I told my kids they had to do at LEAST one thing for their minds and one thing for their bodies on a regular basis. No staring at screens.

For a high school freshman I'd tell him that he needs to earn screen time - for every hour of doing something for his body or mind that is age/grade level appropriate he can have a half hour of screen time. That'll light a fire under his ass.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please, DCUMs, help me! DS is only a freshman, but I am thinking about the college application process and wondering what he would be able to put down and ECs. Yes, he does have good volunteer experience outside of school. But at school he shows no interest in joining any clubs or teams. I have tried to explain the logic of having a variety of things on the application, but he is just not interested. All he wants to do is play video games...HELP!

Maybe you can have a heart to heart and ask him if he really likes his HS. Mine was a terrible fit for me, so I wanted to have as little as possible to do with it. He might be more inclined to be involved if the environment is better.

He LOVES his HS. Very happy there. And there are lots of cool clubs to join etc. I doubt he will be in a leadership position of any club, though so who knows if it matters.

Anonymous wrote:I also think your son will change has he gets older and starts to actively chase girls. He'll see that girls don't want to sleep with guys who don't do anything except play games.

Don't underestimate the motivational power of ass.

Words of truth. Can I get this in a cross-stitch pattern?

Thanks! I do think he will be academically eligible for a top 50 school, so it is a factor. Good advice about the job, he might actually go for that. I have looked at the GMU camps etc. He does not want me to spend any extra money on that. And if he isn't going to appreciate it, I agree not to spend the dough.

Anonymous wrote:Please, DCUMs, help me! DS is only a freshman, but I am thinking about the college application process and wondering what he would be able to put down and ECs. Yes, he does have good volunteer experience outside of school. But at school he shows no interest in joining any clubs or teams. I have tried to explain the logic of having a variety of things on the application, but he is just not interested. All he wants to do is play video games...HELP!

Maybe you can have a heart to heart and ask him if he really likes his HS. Mine was a terrible fit for me, so I wanted to have as little as possible to do with it. He might be more inclined to be involved if the environment is better.

I also think your son will change has he gets older and starts to actively chase girls. He'll see that girls don't want to sleep with guys who don't do anything except play games.

Don't underestimate the motivational power of ass.

If he a boy and full-pay or close to full pay, there will be numerous options for college. The EC issue is only relevant if he is academically strong enough to be looking at top 50 schools. And those places will definitely "see through" attempts to get him to do ECs simply for listing them on the application. They are pretty useless if he is not clearly a top performer in those ECs, or a leader by junior year.

But what about a job? Colleges/universities in our experience actually seem to forgive lack of ECs if instead the kid was working significant numbers of hours, even if in something completely nonacademic. Our DD spent a lot of time working in a deli/restaurant, loved feeling independent and making money and it actually ended up being quite a formative experience in her life, improved her Spanish immensely (since many of the workers didn't speak much English) and ended up being the topic of her essay (an experience with a coworker and immigration issues). She was admitted to her top choice ED (a top 5 SLAC)

foreign schools might be an option - they don't care

Have you tried to interest him in the programming and design aspect of gaming?

GMU's game design program offers camps and classes largely staffed by the students. It might be a great path to interest him in.

Please, DCUMs, help me! DS is only a freshman, but I am thinking about the college application process and wondering what he would be able to put down and ECs. Yes, he does have good volunteer experience outside of school. But at school he shows no interest in joining any clubs or teams. I have tried to explain the logic of having a variety of things on the application, but he is just not interested. All he wants to do is play video games...HELP!