Anonymous
07/06/2025 22:41
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Are they really all the same though? Last year, my two youngest got into selective schools as did many of their friends. There wasn’t a lot of overlap in ECs after middle school. Just NHS really.
Kids get mixed messages about what the"should" do. But they should be only told do what they want to do/pursue their passion if any or interests and/or explore into something if they have been wanting to.
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:54
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Are they really all the same though? Last year, my two youngest got into selective schools as did many of their friends. There wasn’t a lot of overlap in ECs after middle school. Just NHS really.
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:51
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We're no longer in the DMV area, and I keep hearing how rigor is important to the DMV kids. But anecdotally from kids I know here on the west coast, it's not always the highest rigor that gets admissions. Personally, I know kids who stopped at AP Calc AB and had a couple Bs at Stanford (even though kids at high school topped at AP Calc BC or higher), and a kid with a total of 4 APs at Harvard (from a highly ranked private school with tons of APs). Neither had a significant hook, except the Harvard kid was a creative and the Stanford kid had a unique story to tell. Both Asian and not underrepresented.
AB vs BC is not really a rigor difference. The story is important.
Don't you need to reconcile this for (1) the HS the kid is coming from, and (2) the major?
All of the TJ discussion on here, tells me that some kids won't have a chance at T10 if they don't take BC (unless they are an art major?)
NP here. Generally speaking even hooked kids are doing highest math offered by HS to get into T10. Kids these days are taking math at community colleges and are listing MVC, Linear algebra etc so you really need high rigor in math!
Not for us. Plenty do just AB and get into T10. Mostly humanities.
Our private discourages community college math. 40% go to T25.
NP here. Why does your private school discourage community college math? Is it the lack of rigor, curriculum, etc.?
Yes
Calc 1 is the same at any school you go to. Why would it be worse at a community college?
Our school does not add any community college courses on the transcript, unless they are dual enrollment and offered at the high school (very few).
Some families think taking cc classes outside of school are the way but those kids don’t do as well with top 20 admissions. Also the cc classes are pretty easy As compared to AP classes our public. The kids who do well with Top 20 have high rigor at the high school and spend their time outside of school doing impactful stuff that they care about.
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:50
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Kids need a dedicated activity or project, which doesn’t need to be a school club.
Basically, you win when you show a passion for something and show real effort and discipline toward cultivating that interest over time. If you start that passion in middle school or the beginning of high school, you should be pretty accomplished at it by senior year.
Highlight that accomplishment and what the journey taught you/ how it changed you. Explain how that experience has prepared you to contribute in college and beyond.
Basically, you win when you show a passion for something and show real effort and discipline toward cultivating that interest over time. If you start that passion in middle school or the beginning of high school, you should be pretty accomplished at it by senior year.
Highlight that accomplishment and what the journey taught you/ how it changed you. Explain how that experience has prepared you to contribute in college and beyond.
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:42
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We're no longer in the DMV area, and I keep hearing how rigor is important to the DMV kids. But anecdotally from kids I know here on the west coast, it's not always the highest rigor that gets admissions. Personally, I know kids who stopped at AP Calc AB and had a couple Bs at Stanford (even though kids at high school topped at AP Calc BC or higher), and a kid with a total of 4 APs at Harvard (from a highly ranked private school with tons of APs). Neither had a significant hook, except the Harvard kid was a creative and the Stanford kid had a unique story to tell. Both Asian and not underrepresented.
AB vs BC is not really a rigor difference. The story is important.
Don't you need to reconcile this for (1) the HS the kid is coming from, and (2) the major?
All of the TJ discussion on here, tells me that some kids won't have a chance at T10 if they don't take BC (unless they are an art major?)
NP here. Generally speaking even hooked kids are doing highest math offered by HS to get into T10. Kids these days are taking math at community colleges and are listing MVC, Linear algebra etc so you really need high rigor in math!
