<p>katliamom,
If your son has been studying classical piano for 10 years, it's obviously something he is interested in. Find out if his teacher is a member of Federation or Guild (National Guild of Piano Teachers). They have annual auditions for students in every city/town of the US. The students set goals, develop repertoire, and are adjudicated by judges who are selected usually from university staff. It's always been a very rewarding experience, not just for the resume, but for the musician as a whole. The student competes at his or her own level. It develops performance level standards and gives the student a taste of competing (against his/her own goals).</p>
<p>I think it is the parent's job to try to introduce new things and to provide opportunities and choices. Most schools also do a pretty good job in providing activities. I think there is not much good that comes from pushing kids into activities. Usually this is meet with resistance and creates unhappy kids. For the vast majority of college admissions, EC's are of little value. Most decisions are made largely on the basis of SATs and school performance. State schools often follow rigid criteria. That makes admission decisions predictable and defensible. </p>
<p>A few very selective schools have a huge surplus of applicants with great SATs, gpas and high class rank. For these schools, ECs and essays can make all the difference. I am sure that if any of us were making the decisions we would act the same way. I certainly would pick someone who appeared to be a mover and shaker over another student who appeared more plodding and a dull bookworm. Among the applicants to the very selective colleges, there are a majority of kids who are BWRKs with laundry lists of activities and accomplishments. Letters in a few sports, club activities and 10 years of playing a musical instrument just aren't enough for a kid to stand out. Trying to position a kid for an Ivy acceptance just seems to be a losing game. It makes a lot more sense to try to select the schools that fit the kid and where there is a reasonable chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>Kids here have done a variety of things to mix it up....some cost $$ and some don't.....not sure schools want well rounded.....I think they like to see interest and initiative and passion....which the average bear may not have as a HS freshman or sophmore..... but now is as good a time as any to pause and reflect on one's list and see where it needs to be plumped up....</p>
<p>we have a big buddy program, where hs kids spend 1 afternoon or morning (b4 school) with a kid at the elementary or middle school....</p>
<p>we have kids who tutor other kids in HS before school ... </p>
<p>we have an Adventure Leadership course where kids work on their outdoor skills that culminates in spending 3 days in the woods in the winter as a group and that is always fun....</p>
<p>we have mock trial which is great for folks with interest in law/govt/debate</p>
<p>we have kids who provide musical entertainment at some of the nursing homes....in fact, 4 boys who did a very elaborate sword dance for one of the musicals went and performed the dance at several nursing homes... really great experience and wonderful gift to the elderly.....perfect example of extending something beyond its original intent..... organizing a special performance of a play at a nursing home.....or a special performance of all the great musical numbers from the year's productions..... </p>
<p>math clubs, chess clubs, teaching chess to elementary school kids...</p>
<p>one of the kids (nutmeg88?) noticed that it seems like many of the kids getting accepted had 15 hr wk jobs....my oldest taught skiing on weekends and school vacation wks....10-7 yr olds.....it was a lot of responsibility.... but he loved the pro pricing on skis.....the advantage is that it shows a kid can do the work necessary with outside commitments ... schools love to see the extra "bandwidth" .... that all A's do not require staying up late every nite... </p>
<p>we have environmental clean up days....</p>
<p>if there are any big public events coming up, get involved in something, we had an OpSail event here and my oldest volunteered and won a week on an instructional sailing vessel.....great experience....no $$ to go.....</p>
<p>the summer programs are a great way to light a fire under a kid without it coming from the nagging parent.....often they can learn from their peers who attend the session too... and it helps them break out of their lifelong social groups and lifelong expections of how to behave..... some kids just don't know how to deviate from their own "normal"</p>
<p>another good exercise is to sit down and map out the 4 yrs of highschool and log everything that your child has done by year....or even by semester... so they can see they are on track or that they need to kick it up a bit.... our guidance office came out with a special format that is provided/explained to kids as freshmen in their English class I think (since English is mandatory for all 4 yrs.) </p>
<p>a local kid here wrote for the school newspaper, then the local weekly, then filed reports for the nearest daily paper when he did a semester in NYC as a junior and a semester in Africa as a HS senior..... their family goes incredible places on very few $$$$....they really work their connections and barter a lot of things to get what they want.... </p>
<p>the "leadership" stuff is the hardest to get your arms around... if a kid has an advisor or a teacher or two they think they want to have do their recommendation letters, it might help to make an appt to talk to those folks and brainstorm on what they could do that needs doing..... that will kill two birds with one "storm" because now the teacher has something concrete to interact with your kid on...... blah blah blah...sorry if I have run on... and please know that the folks that mention "fun" are also on target... MIT wanted to know what kids did for fun a few years ago..... Columbia's application wanted to know what kids read on a regular basis and what events they attended.... </p>
<p>download a few applications to get a sense of what they look for.....not just the common app if you can identify others with unique characteristics..... another great way to have the requirements come from outside your home...</p>
