<p>At our high school also, the EC’s are really demanding. My older two handled them, though with some difficulty and very late nights at times. I don’t see how my younger child (now in middle school) will be able to; she sounds like the OP’s D. We are careful to guide her to EC’s which seem worth the trouble given limited time to invest. For example, I recently said “no” to the school play since I knew it would entail hours and hours of hanging around waiting for her two seconds of stage time while the stars rehearsed. Please don’t think I’m like the Tiger Mom and believe it’s not worth it if my kid doesn’t have a main part and is just the 3rd villager. It’s just that for some kids, the play is one of many activities they do; they shine in other areas, and participating won’t affect their grades. My feeling is that there are activities where the non-stars are just as engaged and active as the stars and those are better for our D. Given my D’s greater need for study and homework time, I’d prefer she not spend 2 hours after school sitting on the bench while other kids play when she could be doing homework. If she is busy and active for those 2 hours, then that’s another story.</p>
<p>SanSerif- I sent you a pm.</p>