Not for us. Plenty do just AB and get into T10. Mostly humanities.
Our private discourages community college math. 40% go to T25.
NP here. Why does your private school discourage community college math? Is it the lack of rigor, curriculum, etc.?
Yes
Calc 1 is the same at any school you go to. Why would it be worse at a community college?
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:12
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We're no longer in the DMV area, and I keep hearing how rigor is important to the DMV kids. But anecdotally from kids I know here on the west coast, it's not always the highest rigor that gets admissions. Personally, I know kids who stopped at AP Calc AB and had a couple Bs at Stanford (even though kids at high school topped at AP Calc BC or higher), and a kid with a total of 4 APs at Harvard (from a highly ranked private school with tons of APs). Neither had a significant hook, except the Harvard kid was a creative and the Stanford kid had a unique story to tell. Both Asian and not underrepresented.
AB vs BC is not really a rigor difference. The story is important.
Don't you need to reconcile this for (1) the HS the kid is coming from, and (2) the major?
All of the TJ discussion on here, tells me that some kids won't have a chance at T10 if they don't take BC (unless they are an art major?)
NP here. Generally speaking even hooked kids are doing highest math offered by HS to get into T10. Kids these days are taking math at community colleges and are listing MVC, Linear algebra etc so you really need high rigor in math!
Not for us. Plenty do just AB and get into T10. Mostly humanities.
Our private discourages community college math. 40% go to T25.
NP here. Why does your private school discourage community college math? Is it the lack of rigor, curriculum, etc.?
Yes
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:06
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Another activity every kid is doing: national honor society (NHS). What's special then if most students are eligible to be a member? What if a kid meets the criteria to apply for NHS but doesn't apply? Does not being a NHS member when student was clearly eligible stand out to an admissions team?
Is NHS an activity? Isn't it an honor?
Anonymous
07/06/2025 18:00
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We're no longer in the DMV area, and I keep hearing how rigor is important to the DMV kids. But anecdotally from kids I know here on the west coast, it's not always the highest rigor that gets admissions. Personally, I know kids who stopped at AP Calc AB and had a couple Bs at Stanford (even though kids at high school topped at AP Calc BC or higher), and a kid with a total of 4 APs at Harvard (from a highly ranked private school with tons of APs). Neither had a significant hook, except the Harvard kid was a creative and the Stanford kid had a unique story to tell. Both Asian and not underrepresented.
AB vs BC is not really a rigor difference. The story is important.
Don't you need to reconcile this for (1) the HS the kid is coming from, and (2) the major?
All of the TJ discussion on here, tells me that some kids won't have a chance at T10 if they don't take BC (unless they are an art major?)
NP here. Generally speaking even hooked kids are doing highest math offered by HS to get into T10. Kids these days are taking math at community colleges and are listing MVC, Linear algebra etc so you really need high rigor in math!
Not for us. Plenty do just AB and get into T10. Mostly humanities.
Our private discourages community college math. 40% go to T25.
NP here. Why does your private school discourage community college math? Is it the lack of rigor, curriculum, etc.?
Anonymous
07/06/2025 16:34
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Another activity every kid is doing: national honor society (NHS). What's special then if most students are eligible to be a member? What if a kid meets the criteria to apply for NHS but doesn't apply? Does not being a NHS member when student was clearly eligible stand out to an admissions team?
It means so little that tons of kids who qualify, apply, and are a member don't put it on their college apps.
Anonymous
07/06/2025 14:54
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Another activity every kid is doing: national honor society (NHS). What's special then if most students are eligible to be a member? What if a kid meets the criteria to apply for NHS but doesn't apply? Does not being a NHS member when student was clearly eligible stand out to an admissions team?
Anonymous
06/19/2025 19:34
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There will never be any demographic cliff as there are tens and tens of thousands of internationals who are applying. Check out College Confidential or Reddit. All the "applying to college" threads are all internationals. And they have the same test scores/grades and better extracurriculars than almost any Americans---doing original research by 9th grade, multiple internships, etc. If that is your thing (and it seems to be the "thing" of universities) then the percentage of internationals will continue to increase each year and more than compensate for any decrease in the US birth rate.
