Believe it or not, if you're an immigrant, I think Wikipedia is a good place to start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_admissions_in_the_United_States Yes, it's very basic; I just think it's a good summary to start.

If you're interested in what matters at particular colleges, google "common data set" followed by the name of the school. So, for University of Maryland as an example, you'll get this. https://irpa.umd.edu/InstitutionalData/cds.html You can download particular years. By doing this, you'll learn that extracurriculars are "considered" at UMCP, but aren't listed as "important." You'll also get a VERY general idea of the kind of stats your S will need.

Later, you can check Naviance, a service which lets you see aggregate data regarding students from your S's high school who have been admitted/denied at a college to which at least a minimum number of students have applied. However, that's pretty far in the future.

Don't assume the fact your S has a 4.0 in 8th grade means he'll still have it in 11th.

And, 8th grade might be a good time for your S to try a few activities he might want to pursue in high school. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:>>Are you considering Top 25 schools? A school in the 40-60 range recruits and admits very differently from a top 25 school.<<

What do you mean?

Most of the hand winging about college admissions and extracurricular activities applies to the Top 25 schools ( the US college ranking)

With a few exceptions most other schools outside the Top 25 or 30 schools and the state flagships are not selective enough for any of this extensive holistic admission planning to matter. It simply boils down to academics. If these schools are not on your list, college admission is basically a breeze. Too many seats, too few students

The rankings that keep everyone on this forum up at night and about which they will argue and complain bitterly https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Really? That would be great, if it's only the top 25 that are difficult to get into. I thought this hand wringing applies for the top 100 or so, no?

Look up the data yourself OP. It really depends on a bunch of factors. Read one of the books and tell your kid to 1) get good grades and 2) get involved with a couple non-academic activities. That’s really all they need to do in 9th grade.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the helpful responses! I'll check out some of these books. And no, we're not Canadian. We're not going to apply based on ethnicity (nationality is US).

The question was about race, not ethnicity.
Black, Hispanic, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:>>Are you considering Top 25 schools? A school in the 40-60 range recruits and admits very differently from a top 25 school.<<

What do you mean?

Most of the hand winging about college admissions and extracurricular activities applies to the Top 25 schools ( the US college ranking)

With a few exceptions most other schools outside the Top 25 or 30 schools and the state flagships are not selective enough for any of this extensive holistic admission planning to matter. It simply boils down to academics. If these schools are not on your list, college admission is basically a breeze. Too many seats, too few students

The rankings that keep everyone on this forum up at night and about which they will argue and complain bitterly https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Really? That would be great, if it's only the top 25 that are difficult to get into. I thought this hand wringing applies for the top 100 or so, no?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:>>Are you considering Top 25 schools? A school in the 40-60 range recruits and admits very differently from a top 25 school.<<

What do you mean?

Most of the hand winging about college admissions and extracurricular activities applies to the Top 25 schools ( the US college ranking)

With a few exceptions most other schools outside the Top 25 or 30 schools and the state flagships are not selective enough for any of this extensive holistic admission planning to matter. It simply boils down to academics. If these schools are not on your list, college admission is basically a breeze. Too many seats, too few students

The rankings that keep everyone on this forum up at night and about which they will argue and complain bitterly https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Anonymous wrote:>>Are you considering Top 25 schools? A school in the 40-60 range recruits and admits very differently from a top 25 school.<<

What do you mean?

Most of the hand winging about college admissions and extracurricular activities applies to the Top 25 schools ( the US college ranking)

With a few exceptions most other schools outside the Top 25 or 30 schools and the state flagships are not selective enough for any of this extensive holistic admission planning to matter. It simply boils down to academics. If these schools are not on your list, college admission is basically a breeze. Too many seats, too few students

>>Are you considering Top 25 schools? A school in the 40-60 range recruits and admits very differently from a top 25 school.<<

What do you mean?

Please answer the following questions to get better pointed service

1) Race
2) Do you love in an urban, suburban or rural area
3) Are you or your wife college educated?
4) General income range

The above questions are generally more relevant for top 25 schools.


