Reply to ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid has one very time consuming EC outside of their varsity sport and full time summer job. It is off the charts high EQ, absurdly analog, deeply genuine, and they got involved at age 11. It is not in any way academic or award winning.

I’d love to offer it as an example, but I’m afraid the group (which we love and respect) would be flooded with box-ticking people messing things up by joining/volunteering for the wrong reasons.

I’m 100% certain it is why he had tremendous success with high school applications. The schools made it plain. It scales in responsibility with age, so he will just keep going with it. It’s something he discovered himself and had to beg us to allow him to get started.

My point? I don’t think I/we/they could have gamed this. Listen to your kids and let them run with something nutty if they want it. It can’t hurt. And it might become the detail that makes them shine.

I was worried about investing too much time in a quiet, non academic organization that has existed forever. I was wrong.

No idea yet how it will pan out for college admissions. And I don’t care anymore. My kid found themself in service to others. The irony is that a few years back, I could easily have been the OP. Sometimes the kids are smarter than the parents. Thank goodness. [/quote]

This is exactly what a parent would say about a manufactured activity. Nicely done.

[/quote]

I get the cynicism. That’s precisely why I won’t name the organization here. But if I did? You’d laugh. At me. There isn’t a kid on earth who would not want to do it. And each one of them would have parents who hear the initial idea and think, “Oh nooooooo.”

Yet, here we are. And I do recognize the gamble.

Sport
Job
High EQ EC

That’s his complete list. It’s very short and not academic. He’s aiming for the most selective schools. I genuinely do not know if his positioning of himself will be surprisingly successful or not at the elite college level.

He’s willing to take the risk because he refuses to give up a favorite part of his life.

But we as parents needed to be fine with the gamble, and know there are wonderful colleges and communities to be found outside the T-whatever, should the T-insane admit rate schools be less impressed than high schools were. [/quote]

It's less of a gamble to your DC now.  Admissions to high schools gave you at least some confidence that it worked at least once.  Many many kids have nothing unique, which is fine in itself.  Ask yourself, would you "not care" at all if your DC was not successful in high school admissions?  
[/quote]

Mine was not accepted to any private schools (waitlisted at a couple) and is in early to HYP. College admissions turned out to be a lot more holistic than private schools in our wealthy area. Lots of other factors at play for private high schools… [/quote]

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