<p>I had no idea that MollieB used Hernandez. Mollie has been an incredible help to all MIT hopefuls, and personally offered her wisdom to the worm. Her personality just shines.</p>
<p>I am a personal believer in pursuing what one likes. Be yourself. Thank goodness there are still colleges that go by numbers, and don’t require personal essays and LORs.</p>
<p>HS students should do what they love. If it helps their college application, great. If not they’ve had enriching experiences… some which will follow them into life. </p>
<p>My son did not have any traditional “leadership” roles (which was a little awkward when it came to filling out the Common App). But he was wise enough not to just chase something for sake of resume building. The music ensemble activity that he stretched to call “leadership” may have been scoffed at, but it doesn’t matter. It truly was one of the most memorable activities in hs (he did it 3 years), and it taught him a lot about a lot. Plus he unintentionally created himself a really cool essay topic. </p>
<p>There were 2 expected scholarships that may have been impacted by the lack of leadership. (He has near perfect stats and many interesting EC). However other opportunities probably arose because of the paths he choose.</p>
<p>I don’t think MollieB used Hernandez, but she was definitely a cheerleader (and at MIT). I know MIT looked very favorably on non-geeky activities - at least at the time.</p>
<p>How did this thread turn into cheerleading thread? I didn’t even know cheerleading was looked down upon. It is just an EC, like any other EC. If your kid loves it, that’s all it should matter.</p>
<p>mollieb didn’t NEED Hernandez. </p>
<p>My kids did what they loved, and in both cases, those were things that had piqued their interest since kindergarten or earlier. Worked for them.</p>
<p>Oldfort: Lol. Well, the name of the thread is about what ec are good. And my daughter has battled the stereotype of a cheerleader all through hs. I have also been told by several dance moms that they wouldn’t put Cheerleading down on an application…I think that is ludicrous and I agree that a kid should follow their passion in hs and not worry about a college resume. </p>
<p>I think we all need to guard against advice from certain people. They don’t always have your best interest in mind. Sometimes I forget that…</p>
<p>I don’t think everything our kid is doing should be such a trials and tribulations, not every slight needs to be taken so seriously.</p>
<p>mspearl, some of us went to HS before Title IX, when being a cheerleader meant being cute and painting your sneakers white every week and not much more. It seems that cheer has evolved into a sport of its own, rather than taking a purely supportive role to male endeavors. At least in some places.</p>
<p>My friends son was admitted into MIT and we’re convinced it was his tap dancing that put him over others with similar stats!</p>
<p>Agree with all of you but I would add that different schools will like different ECs depending on their cultures. For instance, 10-12 years of scouting/service ending in an Eagle status won’t appeal equally to every school.</p>
<p>I am a reluctant cheer mom…not the activity I would have chosen for my D. But my, have I learned respect those girls. The pressure is intense…one tiny mistake makes a world of difference. It’s not like in a basketball game where lots of players miss shots. Winning or losing can turn on one girl putting a hand down on the mat after a back tuck. My D is a back spot…she has had so many bruises and bloody noses that I fear some day I’ll hear from child protective services. Yes, kids in other sports get bruises, too, but they aren’t judged on whether they keep smiling. The girls’ timing must be perfect…a split second hestitation and the stunt doesn’t go up. Every member of the team is essential.</p>
<p>I think the problem I’ve heard with cheer and college applications is that it is all team oriented…no individual honors or medals to record. Players on other teams may be named to an all district or region team, but no such thing for cheer. Choir members can try out for All State and do solo competition. Drill team has officers.</p>
<p>I truly believe achieving Eagle Scout is well regarded at most any school. It may not be enough of a hook to pull a kid to accept status if there are simply others there with better profiles, but it is definitely a high level accomplishment.
I think cheering is regarded as a sport. And many team sports do not have individual opportunites.</p>
<p>I know someone with near perfect SAT scores & is a cheerleader. In one of the admit letters from a highly selective school the Dean congratulated her on her accomplishments as a cheerleader. No mention of her academic accomplishments! :)</p>
<p>I think there is a bit of envy as well as ignorance from parents.</p>
<p>Amtc: my daughter is an amazing tapper and we are definitely going to include that in her supplement.she will be submitting 3 min. Video that includes jazz solo, some ballet/ acro and tap. I think tap is much less common than jazz and ballet and a really unique thing to be good at. I agree tap probably got him attention…my aunt has a $10 bet with D that her dancing will help get her into some colleges…Lol. we’ll see. The bigger issue will be what can mom and dad afford to pay!</p>
<p>drdom - I disagree, I believe that all schools will respect the work and self-motivation that it takes to be an Eagle scout or to earn the Gold Award and will be considered an admirable achievement and one that could put the applicant ahead of others. Passion about something and service to others is a winning combination regardless of a schools’ culture.</p>
<p>Eagle Scout is good because I think it is viewed as sort of a “position of leadership” for a kid who can’t actually get elected to a postion of leadership at school.</p>
<p>I’m envious of the tap. All my kids took tap and I loved every minute of it. The only opportunity they got at school was in a production of Anything Goes. (I actually persuaded the director to change one of her performance dates so that the drill team girls [who were the best tappers in the school] could be in the production.)</p>
<p>I generally agree with the advice that kids should follow their passions and not worry too much about whether it “looks good” on college applications. I do have a couple of reservations about that advice though. First, I think it’s really true that colleges are most interested in individual achievement in ECs, and participation in any team activity may not show that, especially if it’s not something where there are “star players.” To the extent that the kid can obtain some individual recognition, through contests, coaching other kids, etc., that’s probably a good thing.
Second, and this is uncomfortable to say, the most selective colleges are interested in high-level achievement in ECs, not just commitment and hard work. So (for example) if you kid’s passion is playing the trumpet, but he doesn’t make it into the all-state band, it’s not going to impress the most selective schools, even if he practices eight hours a day. That’s perhaps not a reason to discourage him from following his passion; it’s a *cost *of following his passion.
Finally, a more positive point: parents can help their kids find ways to get recognition for their passions. If your kid is an artist or writer, for example, look online for competitions (like the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards)–don’t assume that the school will tell them about these.</p>
<p>Just to apply this to a specific example raised above: if your kid is a cheerleader, how is she going to show in her application that she, personally, is an excellent cheerleader? Can she show leadership experience from the activity? How will she convince the college that she might be as asset as a cheerleader to that school? Has she targeted schools that have active cheerleading where this might be a stronger asset, and might be better understood? These kinds of questions can be applied to any EC.</p>
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<p>And, conversely, trading activities one loves for those that are less desirable but better in the eyes of adcoms is a cost of shooting for the super-selective schools.</p>
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Absolutely. But so are things like prepping for the SATs–something that (I hope) nobody has a passion for. I do think that kids might need some help from parents and other adults in looking at the big picture. Have you ever known a kid who had a great passion for something that he, really and truly, was not very good at? That is a hard situation to deal with.</p>
<p>But would our hypothetical trumpet player actually have a higher level of achievement in something he didn’t love doing? I think it’s fairly rare for a kid’s favorite activity not to also be the one that they are best at. My younger son didn’t have the grades or the scores to get into the tippy top universities, but I think his commitment to being a mediocre violin player didn’t hurt him. (One of the top three in his his class, not good enough for county orchestra, was in both regular and extra orchestra, played at the senior center, did music camp after freshman year.)</p>