Anonymous wrote:Any T75 school that will really like a kid who doesn't check a box for FA.

4.0 GPA from nyc public school - where she'll be one of many with a 4.0. Doesn't have testing yet.

Smart but just not a lot of extracurriculars: did a travel thing, worked a summer job. not super involved in her HS, which wasn't a great fit.

Wants medium to big. Traditional college experience.

Assuming the studio is art (if not, please correct). And if it is art, please have your kid enter the Scholastic Art Awards for their creations.

Apply anthropology that ties in art/ethnography/culture/social groups/traveling. Make your kid do SOMETHING this summer (camp counselor, pt job, internship). Add 1-2 more cultural hobbies to the EC list.

I've seen this work for anthropology and similarly under-subscribed majors at pretty selective schools in the UC system. At UCLA, I've seen this EC list, with a tiny bit of world music, get into the Ethnomusicology major (high admit rate) from the East Coast public with limited other ECS. Also, look at the World Arts & cultures major at UCLA. Pretty high admit rate if you tailor the application the right way.

But for anthropology, you should plan 1-2 things to add to the EC list this summer (work at NYC museum: curatorial or collections-based internship).
And add in 2-3 culturally aligned hobbies/interests organically to the EC list:
(1) making crafts (textiles; ceramics/pottery; jewelry; collage);
(2) collecting/curating vintage clothing/textiles or even vinyl records/ephemera (postcards/old photos/antique objects); or
(3) exploring/observing culture (urban exploration /documentary; thrifting; food and cooking/food markets/film).

I have seen other ideas work too, but I don't want to bore you.

Other schools to look at where stats will compensate:
UC-SB
Wisconsin
Pitt
Tulane (ED)
CU-Boulder

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a freshman at a top 20 school. She had a couple ECs but nothing out of the ordinary and with limited time commitments. Instead, she worked her junior and senior year. She found more enjoyment in working than the ECs. I would not discount the value of having a job.

Which school?

My young neighbor who had a high gpa at Stuyvesant and a 1500 plus SAT but almost no ECs ended up at SUNY Bing and is happy there.

OOS public schools like Pitt, Penn State, UDel, UMass, UConn.

Anonymous wrote:Any T75 school that will really like a kid who doesn't check a box for FA.

4.0 GPA from nyc public school - where she'll be one of many with a 4.0. Doesn't have testing yet.

Smart but just not a lot of extracurriculars: did a travel thing, worked a summer job. not super involved in her HS, which wasn't a great fit.

Wants medium to big. Traditional college experience.

Really depends on the SAT score.

Any of the schools in the Power 4 leagues have huge school spirit and lots of fun.

Penn State is a great experience for a lot of kids.

Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is likely have a similar profile. He spends a lot of time weight lifting at the Y and playing touch football or basketball with friends. (He tried out for the bball team at school and didn't make it). He's in a couple of non-academic afterschool clubs and has had one fairly consistent weekend volunteer activity. But that's really it.

But those are typical if average ECs, not none during the school year.

My sophomore is likely have a similar profile. He spends a lot of time weight lifting at the Y and playing touch football or basketball with friends. (He tried out for the bball team at school and didn't make it). He's in a couple of non-academic afterschool clubs and has had one fairly consistent weekend volunteer activity. But that's really it.

My kid had zero ECs other than playing soccer at local club….nothing especially. 1520 SAT and 6 APs at 5. Applied and was accepted at LSE in London. Zero to low chance of getting a similar caliber of school acceptance in the US.

assuming this is Laguardia or Sinatra, colleges see your studio as an extracurricular. For sure. and a 4.0 will be one of many, as in like 10-20 (not 100 like some people here think). but that's still top 5% for class.

plenty of kids don't/can't do more. I wouldn't worry about.

as to your actual question, I don't know. but hopefully someone can answer instead of going on and on about this other think nobody asked about

Anonymous wrote:how are we in the DMV supposed to have any idea?

This is really a dumb response.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since she's full pay with good stats, someone will take her. And having a job, ever at all, is good.

But what does she do all afternoon and evening? Honestly it seems like a pink flag for social issues or low processing speed, if it takes her that long to get her work done.

School ends at 4:15. Has a studio component so an extra class. And commute is about an hour. Evening she does school work.

She doesn't want to continue studio interest in college so won't be too helpful

So home by 5:15, and no EC's at all? Sounds like she has ample time for relaxation and sleep. That is unusual but agree with PPs there are plenty of schools that focus on stats not EC's. Also agree that strong test scores would help a lot, particularly in differentiating her from all the other 4.0 kids at her school.

she's home by 6 (there's sometimes coffee with friends for a half hour after school). and homework is 3-4 hours a night. in her defense, it's not super unusual for kids at her school not to have other activities beyond studio.

I'm not really asking for ideas for EC. I'm asking what schools will care about full pay

I think if she is commuting that far from school and has hard classes, I could see not having much time for ECs. My kid plays a sport (not recruitable) but daily practices means he comes home late too. We are hoping his niche interest and some activities that don't take up too much time will be enough

Sometimes students have hobbies that they don't realize are ECs and fine to include in their app.

Maybe not having the “regular” slate of EC’s will help her stand out.

U Minnesota also had an easy application.