<p>With my son we never worried about his ECs, they took care of themselves as he played a varsity sport, played in the jazz band, and was a leader in a youth group. Nothing contrived and nothing forced, he just did what made him happy. And, since these EC were so traditional and he was being recruited, we never gave it a second thought with him.</p>
<p>But, my girls are a different story they are neither musicallly inclined or traditionally athletic.</p>
<p>D1 is a 4.0 (unweighted) student in the International High School Program, and aspires to study child psychology at a top LAC or medium size U in an urban or suburban setting. Her ECs are what I guess could be called leadership opportunities. She is a paid helper at the school based pre-school after a year of volunteering there. She is on student government. She is a leadre in the same outside youth group that my son was, and she started a chapter of Stand for Children at her school this year. She also recently spoke at a press conference held at our state capital decrying the Governors budget proposal that once again cut funds for education. I would expect that she would continue in this vein with little or no change over the next two years.</p>
<p>D2 has 3.8 GPA (unweighted) at the Regular high school and wants to be a Vet. She would like an LAC or medium size U., rural or small town is OK with her, and prestige is not as important to her. Her ECs are: two years of volunteering in a vets office so far (she gets school credit for it), she rides and owns her own horse and is a member of the schools equestrian team (she would like to ride in college, but is unlikely to be recruited for her riding), and is an officer in SERV a school based service organization. </p>
<p>My question is this: given each girls aspirations, are they each doing enough to be competitive to reach their respective goals (assuming that test scores will match their desires), or do they each need to step up the Ecs.</p>
<p>I would appreciate you opinions and thoughts</p>
<p>This is an opinion only, not the Eleventh Commandment.</p>
<p>No offense, ConcernedDad - but I'm not sure how effective it will be if we encourage our kids to step up their EC's solely to improve their chances at college admission. Their interest in something has to come from within, no? If they take up ECx, y and z just to add to their EC list, I don't think it will help a lot.</p>
<p>As a parent, if you want to help you can support them in the EC's they are truly interested in, even if it's stuff you don't have any passion for :-) . Other than that, I'd say hands off.</p>
<p>I think that their ECs are fine. As long as the ECs reflect your Ds' interests, as long as your Ds keep them up and don't fritter their energies among too many ECs, both should do fine. My S wrote a short explanation in his app about using his ECs mostly to maintain friendships with his schoolmates since he is out of school so much; but he really did not have very much in the way of ECs (not enough time). It did not hurt him.</p>
<p>I think the ECs are very good for both girls because they are related to their future academic plans, and they are slightly unusual, rather than run-of-the-mill.</p>
<p>OptDad, I was not so much concerned with them padding a resume, as much I am concerned with the somewhat amorphous nature of their ECs compared to the more traditional ones that my son followed. I would never encourage them to do something they are not interested in just to add it to a resume. I am simply asking if they need to do more in their resepective interest areas to be competitive.</p>
<p>As parents, we have never suggested that any of them do this, or do that, as much as we try to provide support for them to follow their interests.</p>
<p>Do they enjoy them? I think that is all that matters. If they really enjoy them, then they can write eloquently about them and having that experience helps your daughters find their calling in life - isn't that what needs to come out of ECs, both for college and for life.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, they both absolutely love what they are doing. D1 comes home everyday with another story about how cute so-and-so was that day in the pre-school. Yesterday, D2 came home so excited because she had just "assisted" in removing a diseaded spleen from a dog.</p>
<p>Perhaps my OP did not make the point well enough, we have always allowed our kids to follow their hearts, and their happiness is the of the utmost concern. We are not trying to micro-manage their lives. We just want to make sure that they can realize their dreams.</p>
<p>ConcernedDad:
I didn't think for a minute that you would want them to 'pad their resumes' :-). It's just that as parents, we want our kids to get admission to the college(s) of their choice, and sometimes this <em>cough</em> encourages us to push them gently in certain directions. I'll cheerfully admit that I did this myself a couple of times - my D1 and D2 told me politely that they would take care of their own EC's, thank you.</p>
