Reply to Early start: How do I prep my child 4 college admissions re: extracurricular projects, initiatives,

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it's funny the number of posters saying "relax!" or acting as though OP is being silly. The same posters have very likely been prepping their kids since birth for AAP and TJ!

Anyway to answer your question OP, I started when my child was in 4th grade by picking an organization we as a family could volunteer at and regularly volunteering. My goal is for my child to one day be more involved in a higher level of volunteering there on her own.  This is organization we are committed to and she enjoys.  She also has learned a lot of other great skills that will transfer into the real world - dealing with diverse groups of people, time management, etc.

Learning a foreign language in after school club - that's going so so - just started really this year

Plays sports - but nothing very competitive - hoping that this year my child will pick one and stick with it more. Planning to making my child pick in the Spring.

Scouts - my child is involved and has been steadily earning badges

Church-participates in youth group

4H - found out about this through a neighbor - Fairfax county has several 4H clubs, just started this year.  They are smaller and they offer more of a chance for leadership.

[/quote]

PP.  How old is your child now?[/quote]

My child is 13 now.  Also, to be clear, we are not looking at a path to Harvard, Yale, etc.  To be more honest, when she was younger, yes, we were those parents but over the years we realized that wasn't going to happen. 
Now, we are just hoping for admission to a state university in VA and not even W&M or UVA but more like JMU, George Mason, Christopher Newport.  Yes, we are doing all this just to get into a basic state school.  We saw some of our friends and neighbor's kids who had top grades, top scores who were not getting admitted to even those schools not to mention not getting into uva, Harvard, etc.  We can not afford out of state school and my kid is not going to have the top grades and top scores.  She does well in school - some As, mostly Bs, luckily nothing lower and she doesn't do well at all on standard tests. I forgot to mention, that yes, we have already started prepping for PSAT and SATs and ACT but are not intense about it at this point.
My Dh and I attended basic state universities and did well in our careers BUT that was over 20 years ago and it was just easier back then.
Those whose kids are older and more familiar might have additional insights.[/quote]

It is not as dire as has been advertised.  It is competitive, but not as dire. My DC is a freshman in college and by and large the ones we thought would go to the likes of W&M and UVA did and the rest (who stayed n state)are interspersed between the various in state colleges.  We are in McLean HS so I have those stats from last year (2015) - remember the GPA is weighted and is after senrio year (students tend to get a boost senior year).  The GPA and SAT scores are at the 50th percentile for those who were accepted. The class was just under 500 students.

Applied/Accepted/Attended. Weighted GPA and SAT (1600)
UVA.  134/50/31  4.20. 1417
W&M. 94/47/18. 4.12. 1420
Virginia Tech. 160/101/40. 3.99. 1351
JMU. 147/107/29. 3.78. 1279
George Mason 152/115/29. 3.64. `1260
CNU 56/38/9. 3.57 1226
Mary Washington 56/52/7. 3.54 1226
VCU. 113/98/24. 3.45. 1208

JMU. 147/107/29. 3.78 1279[/quote]

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