Anonymous wrote:It sounds like he's going to struggle to craft a compelling narrative in his essay(s). Once kids meet a certain academic threshold, the ECs and essays are what distinguish them and result in the most acceptances. Strong academic focus is okay, but then usually awards back up being "special" in that way. So that's an issue. Can he join clubs this year that speak to his specific interests, and ideally take on a leadership position?
I would focus on colleges that admit based more on stats that ECs. That's primarily the large state schools, as well as LACs outside of WASP. McGill. It will also help if he's not intending to major in a saturated area. More info on that will help with targeted recs.
Anonymous wrote:The kids we know like this go to UVA.
When I was in high school, the smartest guy at my school had no extracurriculars. He went to UMich.
Anonymous wrote:With high grades and SATs scores, he will get in somewhere. Coming up with a bunch of fake activities at this point seems silly.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:No one can advise you without knowing the school. Each private school has different matriculation result.
Did you look at Scoir or Naviance?
OP here. I looked at Scoir, but Scoir only tells you what grades and test scores students had to get into certain schools. There is a LOT more to the equation than just grades and test scores. Scoir does not tell you those (whether they were a recruited athlete, legacy, started a business or non profit ...
I am certainly not worried about the grades. I am more worried about the lack of any meaningful Extracurriculars and not being able to stand out.
Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior at a good DMV private- not one of the "Big 5", but the tier right below.
He has excellent grades (95+), and is scoring in the 1500-1540 range on his practice SATs so far.
The issue is that he is not motivated to do anything outside of what he needs to do at school and has no passion for anything yet. He plays a sport recreationally, volunteers here and there (no leadership position), and it's honestly been like pulling teeth to get him to do anything to stand out.
From everything I know about college admissions so far, they all seem to be after the kid who is great at one particular thing, has a great story, demonstrated leadership and impact ... of course grades and test scores matter but they don't seem to be enough.
What reach schools should he be aiming for?
Anonymous wrote:No one can advise you without knowing the school. Each private school has different matriculation result.
Did you look at Scoir or Naviance?