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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My junior son is smart, does his homework, cares about school, and has a 4.0+ GPA. However, he refuses to do any extra-curricular activities aside from soccer. I think it's a mental block, he is afraid of change and unpredictability. It's been an issue his whole life, and I've tried to push him but he refuses. Now that we're applying for colleges, I realize what a detriment this lack of extra-curriculars is to his applications. Meanwhile, he has friends who don't have the same mental block about ECs, but they do have exemptions at school because of various mild  academic mental issues. They get extra time on tests, they get extensions on assignments, they get extra help paid for by MCPS. They have the same GPA as he does, but they also have the ECs. I don't think this is fair. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, but some types of weakness receive extra school funding and institutional exemptions, while others don't. Can someone explain this to me how this is fair?[/quote]

Your kid has chosen to only do soccer.  That is fine.  But in reality, he most likely won't be a candidate for a T20-25 school, unless he is literally on the HS team, Travel/elite team and spending 20-30 hours per week with it, year round.  Top schools are looking for the full package, and that includes volunteering, multiple ECs (unless you are pointy and dedicating 20+ hours to that activity year round), top GPA and SATs, and great essays.  They want candidates that have the drive to be well rounded or very focuses on one or two ECs in depth.  However he should get into many in the 30-75 range.  
The fact that his friends have academic issues and have gotten accommodations is not relevant.  Just be happy your kid is NT and does not have anxiety/depression/adhd/any LD---trust me most of those kids and parents would rather they not be burdened with this for their life and would happily change places with your NT kid.  
FYI---life is not fair.  The fact that your kid is NT and those kids are not is NOT fair.  Yet they have to deal with this their entire lives, your kid just has to find the motivation to branch out and add extra activities (if they want to).  Much easier for your kid IMO

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