Mom of a middle schooler here - is this a joke? A super smart kid with high scores and you guys think he needs to apply to college in Canada because he won't get into any top US schools? MUST every child have a hook? This is only like 5% of kids. Where do the rest go? This is insane. I think DCUMommies are just insane.

Anonymous wrote:op here. Thanks for the advice. I wish it wasn’t July. I should have made him get a job this summer. He did volunteering for CCD confirmation at a food pantry but I will make him start again this summer. I also don’t know if he will make his teams this year and if not I’ll force him to get a job. DS isn’t going to want to go to our state flagship - it’s strong but not a ton of top kids from our rich HS go there. It’s a perception thing, which is frustrating. Also re: marine bio - I also think it’s sort of ridiculous as he doesn’t even know what marine biology really is or what a marine biologist does.

Honestly, if he did the food pantry thing before, have him START that again now (even for a week) for this summer. So he can list it for this summer/year as well.
I would take some variation of that parody of an Environmental Sci student profile posted - it wasn't all bad - just tweak it. some of it is pretty good, outside the cloud stuff (what is that). You can probably come up with better options, including stuff he can do from home, like EdX courses in Food Security.

There was concrete advice in this thread that I think you should follow. To get kid motivated, I'd schedule one tour this summer (Cornell, WashU, Rice) - whatever is closest and easiest? It may help him see this as something real. Then, give him a list of options (job, volunteering, research, school club, tutoring, sports) and tell him this is likely what it takes to round out his application profile. Does he have it in him? If not, tour the state school? I bet he gets his sh*t in order pretty fast. And if he's really into the food security stuff and community gardens, Cornell CALS could be the right fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay boy. High performing suburban HS of a major city (Boston/DC/NY). No legacy.

Going into his junior year of HS. In the top ten of his class, may end up being valedictorian. He’s very smart, has no leadership or interesting ECs. Minor volunteering, 2 JV sports, not recruitable and may not even make varsity. Ship has sailed for ECs, they would be meaningless at this point and I would not expect joining a club would have any impact on his results.

He is really smart, and likely would do fine at an Ivy, but he won’t get in as he doesn’t stand out at all. Where can a kid with high test scores and top of class at a strong suburban public get into that is still prestigious? What’s his best bet for ED? Could he possibly get into a rice or Cornell?

He has multiple 5s on APs and will have 1500+ on SAT (if he doesn’t get there initially, he will be tutored).

Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, St Gallen, Science Po, Bocconi, etc…..

Do regular T50 instead.
Pick 3-4 reaches (1-2 for ED) and find other T50 (depending on size/location/feel).
At our private this kid gets into 2 of the T25 listed earlier but only ED.
Also schools like BU/Tufts/BC/NYU/Lehigh. Maybe Wake.
Schedule a meeting with the CCO. Look at your school’s data.

Family is full pay and not looking for international discount. I’d skip these schools PP listed.

If OP was happy with T50, she would not even come here to ask for input. You think?
From what she described, T20 level schools are what she is looking for.
I think Oxibridge and Science Po make sense.

I don’t think these are good first choice options for him.They’re good fallback options for the full college list for a kid like this, according to our counselor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay boy. High performing suburban HS of a major city (Boston/DC/NY). No legacy.

Going into his junior year of HS. In the top ten of his class, may end up being valedictorian. He’s very smart, has no leadership or interesting ECs. Minor volunteering, 2 JV sports, not recruitable and may not even make varsity. Ship has sailed for ECs, they would be meaningless at this point and I would not expect joining a club would have any impact on his results.

He is really smart, and likely would do fine at an Ivy, but he won’t get in as he doesn’t stand out at all. Where can a kid with high test scores and top of class at a strong suburban public get into that is still prestigious? What’s his best bet for ED? Could he possibly get into a rice or Cornell?

He has multiple 5s on APs and will have 1500+ on SAT (if he doesn’t get there initially, he will be tutored).

Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, St Gallen, Science Po, Bocconi, etc…..

