My son is in 6th grade now and doing well. He seems to like math and science best but also enjoys reading, history, etc. He is taking Algebra II this year and is pretty decent coding in Python. He hopes to make his school math counts team and if so will get some experience in math competitions. He is a pretty decent soccer player (plays travel soccer) and tennis player (does ok in USTA tournaments). He speaks, reads and writes Russian and has traveled extensively.
He has done a bit with Arduino but does not seem to like it that much, he would like it better I imagine if there were other kids doing it with him.
I am all for letting him decide what he wants to do but at the same time are there things that I should expose him to and/or encourage him to do in order to give him the best chances at getting into a very good college when the time comes? It seems many folks have a few kids and have gone through it all thus know better what to do on the younger children and I was hoping to get some advice.
For instance, I could encourage him to start a programming club or get him to reduce efforts in one soccer or tennis so that he is really good sport and avg at the other. In a few years he could choose to go to an IB high school, the regular high school or move a slight distance and he would go to a slightly “worse” high school but probably be more assured of having a higher class rank.
First of all this is the student forum. You should post in the parents forum. Your son sounds like he is doing great and I think the last thing a 6th grader needs is to have a parent trying to mold them into something they think colleges will like. It sounds like he has plenty of good interests. Support what he wants to do.
Your idea of moving to a worse school system so that he will have a higher class rank is awful and in my opinion, actually crazy. You would really take him away from what is evidently a positive environment for him, and from his friends, just to get a higher GPA in some pipe dream of getting into a better (what is better, more prestigious?) college some day? I think that would be incredibly damaging, both to your relationship and potentially to his academic achievement as well.
Colleges don’t care what kids did in middle school. The best thing he can do for the next few years is explore and develop his interests. Let him be a kid.
Also, unless is it his dream, his dream and not your dream, to be a college athlete, it’s not going to make much difference what sports he does. Sports is just another activity unless you are being recruited.
Your son should be fine at the IB high school (unless he has poor English skills) as his math skills are top-notch: a 6th grader taking Algebra 2 is literally 5 years ahead of a normal student and at least 3 years ahead of nearly all students. He should do very well in high school math, science (as science classes besides bio are heavy on math skills), and computer classes. As for the other classes, I’d be surprised if he got worse than B’s in any classes at the IB high school, assuming your son maintains his current performance.
You should encourage him to start a programming club and do community service. Also, have him keep with a sport and ideally get a varsity letter.
As for Mathcounts, try to encourage him to do well at the state competition if he makes the school team. I got a $4,000/year scholarship for Key advice: Do a lot of activities you like and excel. Stay busy and involved.
(Background: I was accepted into Stanford Early Action, with an intended major of Math/Computer Science but still undecided. Basic stats: 2310 SAT, 4.0 UW GPA w/ nearly all AP/Honors classes, Varsity XC, 3 years of debate, 2-time AIME qualifier, state champion team Science Olympiad ).
If you want more advice/info, feel free to send me a PM.