<p>I wonder if any other parents are feeling what I'm feeling. My child is at the end of her junior year, and while her grades and test scores are good, her EC's are spotty. No sports, no student government, no robotics, no activity that is year-long and substantial (meaning daily or at least a few times a week). Her last activity - the school musical, was over by mid-March, and now she has nothing on her plate for the rest of the year except for a couple of weekend volunteer activities. I'm trying to encourage her to find something else to do after school and trying not to be overly anxious about it. In other words, her record is pretty much set in stone, except for what she might be doing during the summer. I know she could have done more by way of E/Cs but she chose not to. So why can't I just let it rest and accept it?</p>
<p>Oldtimey- hugs to you. The best advice I got from one of my kids veteran guidance counselors was, “at the end of the day colleges are academic institutions. They are interested in your kids academic career. The rest is gravy”.</p>
<p>It’s true- unless your kid is fixated on Harvard or Stanford- places where the extras take on a life of their own in the admissions process- relax and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>oldtimeyfan, what are your students grades, what do they want to do and what kind of schools?</p>
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<p>because you have found CC, and have read the posts.</p>
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<p>Maybe because you’ve succumbed to the same anxiety all of us parents feel at some point – you feel like you know what she should be doing, and you feel like you know how this will play out, and you want to do whatever you can to give your child the best possible chances when it comes to college choices.</p>
<p>But she shouldn’t fake interest in ECs or join groups she isn’t passionate about just to make her applications look good. </p>
<p>Not everyone has a million ECs. I bet she’s a good kid who will shine with grades and letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>There is a school for everyone. It will all be fine.</p>
<p>Wish I could give you some good advice, but I worried about my son all through high school, college and am still worried, even though he is doing fine. I guess there are medications for that. Haha.</p>
<p>There are lots of EC that are like drama, incredibly time consuming but over early. Both my kids did Science Olympiad, there’s a local level tournament in January, and a state level tournament in March, but they never made it to nationals, so they didn’t really do anything after that. Neither of my kids had a lot of ECs. One thing we did with the youngest was show him the Common Application form at the beginning of his junior year. It didn’t really make him more active, but it did make him aware of where the holes were. (And some of them did get filled up by the time he was filled out application.) If you aren’t aiming at the tippy, tippy top colleges there’s probably nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>A lot of kids have minimal EC’s be use they have to work or be home after school to take care if siblings. </p>
<p>You still have summer and fall to add more EC’s. I still remember a post where someone quote an Admissions person as saying “we have thousands of applicants who are talented at playing an instrument, the one we are looking to admit took that talent to the children’s cancer ward and gave weekly performances!”</p>
<p>Interesting and applicable in multiple areas.</p>
<p>^Yep, my son was short on community service, one of the things he did was give violin concerts at the Senior Center. He had fun researching music from their teenage years and playing the tunes. They loved him even though he’s really only a very middling player. He also taught an origami class there.</p>
<p>Nodding vigorously at vlines answer.</p>
<p>Love CC. It’s an amazing resource. But had Steve Job’s Mom spent an hour on here she would have written off her son to a future of “You want fries with that?”</p>
<p>Despite what you may read here, not every kid is going to cure a disease, compose a grammy-winning aria or feed hungry Malaysian babies during their summer vacay. I know lots and lots and lots of kids who have gotten into great colleges without the CC phone book of extracurricula activities. </p>
<p>She’ll be fine. She’ll get into a great college.</p>
<p>OTfan… I am a mom of a Senior and remember last year at this time so well… mostly the anxiety. One thing I can say is that people always told me that everything will work out… i.e. they will get into college, and more likely than not, love the school they attend. That theory was thoroughly tested… my S was deferred, then rejected from his ED school. A funny thing happened though… he fell even more in love with another school, one that actually accepted him, and with a ton of merit money. He is proudly wearing his school’s sweatshirt today, and our whole family could not be happier… well, maybe a little happier, the school is 3000 miles away:-((.</p>
<p>Here is my 2 cents… take it as you will.</p>
<p>#1 most important thing… find a safety school that your child REALLY likes… not just will apply to, but will go to happily if all else fails. I know many examples of kids who only apply to the top lottery schools, and then throw in a school that is safety, but they have never visited and find out they hate it. The scenario goes like this: Get 10 rejections in a row and then have to attend that safety school that they never visited. There are TONS of great schools out there… have your kids do some research and find them… you won’t be disappointed. Do not listen to the prestige mongers on here. </p>