Do regular T50 instead.
Pick 3-4 reaches (1-2 for ED) and find other T50 (depending on size/location/feel).
At our private this kid gets into 2 of the T25 listed earlier but only ED.
Also schools like BU/Tufts/BC/NYU/Lehigh. Maybe Wake.
Schedule a meeting with the CCO. Look at your school’s data.

Family is full pay and not looking for international discount. I’d skip these schools PP listed.

If OP was happy with T50, she would not even come here to ask for input. You think?
From what she described, T20 level schools are what she is looking for.
I think Oxibridge and Science Po make sense.

T50 is more elite than that, if you plan to work in major markets in the US.

Anonymous wrote:don't UC schools only basically look at GPA?

Didn't we just have had a lengthy discussion on Berkeley v HYP? Karen and Gretchen had a pillow fight there?
I don't think OP would be happy with UCs. She was asking for ED options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay boy. High performing suburban HS of a major city (Boston/DC/NY). No legacy.

Going into his junior year of HS. In the top ten of his class, may end up being valedictorian. He’s very smart, has no leadership or interesting ECs. Minor volunteering, 2 JV sports, not recruitable and may not even make varsity. Ship has sailed for ECs, they would be meaningless at this point and I would not expect joining a club would have any impact on his results.

He is really smart, and likely would do fine at an Ivy, but he won’t get in as he doesn’t stand out at all. Where can a kid with high test scores and top of class at a strong suburban public get into that is still prestigious? What’s his best bet for ED? Could he possibly get into a rice or Cornell?

He has multiple 5s on APs and will have 1500+ on SAT (if he doesn’t get there initially, he will be tutored).

Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, St Gallen, Science Po, Bocconi, etc…..

Do regular T50 instead.
Pick 3-4 reaches (1-2 for ED) and find other T50 (depending on size/location/feel).
At our private this kid gets into 2 of the T25 listed earlier but only ED.
Also schools like BU/Tufts/BC/NYU/Lehigh. Maybe Wake.
Schedule a meeting with the CCO. Look at your school’s data.

Family is full pay and not looking for international discount. I’d skip these schools PP listed.

If OP was happy with T50, she would not even come here to ask for input. You think?
From what she described, T20 level schools are what she is looking for.
I think Oxibridge and Science Po make sense.

don't UC schools only basically look at GPA?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay boy. High performing suburban HS of a major city (Boston/DC/NY). No legacy.

Going into his junior year of HS. In the top ten of his class, may end up being valedictorian. He’s very smart, has no leadership or interesting ECs. Minor volunteering, 2 JV sports, not recruitable and may not even make varsity. Ship has sailed for ECs, they would be meaningless at this point and I would not expect joining a club would have any impact on his results.

He is really smart, and likely would do fine at an Ivy, but he won’t get in as he doesn’t stand out at all. Where can a kid with high test scores and top of class at a strong suburban public get into that is still prestigious? What’s his best bet for ED? Could he possibly get into a rice or Cornell?

He has multiple 5s on APs and will have 1500+ on SAT (if he doesn’t get there initially, he will be tutored).

Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, St Gallen, Science Po, Bocconi, etc…..

Do regular T50 instead.
Pick 3-4 reaches (1-2 for ED) and find other T50 (depending on size/location/feel).
At our private this kid gets into 2 of the T25 listed earlier but only ED.
Also schools like BU/Tufts/BC/NYU/Lehigh. Maybe Wake.
Schedule a meeting with the CCO. Look at your school’s data.

Family is full pay and not looking for international discount. I’d skip these schools PP listed.

One thought is to consider if your child would even be happy at a top school outside of gaining admission. It’s a very motivated and “extra” study body, it’s not for everyone. Lots of go-getters that are never idle is who they’ll be competing with for grades and opportunities.

My kid sounds like yours and they were admitted to multiple T-50’s. It’s definitely not too late for your kid to get involved in a couple things. Maybe a friend or teacher or his CC can encourage him to get involved? Sometimes it’s better when the nudge comes from a peer or a teacher.

