Anonymous
03/08/2026 15:23
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
sports has no EQ associated, but team captain is high-ish EQ. any leadership gained by coaches or fellow team members is nice to have
Very narrow minded
not saying the sports .. or theater .. or service club ... or yearbook .. or newspaper .. or student govt aren't important and can help a kid grow in a thousand ways.
but for college apps? no EQ associated.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 15:16
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
sports has no EQ associated, but team captain is high-ish EQ. any leadership gained by coaches or fellow team members is nice to have
Is StuCo president High EQ? I still don't understand....is High EQ EC something not related to a major that shows you work exceptionally well with people? A connector of sorts?
Me neither. There are so many high eq activities around. Seems PP associates high eq only with leadership stuff. But even that is very common. There is no need to look for some exotic "high eq" ec.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 15:06
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My kid has one very time consuming EC outside of their varsity sport and full time summer job. It is off the charts high EQ, absurdly analog, deeply genuine, and they got involved at age 11. It is not in any way academic or award winning.
I’d love to offer it as an example, but I’m afraid the group (which we love and respect) would be flooded with box-ticking people messing things up by joining/volunteering for the wrong reasons.
I’m 100% certain it is why he had tremendous success with high school applications. The schools made it plain. It scales in responsibility with age, so he will just keep going with it. It’s something he discovered himself and had to beg us to allow him to get started.
My point? I don’t think I/we/they could have gamed this. Listen to your kids and let them run with something nutty if they want it. It can’t hurt. And it might become the detail that makes them shine.
I was worried about investing too much time in a quiet, non academic organization that has existed forever. I was wrong.
No idea yet how it will pan out for college admissions. And I don’t care anymore. My kid found themself in service to others. The irony is that a few years back, I could easily have been the OP. Sometimes the kids are smarter than the parents. Thank goodness.
This is exactly what a parent would say about a manufactured activity. Nicely done.
I get the cynicism. That’s precisely why I won’t name the organization here. But if I did? You’d laugh. At me. There isn’t a kid on earth who would not want to do it. And each one of them would have parents who hear the initial idea and think, “Oh nooooooo.”
Yet, here we are. And I do recognize the gamble.
Sport
Job
High EQ EC
That’s his complete list. It’s very short and not academic. He’s aiming for the most selective schools. I genuinely do not know if his positioning of himself will be surprisingly successful or not at the elite college level.
He’s willing to take the risk because he refuses to give up a favorite part of his life.
But we as parents needed to be fine with the gamble, and know there are wonderful colleges and communities to be found outside the T-whatever, should the T-insane admit rate schools be less impressed than high schools were.
It's less of a gamble to your DC now. Admissions to high schools gave you at least some confidence that it worked at least once. Many many kids have nothing unique, which is fine in itself. Ask yourself, would you "not care" at all if your DC was not successful in high school admissions?
Fair point. I would very much care. I agree that high school selection validated the interest. Perhaps I should have said: I no longer care to game the minutiae or look to manufacture interest once a certain authentic threshold has been met.
My point, perhaps not expressed well, is that once I knew he was in the game, I worried less about where exactly he stood. Because there is real relief and satisfaction to watching your child discover something they love, that they can work hard to be good at. That is why I no longer care to worry about whether his interest is “enough”. If it’s clever or impressive enough.
It’s his. It’s real. And it gets him in the game. No idea what the final result will be. I was hoping to be supportive of all the kids who have non academic interests. Maybe help them hit a pressure release valve. Some of them truly need this.
And thank you to the parent who validated that a non academic choice of where to invest time can be successful, as the Ivy AO confirmed to her child.
My kid only gets to be young once. I want him to work hard. I also want him to enjoy it.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 15:05
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
sports has no EQ associated, but team captain is high-ish EQ. any leadership gained by coaches or fellow team members is nice to have
Very narrow minded
NP. EQ is no more associated with sports than it is with any competitions. Maintaining composure when your varsity is down 20 points in a basketball game is no different than maintaining composure when your team is getting attacked by a debate opponent off of an earlier misstep. Working with teammates under a screaming coach to practice an offensive play in football to perfection is no different than working with other players under a tough-love teacher to make a passage sound good. So, really, what is a "high EQ" sports??
