The Q is the most common, not the most “valuable” or important.

Travel soccer.

Anonymous wrote:New thread coming soon: how do I turn my child into a soulless miserable robot?

A kid doing what they love is fine. Spending four miserable years curating a perfect Barbie image to buy a lottery ticket to an ivy is crazy. Thinking there is something wrong with people who don’t follow that path is even crazier.

Most of the things critiqued here are against the perfect Barbie image though. It’s not link a kid wakes up one day miraculously wanting to do PROMYs

New thread coming soon: how do I turn my child into a soulless miserable robot?

A kid doing what they love is fine. Spending four miserable years curating a perfect Barbie image to buy a lottery ticket to an ivy is crazy. Thinking there is something wrong with people who don’t follow that path is even crazier.

Anonymous wrote:Sports! Travel, School teams, all of it……please don’t get sucked into it. Just do a sport for fun and don’t give up 30+ hours of their lives each week. Not worth it in the long run!

It is if you get recruited

Anonymous wrote:Almost every STEM major does the exact same thing, it’s mind numbingly boring and I’m not an AO- some state competition, robotics team, summer camp.

Some are more important than others though - Ross, PROMYS are very selective, and the AMC and up is the most competitive highschool math competition in the US.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Model UN. Also, I once heard being an Eagle Scout is like writing an essay about your dead grandma.

which is likely more heartfelt and meaningful than all the "lesson learned", "leadership shown", "difference made", "obstacle overcome" etc

You really need to listen to the Yale admissions podcast. Or opt out of advising your children in the college process.

IMO opinion any true leadership position has weight. Including student government, team captain, president of an active club with a lot of activities (including theater if it's an active program that does a lot), etc. I do think some kids will try to pad out applications with leadership positions that are kind of BS -- president of a club they founded that barely met, for instance. But if it's an established team or club and the student was elected or selected by by the faculty advisor for the role and they had to actually do things like run student government meetings, organize fundraisers, etc., that is persuasive.

I'd also put editor of the school newspaper, literary mag, or maybe yearbook on that list. Especially if they are planning to major in a related area.

I think stuff like math olympiad, speech and debate, or model UN is only impressive if you win something. Like just doing these activities is a dime a dozen on apps but if someone one a state debate championship or went to nationals in math olympiad or received a special award for work in model UN, that could impress an AO.

Similar issue with volunteer work. Most kids do some kind of volunteer work. If it's just "I volunteered in the local library's youth program," that's not that impressive. But if a student held a leadership position within a volunteer org, that could impress.

Also while participating in rec sports isn't impressive, it could be valuable to certain AOs if the school values students being well-rounded or doing activities for mental health or social reasons. Not all schools do but some are looking for kids who will balance out academics with like joining the local non-competitive crew team. It's not going to be super persuasive but it could round out an application.

Even better if the student's involvement in rec sports has led to some kind of leadership or teaching role. Maybe they did rec gymnastics for years and now coach younger kids on the weekend. That shows some qualities that AOs are definitely looking for.

Most important:
Individual athlete with national recognition
Student body president
Editor in chief

None of the rest of the school clubs matter.

Anonymous wrote:How about let kids do what they are interested in and/or have the opportunity to do?

thats the key. Both did this, both are at T10/ivy

Current peers at DS’s ivy, freshman, engineering and or premeds, only listing the unhooked: violin or cello, more than half the group of 9. Debate,national level, 2. Poetry/writing one. Dancers 2. Theater 1, chorus /a capella 3. None are significant athletes, some had figure skating or handball: not at a serious level. One had some student gov role like class prez. Research in high school: more than half.

How about let kids do what they are interested in and/or have the opportunity to do?

Sports! Travel, School teams, all of it……please don’t get sucked into it. Just do a sport for fun and don’t give up 30+ hours of their lives each week. Not worth it in the long run!

Most common? I would say

Violin
Camp counselor
sport team
volunteering work for SSL
2nd language study, which is really the 1st language of your parents

I don't know if these are remarkable or not, I guess it depends on the individuals.

Lord of Reddit posts about this….

Anonymous wrote:Model UN. Also, I once heard being an Eagle Scout is like writing an essay about your dead grandma.

which is likely more heartfelt and meaningful than all the "lesson learned", "leadership shown", "difference made", "obstacle overcome" etc