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.

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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]

I was going to be gentle with you until I saw that you are prepping your 13 year-old for the PSATs. Yes, you are intense about it. This is not normal.

Your anxiety is screaming from your post. You saw kids not get into certain schools and you got yourself worked up about your own kid and as a result you are posting on message boards and sending her to PSAT school.

Your daughter is a good student. The problem isn;t finding extracurriculars that you can make her love. The problem is she doesn't do well on standardized tests. Thats the only problem you have and its the only one you should be focused on. I would have her tested to see why she doesn't do well because if she could benefit from an accommodation like extra time you do need to lay the groundwork early. And if there's nothing specific like that, let it go. Have her do the prep in 10th or 11th grade and accept that she will be an applicant with good grades and mediocre test scores. There are an increasing number of schools that are test score optional and they would love an applicant like your daughter. She's going to be fine. That is unless your anxiety and pressure make her anxious/depressed (I have older teens and I've seen it over and over again in kids whose parents are hyper focused on college -- the kids seem OK until suddenly they aren't and you have a world of trouble), which would be far worse than lagging test scores.
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