These will determine if you have a hook at these schools

If you are white or Asian, the game is different at these schools unless your son is first generation college or you are poor

Are you considering Top 25 schools? A school in the 40-60 range recruits and admits very differently from a top 25 school.

OP here. Thanks for the helpful responses! I'll check out some of these books. And no, we're not Canadian. We're not going to apply based on ethnicity (nationality is US).

OP I found the book The College Application Essay by Sarah McGinty super helpful. Read it now so you can get a sense of the process. It’s about more than just writing the essay. https://www.amazon.com/College-Application-Essay-6th-Ed/dp/1457304287

Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to school in the US, and am feeling woefully under-prepared for my son's college application process. He's only in 8th grade but I need more visibility on what's ahead, so I can start nudging him in the right directions.

The basics: My son is STEM oriented, 4.0 GPA, does all schoolwork without any parental involvement and has always read way above his grade level. But he has zero motivation to do anything else - he doesn't even organize friend meetups unless his friends organize them, and his only sport is soccer because he's been doing that since kindergarten. In other words, he needs a heavy push to prepare for any major life change.

My questions:
1-Does he need to have any special skills/accomplishments to get into a place like UMD, aside from his 4.0 GPA? (I realize 4.0 GPAs are fairly common now.)
2-He has intermediate knowledge of Japanese and French, does that count for anything?
3-When does the 'resume building' need to start?
4-Does paid work count as a substitute for fancy academic accomplishments - for example, if he tutors?

In my opinion: If your son is a self-starter who's getting good grades, and he reads a guide to college admissions, so he knows how admissions in the United States works, then you should let him do what seems to make sense to him, then help him use tools like Niche.com to find schools that fit who he really is.

A school that's right for him will think that soccer and tutoring are great activities.

Admissions officers at about 100 U.S. colleges may turn their nose up at his activities, but, if a school is going to turn its nose up at a kid with a 4.0 GPA and strong test scores because he didn't win a science fair or publish original research, why would he want to mess with that school? Why would he want to pretend to be something that he's not to get into some college where he'll be in way over his head?

He'd be better off at a respectable school (possible examples: the University of Indiana; the University of Wisconsin; the University of Iowa) that's happy to admit a student with such great stats and doesn't expect him to come in with spectacular extracurricular activities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

Why? The university process is different in Canada. For starters, ECs aren’t considered.

This is one of the reasons why my DCs are looking at schools in the UK (dual citizens) - no, E.C. considered (but they do have e.c.s, some good one) and no general ed. I don't know if Canadian univs. have general ed classes in college. I know that the UK doesn't, and that alone made DC want to consider UK schools.

Have you never seen an UCAS application form? The UK universities very much do ask for your EC activities and they discuss them at interview.

signed

Brit with a UK university education

+1 I had to do an interview when applying to Cambridge where I discussed my activities and interests. However that was roughly fifteen years ago.

But they don't use holistic approach with e.c.s As I said, my kids have them, but they don't have to try to kill themselves to have that "right" ones.

My spouse's friend's kid just graduated from Cambridge. We just had this discussion with them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

Why? The university process is different in Canada. For starters, ECs aren’t considered.

This is one of the reasons why my DCs are looking at schools in the UK (dual citizens) - no, E.C. considered (but they do have e.c.s, some good one) and no general ed. I don't know if Canadian univs. have general ed classes in college. I know that the UK doesn't, and that alone made DC want to consider UK schools.

Have you never seen an UCAS application form? The UK universities very much do ask for your EC activities and they discuss them at interview.

signed

Brit with a UK university education

+1 I had to do an interview when applying to Cambridge where I discussed my activities and interests. However that was roughly fifteen years ago.

Canadian schools will be much less expensive and in general, more rigorous as compared to average colleges here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

Why? The university process is different in Canada. For starters, ECs aren’t considered.

This is one of the reasons why my DCs are looking at schools in the UK (dual citizens) - no, E.C. considered (but they do have e.c.s, some good one) and no general ed. I don't know if Canadian univs. have general ed classes in college. I know that the UK doesn't, and that alone made DC want to consider UK schools.

Have you never seen an UCAS application form? The UK universities very much do ask for your EC activities and they discuss them at interview.

signed

Brit with a UK university education