<p>edad-- what is a BWRK? I have to say I'm very glad S doesn't want to go to an Ivy. Especially after the admissions bloodbath this year, the pressure is so high on these kids. Breaks my heart.</p>
<p>maineparent-- thank you for your suggestions. I see that there are a lot of opportunities out there. Son's school doesn't have a lot of clubs and such, but if he wants to do things, he will find a way and we will support him.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input.</p>
<p>Bright well rounded kid</p>
<p>A very nice thing, by the way. Your son sounds like a treat--he should do just fine. I will say, I have suggested things to my son over the years. He only has taken up what he wants to take up--as it should be. His drama coach was the one who suggested he write and direct a play. I suggested offering to write movie reviews for our local paper and he listened politely, smiled and never took that one up. Suggestions=good. Pushing=bad, in my opinion.</p>
<p>^^I agree. For a lot of people, including myself, the college admissions process is a catalyst to stretching themselves extracurricularly, which I believe is a good thing. It has made me far less shy, for one thing. You just have to be careful to stay on the side of the line that is stretching and not tread over into the forcing.</p>
<p>P.S: I thought the B in BWRK stood for boring? At least, I read a (disheartening/bitter) college advice book from a former Duke admissions officer (Rachel Toor, I believe?), and that is what it stood for in her book.</p>
<p>What we've found with DS1 (a junior) is that the two ECs he started with in HS (one in-school, one independent) have brought him lots and lots of other related ECs within those two interests, including leadership positions. A chart to show the progression would be really useful here, but it would be too revealing.</p>
<p>The leadership roles have been a pleasant surprise, as DS is somewhat on the quiet side. On the other hand, when you're dealing with him in his areas of competence, he kicks it into a higher gear and takes off. The outside-of-school EC has led to major things within his school, and the inside-of-school EC has led to opportunties outside of the classroom.</p>
<p>He does not do sports, art, drama or music, though he is very well-rounded in other areas. It will be pretty darned clear in his essays what he's all about and why he's chosen his particular path. If that's a problem for a college, then it's probably not the right place for him. </p>
<p>I was a do-everything kiddo in HS, in retrospect to alleviate the boredom of a medicre school. It was I needed to do to feed my brain. DS1 is feeding his, in a different way, and wherever he goes, it will be a place that allows him to be true to himself.</p>
<p>If he is interested, a part-time job is a good idea. It shows a different dimension of the student that is not related to school or passion driven ec's.</p>
<p>Bright should not equal Boring, Advantagious!</p>
<p>Well, <em>I'm</em> certainly not boring :)...that's just what I read in that book. That women was pretty bitter/shrill, though, so I don't know that her opinion is particularly worthwhile.</p>
<p>I think his ECs are okay and adding something new now wouldn't serve any admissions advantage. Communicating how his ECs provided growth, social involvement, fun, whatever, would be more important than a longer laundry list. </p>
<p>The first time I saw BWRK I thought it stood for basic white rich kid.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>ECs show:</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Drive
Talent
Capacity to project yourself into the wider world; ie beyond high school.<<</p>
<p>I think this is a great way to think of the ECs of any particular applicant, instead of thinking of what is a "good EC". If your activity showcases your drive and talent and you pursue it beyond high school, then it matters less what the EC is.</p>
<p>This is an exceptionally tough year, but IME the only time EC's made a material difference is that kids who achieve some sort of award beyond standard high school accolades AND had the same excellent grades and stats got noticed.</p>
<p>Example: kid in D's high school rows for a team that won some sort of national regatta. Accepted at MIT with the same scores and GPA as everybody else who had standard school level achievements (team captain, newspaper editor, etc.) who were all REJECTED from their HYPS schools.</p>
<p>YOu have to have some EC's, but whether you have one or fifty won't matter unless you show you can compete in the wider world--at the state or national level.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, doubleplay, corranged & oregonianmom. Older D did all the traditional ECs - school sports, yearbook, Girl Scouts, etc. - types of things S has absolutely no interst in. Learning Japanese is the first interest he articulated on his own -- squash is something we do as a family, and the piano is definitely parents' idea -- so I'm eager to get him started. This is by nature kind of a passive kid (OK: lazy may be the better word) so I want to carpe diem and carpe kid into class before he changes his mind and decides to devote his summer to video games instead.</p>
<p>katlia...he's not lazy, he's a typical male. </p>
<p>Wait for the testosterone to really kick in ages 17 to 21+. You should see a massive increase in drive and capacity to project himself into the wider world.</p>
<p>I think you have to take the word literally: extracurricular, what do you do when you're not in school? Basically, selective colleges are looking for interesting kids who do interesting things. Activities or interests don't have to be the garden variety, like school sponsored sports or clubs. They can be talents, passions, hobbies -- whatever the student does in his spare time.</p>
<p>It's up to the applicant to communicate those interests in their applications, positively and enthusiastically but without embellishment. This can be done in many ways e.g. in resumes or activity lists, in essays, in recommendations, in arts supplements.</p>
<p>Oregonian & Katla, your sons sound like they're going in the right direction. They just need to focus and amplify their interests in their applications and they'll be fine.</p>