<p>Thank you all for the thoughtful responses and suggestions. I’m glad that so many of you can relate. I like the idea of “gently encouraging” him to take a creative nonfiction course (mixing together suggestions from JoBenny and YoHoHo). I will check out the local cc to see what is offered. I think he would be more amenable to taking a course like that over the summer when there isn’t so much on his plate academically, with ECs, etc. And yes, YoHoHo, it might give him a good start on essays for applications. </p>
<p>The journal suggestion is great. Would take major bribes in this house, but I’m not above a bribe! </p>
<p>As far as the type of schools he is interested in, it’s a a tough call. He knows he wants to major in a STEM area, but has so many interests that he’s having a hard time narrowing it down beyond math, physics, CS, and / or engineering. After talking to a math prof and and engineering prof at one school, he came away thinking that a double major in math and engineering with a minor in Asian studies / Mandarin was the way to go. When he started looking at schools, he was sure that he wanted to go to a very STEM focused place like MIT or Cal Tech. As he looks at more schools however, he is most drawn to schools like WashU or even Northeastern that offer decent STEM majors plus the ability to easily study other subjects. He absolutely loved U Chicago despite their lack of engineering school / majors - talk about a school where writing is a must!</p>
<p>ETA - thanks, too, for the insight on his SAT writing score and other parts of his application offsetting this. He got a 4 on the AP English Language exam in 10th grade, so hopefully that will help!</p>