<p>I understand OptDad, and I agree that there can sometimes be gentle and unintentional pressure placed by simply "mentioning" something to a child.</p>
<p>I suggest you buy the book "What It Really Takes to Get into the Ivy League" by Chuck Hughes. What is interesting about the book is its section on ECs. There are actually lists on ECs and activities and awards that are heavily, sort of and barely considered by top schools. There are parents who shepherd their kids to the stuff that counts and blow off anything that doesn't. And I don't suggest doing that. But it is nice to work towards things that are considered important and to be aware of how things are considered. My S has entered several award "contests" blindly, and some are of high impact on his resume, some are really no count. This year when he was looking at several things, I was able to point out some stuff that "counts" rather than some other things that looked equally interesting to him. Which gave him a nice award that top school do consider. I would have never known had I not investigated the matter. So it pays to be aware. On the other hand, there are several avenues, we eshewed even though they would have been great on the resume, because S just was not interested in pursuing those things, and I was not about to schedule his life with College resume builders. There is a balancing act, but it is nice to know what you are balancing.</p>
<p>Your girls both sound wonderful! The volunteer hours with the vet are VERY important for pursuing this career - or human med school if she decides to go for something easy. Tell her to look at Skidmore - lots of barns in the area. </p>
<p>The work that D1 is interesting and valuable - if she discusses it in her essay and gets an additional rec from her super, the adcoms will also know about it! </p>
<p>Just think of it in terms of information flow: if colleges can <em>see</em> your daughters, they will find good fits. The art involved is providing a portrait of an individual in a snapshot format.</p>
<p>Hey, Jamimon-
I having been thinking of your posts as I have "encouraged" my son to work on his SAT II's to make up for his somewhat moth-eaten GPA. Got the writing score this am - 780 up from 670 last month. Woot, woot, no more CB (until GRE or MCAT time)! Thanks for the encouragement.</p>
<p>My view was to leave the EC chips fall where they would. We had exactly one two-part rule from 1st Grade on: You must do <em>something</em> extracurruicular. You may change any time you want but you must then stick with the new activity for at least a year.</p>
<p>Part II never became operable as ballet was her all-consuming "thing" for K-12.</p>
<p>Jamimom, out of curiosity, in a nutshell what does the book say about Ballet? I may not get by a Borders for a bit.</p>
<p>Not alot about ballet, Thedad. An example is a "National Ballet/Dance Program (such as the Boston Ballet)" and a highly recognized position or award within such a Program would be a "Dancer in "Nutcracker", etc. The key words in assessing programs are "nationally or internationally recognized" as opposed to regional or local.</p>
<p>Concerneddad - Your kids sound terrific to me! I wouldn't worry too much if I were you - sounds like they are on the right track with some interesting extracurriculars that will make for great essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your comments and suggestions, and I feel re-assured by those comments that they are indeed on the right track. We too had the "do something, do anything" rule at home. It has taken us from soccer and basketball, to ice-skating and gymnastics; from dance to drama to music. Both were introduced to horses, but only D2 stuck with it; it is and will remain, a lifetime passsion. D1 struggled more, but we think she found her voice in "leadership." She struggled through a few tough years of letting all of her friends go as they started to experiment with sex and drugs and alcohol. They were lonely years for her, but one by one, these kids came back to her -- more sober -- a with a lot of resepct for her willingness to stand apart from the herd. These lessons will do her well for the rest of her life, and may indeed make for an interesting essay.</p>
<p>For the vast majority of colleges/universities in the US, your daughters' EC's are fine. The main focus for review of applicants for admission will be their transcript - courses, grades & SAT's.
But, as Jamimom suggests, if you are shooting for the Ivy League & Swarthmore, Williams, etc where EC's have greater weight to help sort through the mass of well-qualified students, then looking at the recommended book might be a good idea.</p>