Anonymous
03/08/2026 15:04
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
sports has no EQ associated, but team captain is high-ish EQ. any leadership gained by coaches or fellow team members is nice to have
Is StuCo president High EQ? I still don't understand....is High EQ EC something not related to a major that shows you work exceptionally well with people? A connector of sorts?
Anonymous
03/08/2026 14:40
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
sports has no EQ associated, but team captain is high-ish EQ. any leadership gained by coaches or fellow team members is nice to have
Very narrow minded
Anonymous
03/08/2026 14:27
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
sports has no EQ associated, but team captain is high-ish EQ. any leadership gained by coaches or fellow team members is nice to have
Anonymous
03/08/2026 14:11
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My kid has one very time consuming EC outside of their varsity sport and full time summer job. It is off the charts high EQ, absurdly analog, deeply genuine, and they got involved at age 11. It is not in any way academic or award winning.
I’d love to offer it as an example, but I’m afraid the group (which we love and respect) would be flooded with box-ticking people messing things up by joining/volunteering for the wrong reasons.
I’m 100% certain it is why he had tremendous success with high school applications. The schools made it plain. It scales in responsibility with age, so he will just keep going with it. It’s something he discovered himself and had to beg us to allow him to get started.
My point? I don’t think I/we/they could have gamed this. Listen to your kids and let them run with something nutty if they want it. It can’t hurt. And it might become the detail that makes them shine.
I was worried about investing too much time in a quiet, non academic organization that has existed forever. I was wrong.
No idea yet how it will pan out for college admissions. And I don’t care anymore. My kid found themself in service to others. The irony is that a few years back, I could easily have been the OP. Sometimes the kids are smarter than the parents. Thank goodness.
This is exactly what a parent would say about a manufactured activity. Nicely done.
I get the cynicism. That’s precisely why I won’t name the organization here. But if I did? You’d laugh. At me. There isn’t a kid on earth who would not want to do it. And each one of them would have parents who hear the initial idea and think, “Oh nooooooo.”
Yet, here we are. And I do recognize the gamble.
Sport
Job
High EQ EC
That’s his complete list. It’s very short and not academic. He’s aiming for the most selective schools. I genuinely do not know if his positioning of himself will be surprisingly successful or not at the elite college level.
He’s willing to take the risk because he refuses to give up a favorite part of his life.
But we as parents needed to be fine with the gamble, and know there are wonderful colleges and communities to be found outside the T-whatever, should the T-insane admit rate schools be less impressed than high schools were.
It's less of a gamble to your DC now. Admissions to high schools gave you at least some confidence that it worked at least once. Many many kids have nothing unique, which is fine in itself. Ask yourself, would you "not care" at all if your DC was not successful in high school admissions?
Mine was not accepted to any private schools (waitlisted at a couple) and is in early to HYP. College admissions turned out to be a lot more holistic than private schools in our wealthy area. Lots of other factors at play for private high schools…
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:56
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
PP listed Sports, job, and "high eq" stuff. Is his sports activity low eq? There is no need to act mysterious while pretending she doesn't care at all, or else she won't even read and post on dcum. The point is there is no point to highlight an attribute that is so commonly found in popular teen activities but not favored upon by AOs while at the same time saying I dont' care I don't care you moms are silly caring.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:48
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:EMS still impresses if you're into pre-med and live in a state where you can do that at 16.
It should because it's actually useful to society.
yes and you've seen people at their lowest, maybe people you don't see in your usual life. and you still want to do medicine. and because it's a system that is rigorous and known. things that are known can verify an app. being a lifeguard in nyc is a good one. working long enough at a restaurant or retail to become a shift manager. winning state championships or ranked nationally in debate. being named all-state in a sport.
we talk about soft and hard skills in job market. if possible get some hard and soft activities into your application.. hard = EMS, state debate champ .. stuff your parents can't fudge. soft = adds uniqueness and creates the story but is probably a bit opaque. hard is also your stats, but that's just table stakes.
