriculars more than, say, schools following the national curriculum.

I wouldn't stress too much about the specific extracurriculars, but I would think about what your kid is doing outside of school hours. If it's productive somehow, or can be spinned as productive, highlight that. E.g. if your kid reads an hour a day, that might go over better than if he games for that same time.[/quote]

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