<p>Thanks for all of the feedback so far. It’s given me a lot to think about, and discuss with H before deciding. </p>
<p>HS has a dance team in the winter sports season, performing at basketball games. It is not a class, but practices after school. I don’t know any more than that, although I would be surprised if it was so competitive that she wouldn’t get in. S attends a different HS school in the same district, but knows nothing about dance team (and refuses to ask girls he knows who are in it!) D wants to join school dance team, in addition to the dance studio classes/competition team. Winter is a good time for a school activity since equestrian activities are less during that period - no horse shows in NJ in the dead of winter. </p>
<p>I’m concerned that school will be much harder in HS than in middle school, and D will have a much more challenging course load than she has ever had before. I’m also worried that it would be hard to back-off mid-year if it seemed to be too much, since dropping out of the dance studio competition team would have a negative impact on the other dancers, after the competition dance numbers are choreographed. </p>
<p>About equestrian and college admittance, I once read (wish I remembered where), that for college admissions you should let your kid follow whatever his/her passion was, as long as it wasn’t equestrian, since it could rub admissions officers the wrong way, because it is an expensive activity. It is expensive - I definitely feel the impact on our budget since we bought a horse two years ago.</p>
<p>I have a co-worker who believed that his daughter did less well in college admissions than expected a few years ago because she had no in-school ECs. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not, but it has worried me. Glad to hear that most CC parents aren’t too concerned about it. Despite a wide range of activities and good grades in middle school, she wasn’t accepted to the NJHS because of lack of “leadership”. (That I know for sure, because the advisor questioned her skeptically about whether or not her membership on the pre-competition dance team would count as leadership, and then she didn’t get in.)</p>
<p>At this point, D has absolutely no idea what her college major or career path will be, which is fine. I think it is pretty safe to say that she won’t be a professional dancer, however. She was very shy as a young child, and dance and riding (and performing and competing) have really given her a lot of self-confidence and discipline.</p>