<h1>2 Start at the bottom up!! Everyone loves HPY etc… forget about those schools… if you want to apply, go ahead, but don’t have ANY expectations of getting in… they call them lottery schools for a reason. Once you have a couple of less selective schools that you kid loves and your family can afford, it is all down hill from there. Everything else is just the icing.</h1>
<h1>3 If you need financial aid it will hurt you at almost all schools. It was a glaring truth that I found out the hard way. Better to know now going in. On a positive note, there are some amazing schools that offer outstanding merit aid… even for B students.</h1>
<h1>4 I wouldn’t worry too much about things you can’t change at this point in the game. Have your child present themselves in the most authentic way, and trust me, there will be a college out there that will want your kid. Please just don’t focus on only the top 20 schools… There really is more to life than what college you went to. It’s hard to remember that sometimes. More important to find the school that is right for you, where you can grow and get a great education and hopefully not take on too much debt. No debt= FREEDOM… and no amount of prestige should can make up for that.</h1>
<p>Let her enjoy the spring. Remember she is still a child and should have free time to just do nothing as well as activities. Life is more than just preparing one’s resume. It is for living.</p>
<p>I feel the exact same way! Grades could have been better if he’d only applied himself a bit more. ACT scores could have been better if he’d only applied himself more. Could have had better ECs if he’d only extended himself a bit more. Perhaps I shouldn’t have let him get a job that essentially put an end to his volunteer commitment.</p>
<p>But oh well. He is who he is. If I were to make him over into someone he isn’t then he would get into a school that wasn’t really him and he would not be happy. So, I am still hopeful that he will mature a bit more at some point. But, at least HE seems happy with who he is and what he’s accomplished. I’m willing to bet your daughter is the same way.</p>
<p>It’s just our job as parents to want the best for them. Leaves me quite anxious, too.</p>
<p>Thanks lots for the supportive responses! She has a 3.8 weighted (without the bumps from AP and honors courses, right?) average and she got a 2300 on her SAT. She wants to go into genetics research, so she is looking at schools that have good molecular bio or micro bio programs or concentrations. She’s the one that wanted to look at Cornell and Brown on our spring vacation (with RPI in the middle), and I know she has JHU on the brain. I know these schools are really, really long shots for her, and we are not legacy at any of them. She knows she needs to come up with less selective schools for her matches and safeties. She says she would not mind going to Rutgers (double legacy plus state school) but that’s only one.</p>
<p>momom2- colleges actually like to see kids that have a job, especially if they have had it for a period of time.</p>
<p>Thanks vlines - he seems to enjoy being a “sandwich artist” and the money that comes with it more than he did working with the neurodevelopmentally impaired kids he was working with (although he did seem to enjoy that).</p>
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<p>Great insight, Momom2! If you’ve already figured that out, everything will truly be fine.</p>
<p>Can she do volunteer to do some after school tutoring or volunteer to help during summer school? She can ask her science and math teachers what might be available not only at her high school but also at elementaries in your area.</p>
<p>She can also look for a part-time job. Nursing homes are always looking for volunteers to help out in multiple areas. This can continue into the fall, even if it’s only once a week.</p>
<p>But, honestly, your daughter has the grades and scores, so she doesn’t need to add much.</p>
<p>She might try SUNY Binghamton, which is (I think) fairly science-heavy and says that 12% of their grads go to med school. It’s competitive, but I’m pretty sure she’d get in easily with those stats, and it’s a bargain even for out-of-staters.
My daughters had no impressive or leadership-displaying EC’s, but I think they’re going to have reasonably constructive and interesting lives. They weren’t interested in super-elite schools and would probably have had to package themselves more deliberately if they were. It sounds like your daughter will do fine. She might also be able to transfer to JHU or Cornell later if she starts at a “safety” and gets good grades.</p>
<p>One of the first things I learned on CC and I still think it’s one of the best pieces of conventional wisdom that regulars here impart: love the kid on the couch. She’ll be fine just the way she is :)</p>
<p>I think it is up to the kid. Mine realizes that her ECs are subpar after being rejected from several summer programs. However, she was accepted to a pretty selective one mainly due to grades and essays. She has since kick up a notch in terms of ECs. But it has to be her doing and not me. But it’s not too late for your daughter, there is still summer and senior year.</p>