ECs - depth vs breadth for top tier schools

<p>JHS said:</p>

<p>While I agree with you that the University of Chicago peeks at test scores a little more than it admits, I think you are dead wrong that your son’s essay, or his “EC”, were not huge plusses there. When you get to know the institution a little better, you will know that an essay saying “I am the happiest kid in school because I do whatever I want, which is reading about something in depth” would be like a neon sign saying “I am one of you!”</p>

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<p>It looks like they were far more “forgiving” than I thought… Anyway, I am really happy that S1 is going to U Chicago: I really like the whole gestalt of intellectually rigorous environment with a muted Greek scene. </p>

<p>In terms of the ECs for S2, I am sticking to my gun of letting him focus on what he is really interested in: I do believe in the end, it works out the best, even if he may end up with a school a notch or two down from that which could have been achieved with a far more carefully orchestrated EC plan. After all, we are not comparing Harvard to community college. I believe the marginal benefit of going to a school a notch or two higher does not justify the over engineering of ECs which at times may be done with a bit to heavy parental involvement. Of course, if it’s the kid who is really motivated to do it, that’s a different story. The key, in my mind, is who is in charge…</p>

<p>I do not believe in parents (or counselors) engineering ECs. I have no experience with this as a parent myself, or as a college counselor. In my case with my own kids, we never ever discussed “what ECs are you going to do for college?” They were involved in activities they were very interested in their whole lives and we watched it unfold (and drove a lot and lot and lot to them) and to be honest, they pushed us. I don’t recall ever suggesting an EC to my kids. When they were quite young, we exposed them to many things and they enjoyed these things and kept with them their whole lives (one D eventually dropped a few in middle school to focus on her main area of passion she was involved in and add more and more to that as she had many conflicts and my other D kept doing all of her activities all the way through). Every activity on their applications was started in some fashion when young and not started in high school. And when they were first exposed to these activities when young, nobody was remotely thinking about college admissions.</p>

<p>PS…I agree with JHS that your son’s profile was a very good fit with UChicago and so if he did not do traditional ECs so to speak, it didn’t matter because what he was engaged in outside of the classroom was a good fit for UChicago.</p>

<p>JHS–</p>

<p>I think you misunderstood me. My suggestion was that the OP’s D enter some writing competitions, try to get articles published in the local paper or a dance magazine, and perhaps get materials she wrote describing her experience at ABT summers included on its website or in its promotional materials. </p>

<p>I don’t think that’s equivalent to “national recognition.” You admit that the young woman who was interested in science entered science competitions and won some prize. The other young man was in all-state chorus. </p>

<p>I’m just suggesting that the young woman ty to get some recognition of her writing talents. From what you yourself have said, these two young people had that sort of recognition. If thie OP’s daughter won some “regional third prize or honorable mention” for her writing, I think it would help. If she got some articles published in her local paper–not what I would call “national recognition”–I think it would help.</p>

<p>I think at this point it would be very likely for her to drop ballet. She dropped violin for ballet, and she was doing very well in violin. Her violin teacher was quite upset by it. We have a very high quality violin (more expensive than some pianos) if anyone is interested.:)</p>

<p>D2 has approached the English department about some writing competitions or magazines where she could be published. Doing writing for a dance magazine maybe a good idea. She has the department head as her English teacher this year, maybe she’ll have more opportunities. D2 likes to write about contraversial topic sometimes. Last year she wrote an article about the need for religion for her school newspaper, it wasn’t published. I thought it was pretty deep for a 15 year old, but probably would have ruffled a lot of feathers.</p>

<p>oldfort, as the parent of a performing musician I hate to see a quality instrument sit idle, yet on the same token if your d is proficient she may well want to hang on to it for potential future use. </p>

<p>If you are serious about looking to pass it on, plenty of folks in the music major forum with experience, ideas, and suggestions on a number of avenues for selling it (or even maintaining it in a safe and playable condition) if it’s going to sit idle.</p>

<p>Sorry for the hijack.</p>

<p>violadad - I used to play violin…I think a good instrument should be played at and taken care of. It’s been 9 months, I was hoping maybe she would change her mind. I will check out the forum and see what advice I could get. Thanks.</p>