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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Colleges are looking for alums who will be successful. They want evidence that you can set and accomplish goals, that you can master skills with practice, that you can deal with obstacles, and that you can stick with things. They don't consider grades and test scores to be evidence of that. Mensa chapters across the US  are full of people with high IQs who have menial jobs, because lack of motivation or mental illness prevents them from using their potential. Colleges also like evidence of motivation, because they don't want kids who will flame out of school if Mom and Dad aren't standing over them with a homework planner.

That is why the kid with a string of 750 SAT scores who organized a charity drive gets into the selective college, while the kid with a string of 800s who did little else gets rejected. Colleges do like kids who have had real jobs, since they demonstrate the above mentioned qualities . (They like kids who have scored promotions, or who have a linked job /extracurricular even better).

I have observed  this, and heard it from admissions officers, in my 20 years as an Ivy alumni interviewer. [/quote]

Kids with 800 SATs are getting into top colleges with minimal extracurricular activities.  Certainly, if they had some extracurriculars they would be more competitive, but they will land somewhere and it will be nice.  But sports, activities and community service are important for getting into college for average students and its just a good thing for them to do.  I would suggest that rather than just listing a bunch of activities kids should focus on things they are passionate about. It seems like OP's son is a gamer.  Then why not have him compete in gamer tournaments or design a game.  He could even set up a tournament for low income kids. From this colleges would see his passion and creativity. [/quote]

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