Anonymous wrote:Full pay boy. High performing suburban HS of a major city (Boston/DC/NY). No legacy.

Going into his junior year of HS. In the top ten of his class, may end up being valedictorian. He’s very smart, has no leadership or interesting ECs. Minor volunteering, 2 JV sports, not recruitable and may not even make varsity. Ship has sailed for ECs, they would be meaningless at this point and I would not expect joining a club would have any impact on his results.

He is really smart, and likely would do fine at an Ivy, but he won’t get in as he doesn’t stand out at all. Where can a kid with high test scores and top of class at a strong suburban public get into that is still prestigious? What’s his best bet for ED? Could he possibly get into a rice or Cornell?

He has multiple 5s on APs and will have 1500+ on SAT (if he doesn’t get there initially, he will be tutored).

Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, St Gallen, Science Po, Bocconi, etc…..

Multiple AP 5s
High GPA
Very high SAT

No ECs and you want prestige? Dust off the passport. The following amazing universities have primarily stat-based admissions:

Oxford
Cambridge
University of British Columbia
McGill
University of Sydney
University of Melbourne

And… several others if you start looking around. The American admissions game is silly. Other countries get it right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, here's what a pricey college counselor would do for this kid - and yes ED1 to WashU:

Major: Undecided arts & sciences or Environmental Studies (not science)

The following for ECS:
- Club founder and president (native plant Org/club at school that rewilds areas with native plants) (11, 12)
- Organizer of local beach cleanup meetups (11, 12)
- Sport 1 (9, 10, 11, 12)
- Urban garden or botanic garden volunteer or instructor (11, 12)
- Sport 2 (9, 10, 11, 12)
- Putt-Putt job (12)
- Science Fair research (Research on iridescent plants)
- Botany podcaster YouTube channel
- At home greenhouse (woodworking done by applicant) and gardener planting 35+ varietals annually (10, 11, 12)
- Taught neighbor w/ learning disabilities how to read (improved 4 reading levels) (10, 11, 12)

Hobbies: cloud-watching (active member of Cloud Appreciation Society) and journaling would be the basis for a personal statement.

These are excellent ideas! Well done.

Agreed.
Just stole some of them

Anonymous wrote:So, here's what a pricey college counselor would do for this kid - and yes ED1 to WashU:

Major: Undecided arts & sciences or Environmental Studies (not science)

The following for ECS:
- Club founder and president (native plant Org/club at school that rewilds areas with native plants) (11, 12)
- Organizer of local beach cleanup meetups (11, 12)
- Sport 1 (9, 10, 11, 12)
- Urban garden or botanic garden volunteer or instructor (11, 12)
- Sport 2 (9, 10, 11, 12)
- Putt-Putt job (12)
- Science Fair research (Research on iridescent plants)
- Botany podcaster YouTube channel
- At home greenhouse (woodworking done by applicant) and gardener planting 35+ varietals annually (10, 11, 12)
- Taught neighbor w/ learning disabilities how to read (improved 4 reading levels) (10, 11, 12)

Hobbies: cloud-watching (active member of Cloud Appreciation Society) and journaling would be the basis for a personal statement.

These are excellent ideas! Well done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do we have high stats no ECs boys keep popping up recently? So many.

Because they stay in their rooms and play video games.

The room and video games is real. But by the same token, teens are teens and are who they are. My oldest likes what he likes and isn't going to do what he doesnt want to do. So he works a nonimpressive teen job and does the 3 very common activities he does, and will probably get some modest recognition or a modest leadership role in ONE of those because he has some relative talent/skill in that one. Why would I push him to do more? It's not his personality or where he is at developmentally and he'll be a lot happier NOT attending a super competitive school. But he also likes school and is serious about learning.

So I think the OPs question about fit is a good one. Smart, academic, regular teens at a non T20 or T50 will be successful too. What are some good options for them?

(I am also cracking up from the fish EC comment because I agree it opens up a lot of EC possibilities but I know I couldnt in a million years convince my kid who loves to fish and aquascape aquariums to START any sort of fish-related club at school and could only imagine the conversation if I tried).