What's the ratio of hard to soft skills needed for a T10 app (assuming this is the same mom posting about her birding kid)?
yes, same mom. I don't know ratio but I think you need one major one of both. getting elected to something within your school helps too. it can only be boiled down to two things when your reader brings your file to the table, or so I've read. because it already has where you're from and usually your high school and all of those institutional priorities we don't think about .. so..
This is Eva .. she's from upstate NY and went to a public school we consider rural. NY state public forum debate champ her junior year. She's interested in our policy program, behavioral economics specifically. She's been involved in her local hawk count since she was 7 and has charted decline of hawks and tied environmental factors impacting group behavior to a study she did in high school with the post-covid free school lunch programs in her town and nutrition. I've put a paragraph from that up on the white board ... you can see. Along with an excerpt from a LOR. 1550 SAT. Elected class vp. Again, rural from a school we haven't had a student from in 4 years. I think she'd be a great presence in our xyz program.
Then they vote.
There's so much about their own priorities in the discussion, you have to make sure your own sound bite is very clear.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:42
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Hardly bragging. My non-athletic kid couldn’t do varsity team sports even if they wanted.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:39
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
13:26 poster. I took PP to mean that their kid’s EC is more about interpersonal relationships and community building than academic/major-related pursuits. Same for my kid.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:37
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
It's almost a tease. self brag.
Team sports are supposedly the most high EQ activities. But AOs don't care about this at all.
If they really don't care about college admissions, then look no further, just do varsity team sports.
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:29
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
What is a high EQ EC? I have no concept of what you are talking about?
Anonymous
03/08/2026 13:26
Subject: ECs That Actually Impress College Admissions Officers?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My kid has one very time consuming EC outside of their varsity sport and full time summer job. It is off the charts high EQ, absurdly analog, deeply genuine, and they got involved at age 11. It is not in any way academic or award winning.
I’d love to offer it as an example, but I’m afraid the group (which we love and respect) would be flooded with box-ticking people messing things up by joining/volunteering for the wrong reasons.
I’m 100% certain it is why he had tremendous success with high school applications. The schools made it plain. It scales in responsibility with age, so he will just keep going with it. It’s something he discovered himself and had to beg us to allow him to get started.
My point? I don’t think I/we/they could have gamed this. Listen to your kids and let them run with something nutty if they want it. It can’t hurt. And it might become the detail that makes them shine.
I was worried about investing too much time in a quiet, non academic organization that has existed forever. I was wrong.
No idea yet how it will pan out for college admissions. And I don’t care anymore. My kid found themself in service to others. The irony is that a few years back, I could easily have been the OP. Sometimes the kids are smarter than the parents. Thank goodness.
This is exactly what a parent would say about a manufactured activity. Nicely done.
I get the cynicism. That’s precisely why I won’t name the organization here. But if I did? You’d laugh. At me. There isn’t a kid on earth who would not want to do it. And each one of them would have parents who hear the initial idea and think, “Oh nooooooo.”
Yet, here we are. And I do recognize the gamble.
Sport
Job
High EQ EC
That’s his complete list. It’s very short and not academic. He’s aiming for the most selective schools. I genuinely do not know if his positioning of himself will be surprisingly successful or not at the elite college level.
He’s willing to take the risk because he refuses to give up a favorite part of his life.
But we as parents needed to be fine with the gamble, and know there are wonderful colleges and communities to be found outside the T-whatever, should the T-insane admit rate schools be less impressed than high schools were.
NP. Sorry you’re getting snarky responses, PP, but that’s par for course on DCUM. For what it’s worth, my DC had a high EQ EC starting from age 12 that we parents supported but certainly did not do for them, and their AO specifically referenced it at the local HYPSM early admit reception.