<p>My son is involved with activities outside his school(community service, sports which is not offered at his school.....etc) passionately.
I was just wondering since he is not involved with any activities offered in his school what adcom might think. He just has no time to get involved with activites at his school.
I was looking through Columbia application form and it separates in-school activities and out-of-school activities and was thinking why they would do that. Do they prefer either one? My son is thinking of applying to many selective schools. Please will anyone comment! Thank you</p>
<p>I don't know why Columbia separates them, but I think that if anything, the out-of-school activities are far more impressive. I mean, its very easy for a student to sign up for a club on campus; and obviously high school students are going to be the ones getting elected for leadership positions in high school clubs. But being involved outside of campus takes more initiative, and if the activity - such as community service - involves adults as well as teenager and your son earns any special recognition, it is all the more impressive. </p>
<p>Anyway, I don't think it matters how it "looks" to colleges in any event. What matters is that your son has activities that he is passionate about, and I am sure that will shine through on his application.</p>
<p>thank you calmom for your opinion</p>
<p>One suggestion - perhaps your son can meet with his GC, whose recommendation is required, and be certain he/she knows the extent of your son's involvement in non-school ECs. I say this because your son would prefer the rec to read something like, "Committed student who still makes time for activities that are important to him" instead of "Gets good grades but doesn't do anything else." Yes, your son's app will specify his ECs, but it wouldn't hurt to have the GC reinforce them.</p>
<p>Heaven only knows what Columbia wants from a kid. (Don't they have the world's lowest acceptance rate?)</p>
<p>But in general, I don't think blank sections on the application are a problem. One of my kids has extensive extracurricular activities but never worked for pay during high school. She had to leave the jobs section blank on all her applications. My other kid had paying jobs starting at the age of 14 but had almost no extracurricular activities. There was plenty of white space in the EC section on his applications. Both got into their first choice schools (lower Ivy in the first instance, state flagship in the second).</p>
<p>frazzled1 makes a very important point. For a kid whose life is centered outside of school, the interview with the guidance counselor is particularly important. The GC isn't going to know anything about this kid's life unless the kid tells him. If the school requires the kid to fill out a "brag sheet," which is given to the guidance counselor, the student should fill it out very thoroughly. And I would suggest that if the questions on the brag sheet don't provide opportunities for your son to describe his activities in sufficient detail, attaching a resume or some other additional explanatory material would be appropriate.</p>
<p>I agree with frazzled. Make sure that the GC is fully aware of the extent of his involvement in other ECs. In our HS, rising Seniors get a letter in the summer asking them to prepare a 'bragsheet' of all activities for their GC, so she can have a better idea of the student. Does your school do something like that?</p>
<p>re: EC outside of school</p>
<p>I agree with Calmom about the impressiveness of outside activities pursued passionately.My d was involved in music at school but really pursued it seriously outside of school. She really feels following her interests was what resulted in her admission to the ivy she'll be attending.</p>
<p>I consider extracurricular activities to be any activities outside the classroom. So, these can be activities affiliated with the school or outside the school. Basically, all activities after school, evenings, and weekends, are extracurricular activities. I see no distinction or value whether the activity is through the school or not. I don't think colleges do either. My own children were involved in both school affiliated activities such as sports, band, musicals, student government, and many outside activities such as theater, dance, music lessons, sports programs, etc. </p>
<p>My kids, as well as students whom I counsel, prepare an annotated activity resume. There is no distinction on the resume as to whether the activities are through school or not. This resume goes in with the applications. As well, each rec writer and the GC also get a copy as part of package the student gives these rec writers to enable them to write an effective recommendation. </p>
<p>I am not sure why Columbia has two separate categories for listing ECs. But if your student does not have school ECs, he can write something to the effect that all his ECs are outside of school and to also see attached activity resume. </p>
<p>That said, going beyond ECs now, I know as an interviewer for a selective college, I ask how a student has contributed to making his school or community a better place. So, even if your son isn't enrolled in any ECs at his school, it is always nice to make a contribution of some sort to the life of the school. It might mean serving on a committee that is working on some school issue, governance, class council, etc. Sometimes these activities are not after school. For example, my D did Student Senate and Class Council BEFORE school early in the morning. Even though she had MANY ECs after school, evenings and weekends, she spearheaded two committees to create two policies at her school and she also was personally in charge of obtaining a graduation speaker. These did not take from her EC time after school but she fit it in when she could these things for her school (not counting meetings before school in them morning, but simply on her own time too). So, there may be ways to be involved in giving back at school....tutoring other kids, a committee on an issue, etc. These need not be so much more ECs but just a way of being involved in the life of the school or contributing in some fashion.</p>
<p>My younger D does quite a bit outside of school, because many of the school activities are sports, or you need to be "chosen" to be part of an EC, something I am very )<em>#)</em>$@ off at the school with right now</p>
<p>And her outside internship is more "real" than some of the so called clubs many of her friends will be listing on their applications</p>
<p>And she is a happier kid and loves her "job", and that is what matters most</p>
<p>That's right, many of the school ECs are indeed sports related. And very hard to get into. Because 20 out of 150 make the soccer team, and ver often those same talented make the lacrosse team in the spring.</p>
<p>The others, like Habitat, Political ones, are sometimes very easy to join and be a part of for 4 years without doing anything meaningful, sometimes not even attending meetings. </p>
<p>What does your 15-year-old do CGM, is it related to the township & municipality? Good for her.</p>
<p>My oldest was on the Youth Commission</p>
<p>The younger one volunteers at a home doing art projects with the residents, and interns at a magazine that is all about volunteering, giving, philanthropy, etc., She is learning about organization, business, marketing, and how to get the word out about different volunteer organizations, how they work, etc</p>
<p>She does school ECs as well, but the magazine is 'real" (they also have a radio show about charitable organizations, etc)</p>
<p>She helps with many accepts of the magazine- from researching different events, to finding people to write about so they can get the word out etc</p>
<p>She is having a ball and it is doing good work as well</p>
<p>thanks everyone for your reply!</p>