Take it with a grain of salt.
I’ve worked with a college admissions advisor who gets international students into US top schools and he does it by cheating- someone else does their science and research projects, someone else writes articles and essays.
I guess it’s hard to verify when they’re overseas.
At our schools, teachers make up awards every year to give to their favorite kids. Also say that this kid did and that when they did not. It worked one year to get a kid (maybe 2) into MIT. Never after that! Why? Narcissistic folks who want to brag about how THEY got this kid into a college. Adults can be so insecure!
Anonymous
06/19/2025 19:31
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:We're no longer in the DMV area, and I keep hearing how rigor is important to the DMV kids. But anecdotally from kids I know here on the west coast, it's not always the highest rigor that gets admissions. Personally, I know kids who stopped at AP Calc AB and had a couple Bs at Stanford (even though kids at high school topped at AP Calc BC or higher), and a kid with a total of 4 APs at Harvard (from a highly ranked private school with tons of APs). Neither had a significant hook, except the Harvard kid was a creative and the Stanford kid had a unique story to tell. Both Asian and not underrepresented.
Hook for Harvard — female from CA, but really any kid from the west coast is highly competitive.
Anonymous
06/19/2025 19:22
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:*to appeal
The only thing white people are doing more than Asians are sports. Asians are doing origami, ukulele, circus and the rest of the junk mentioned here.
White people are doing better in team sports popular in US. Asians actually perform better in swimming, golf, gymnastics etc. Because these are sports where individual performance matters and Asians do not get blocked by their coaches or other parents.
We watched the olympics, thanks. We know what Asians are good at.
Watching the Olympics, I don’t see white people particularly good at team sports either. It was mostly black people contributing to the medals for the USA. White people are actually good at playing discrimination games because they’re the majority of this country.
White people are good at the sports black people haven't discovered yet.
Like white people literally invent sports just so they can be good at it.
Williams sisters dominate women's tennis and then it looks like more black women in the pipeline so now we have pickleball.
Reality check. There is literally just one black player in top 10, both for women and men. Or is it top 20?
Anonymous
06/19/2025 19:05
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:There will never be any demographic cliff as there are tens and tens of thousands of internationals who are applying. Check out College Confidential or Reddit. All the "applying to college" threads are all internationals. And they have the same test scores/grades and better extracurriculars than almost any Americans---doing original research by 9th grade, multiple internships, etc. If that is your thing (and it seems to be the "thing" of universities) then the percentage of internationals will continue to increase each year and more than compensate for any decrease in the US birth rate.
Take it with a grain of salt.
I’ve worked with a college admissions advisor who gets international students into US top schools and he does it by cheating- someone else does their science and research projects, someone else writes articles and essays.
I guess it’s hard to verify when they’re overseas.
Anonymous
06/19/2025 18:55
Subject: If every kid is doing the same damn EC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:People saying collegevine and possibly other "experts" say to fabricate activity if one of kid's hobby is reading. Instead of just listing reading, say they organized a reading club etc...Agree or not agree?
We know a student who did just that in 2021, started a reading club and did a bunch of things related to reading to put on the app. They still got WL at UVA in state and shut out of all ivy types and Vanderbilt. Their course rigor was awful but the GPA was one of the highest in the class. Scores mid 1400s. ECs do not make up for a lackluster transcript. The top schools took the students with the high rigor and real activities.
Ofc they do. Did anyone say activities matter more than grades?
You guys are focused on the wrong thing. This kind of texture is just to add some personality to a rather boring standard high achieving robotic type of activities list. Some counselors recommend doing that to give a stem candidate more personality. To give them “texture”.
Private high school students typically don’t have to do any of this anyway. This is a public high school thing.