<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…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.”"</p>
<p>Anything that looks like, “We’re lucky rich people who’ve spoiled our kid” could rub admission officers the wrong way. But, in most cases, ECs don’t matter at all when it comes to admission. If your D is doing community service (maybe there’s something related to dance or horses that she could be doing) or working to help pay for her equestrian experiences, that would not only help build her character, but also help make it clear that she’s not a spoiled rich kid. I imagine she has some time in the summer to do something like this. The character building aspect of it is, I think, even more important than impressing admissions officers. It also seems fair for her to share some of the cost of such an expensive hobby.</p>
<p>Both of my sons main ECs were things outside of school. Older S had no ECs in school after being a bench warmer on the freshman year soccer team. Still, he got excellent merit aid related to his EC – volunteering for a community newspaper. </p>
<p>Younger S’s merit aid probably also was related to his EC, which was a community-wide youth community service program.</p>
<p>I think the fact that my kids were deeply involved in ECs outside of school made them stand out in a good way in admissions. Each also submitted an extra letter of recc related to their EC.</p>