<p>My daughter is currently a Junior. We are a military family and one that has moved far too often. This will be the longest she has been in one school at 2.5 school years. She will never claim this has hurt her and on her essay she will emphasize living in Europe, Japan, and 4 states as strengths. The biggest problem I now see is that her ECs are weak. When all is said and done she will have NHS and Mid-America Consortium for Engineering and. Science Achievement (MACESA) and she intends to volunteer when she returns from the West Point Summer Leaders Experience. I fear this is weak for JHU. Her GPA UW is 3.8 and she will be taking the SATs soon. I can easily look at the metrix for GPA and SAT however when I look at most prospective students I see excellent EC which my daughter is lacking in and there is no good measure. I guess instead of traipsing around the world I should have allowed her to establish herself better.
This is really one of only three schools that she wants to go to(West Point and U of MN are the others) and I am trying to get her in a position for success. After all of that the question is are her ECs sufficient if she scores over 2100 on her SATs? I am fully aware that no one can tell me for sure but it was easy enough to type this up and ask.</p>
<p>What strikes me is that she expects to volunteer after the West Point summer program and I assume you mean the summer of 2015? Can she get a job or make a volunteer commitment now? She might be the perfect kid to tutor at a program for children in an after school program. </p>
<p>I would think that admissions officers consider each student’s circumstances. A student who has moved frequently might not have a lot of continuous EC’s, but then how many applicants from the US have lived in all those countries?</p>
<p>I do mean this summer. I should clarify that she will be volunteering throughout the summer. I am working my contacts to get her a volunteer position at the base hospital. I do hope it helps her application that she has been to all of these countries and 9 different schools. </p>
<p>I may be confused. What does she do during the school year besides NHS? Not all ECs need to be via a program or sound like a big deal. Small efforts over time can be quite telling. For some kids who moved often, there are still consistent things they did- eg through the religious org. Many students do include their music and school performances. </p>
<p>There isnt any confusion. She has done sports in the past but I am currently deployed and she only cares about school work and EC really has minimal interest to her. The problem in the past has been that she spends most years learning new stuff to adapt to the new schools(the longest until this year she had been with the same group of kids in the same school was 2 years). As her parents we didnt help much because we never pushed her to do EC. </p>
<p>She has an opportunity to get engaged now. The easiest ways are something at her school (some effort or club) and local community service. Sorry if parts of this are frank, but I hope you and she can think about what she can do now, starting now. A college like JHU will be looking at academics and then the “more” she choose to get involved in. They’re trying to build a community of kids who can and do get engaged, take on responsibilities and try to have some sort of impact. That’s really what leadership is about (and WP ask for evidence of leadership, too.) How they get involved can reflect perspective, maturity, concern for others, energy and follow-through As well as how she interacts. It’s not too late. Best wishes.</p>
<p>Some possibilities, FWIW. Does she know Japanese? Any European languages? List foreign languages as an EC, and maybe write an essay on how she learnt these languages, and how she has benefited etc. This is one EC she can rightfully claim to have done over several years. Any interest in Art? If yes, she can take art classes and create a portfolio over the next year or so. Again, art is something that could have been informally pursued as an activity over several years, and a formal portfolio would make it very strong. You have indicated trying to get her some volunteering opportunity at your base hospital- this will be a good activity, especially if she does it for more than a few months. Mentoring/Tutoring other kids, even if it is only in the neighborhood or school will look good. Any volunteering, howsoever little, in the other places/overseas she has lived in, would also be useful. Basically, think a bit and see what are you ignoring that can potentially be strung into a good/strong EC. Finally, if she can get her SAT score up in the 2200s, then maybe a slightly lighter ECs will make your D less anxious (I know people will say 2100 is a good score, and I dont disagree- but think from her perspective, she will walk/talk a bit more confidently if she gets a higher score). Best Wishes to your D. And as parents, you did as much as any other parent would do, and I am sure your D will do very well.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the input. I think she is taking EC more seriously right now. I am currently deployed but my wife is handling the day to day. The biggest challenge was we as parents never wanted to force our kids to do stuff they didnt want to do. I dont regret that and would probably do the same thing over again but I probably should have started emphasizing the importance earlier. She just took her first round of SATs it will be a good measure of where she stands.</p>
<p>Failure is a strong word… And there is no guarantee any applicant will get into Johns Hopkins even with strong ETCs. It is known as a super-reach for everybody. You have provided a service to your country, as has your military family. Give yourselves a break. You were all busy moving, adjusting and living. Your daughter has some life skills most of our kids lack.</p>
<p>If you want to help your daughter at this point, sure, have her pick up the pace a bit on the ECs, but be smart about it. Don’t have her do 20 things. Have her do a few things well. You are far away on deployment and your wife is driving the kids places solo. Also remember that your daughter can put down things like childcare of younger siblings, other babysitting, or various non-traditional activities that show how she spent her time. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, apparently after talking to my wife she spent time at the hospital last year and has something like 180 hours. At this point she has only a couple ECs that she will focus all her time to; volunteering at the hospital and track. She will also be doing cross country next year.<br>
As parents we always want the best for our children. I will always question if I did enough if she doesnt get accepted but she has a good head on her shoulders and will be successful regardless of where she goes.</p>
<p>Your child has had an amazing global experience to draw upon. Quality is better than quantity in my opinion. She should do what she enjoys and can handle for extracurricular activities. If that is reflected in her stats, she will do fine. </p>
<p>There are plenty of scholarships that you could look into which are directly for military families.
I think that you should look into those scholarships and as @NorthernMom61 said, quality over quantity every time.
Support your D in the ways that you can. What you can do is make sure that she can do well in the ECs that she’s taking part in right now. After that, you’ve done what you can do. She needs to be the one to put in the effort and time. You cannot take the SAT for her or beg the Admissions Committee. Have a talk with her and organize your goals and from then on, just lead her to the right path and after that, let go of her hand and she will run to her full potential!
Focus on her SATs, apply for scholarships, keep up with her ECs, encourage her to win or take part in programs that will show her interest in her ECS, support her in every way that you can, and be at her side when she needs you.
Best of luck to you and your D.</p>