<p>Hi, This is my first post. My daughter is looking to America for university, she is in an international school in Germany, but she is British by nationality. She is very bright and her predicted IB points is 45. She plays the piano, bassoon and saxophone and plays basketball for her school. She has to do 150 hours for her CAS so there are some ec's but is there anything else she could do to give her a better chance. In her school the only things she can think of is the school newspaper, they don't have many clubs etc.
She has wondered whether helping a couple of the local kids with their English would count. Thanks.
ps Second posting due to idiocy in first heading</p>
<p>“She plays the piano, bassoon and saxophone and plays basketball for her school.”</p>
<p>These EC’s are fine. Don’t worry about the EC’s. Concentrate on GPA, course rigor, test scores, and teacher recommendations.</p>
<p>I would say if there were volunteer work that she could do and enjoy, that would be a good thing. It also depends on what universities she’s looking at as far as what importance will be put on GPA and test scores versus being well-rounded (which it sounds like she already is, so long as she gets decent grades).</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your replies. I think it is me that is worrying more, she is very laid back, but she is looking at University if Chicago. I have seen the sats for international aid there and it is very competitive.</p>
<p>All she can do is try her best, and try checking into other schools as well. Why Chicago? Is there family nearby in Chicago? If it’s not a family issue, is it an issue of the program she intends to go into? My sister is at Kent State, a Univerisity known for little other than the massacre in 1970, but she wants to go into fashion and Kent has one of the top fashion schools in the country, and has connections to people in the field of fashion in the real world.</p>
<p>If your daughter is set on a certain career goal, look into which schools are best for that field; the results may surprise you.</p>
<p>She just likes the idea of Chicago, but has started to look at other places. She is interested in Anthropology and also linguistics. She has a while til college so I have suggested next summer we will go to the states and look around the colleges she has short listed. There is also the possibility of uni in Germany or the UK or even Ireland.</p>
<p>An extracurricular activity can be anything she does outside the classroom. Yes, helping local kids with their English would count. </p>
<p>One thing you could do is brainstorm a list of everything she does when she is not in class. Some of these could be hobbies, church activities, travel, or something she did once in the summer. For example, when my daughter was in an international school, she went to ski camp with the school, participated in Model UN and entered a math competition for international school students.</p>
<p>My daughter and I made a list of what she did over the past two summers to answer an application question. We looked at a calendar and wrote down every single thing she did, regardless of how minor it was. We were surprised that the list was over a page long. Of course, she won’t include everything in her answer, but that is a good starting point.</p>
<p>Well, that definitely limits the places she can go…and even though the University of Cincinnati is not listed when I look up universities with anthropology programs, I am 99% sure they do have an anthropology program that is decent. Though I would prefer to recommend my own school, Xavier University in Cincinnati, sadly, we do not have an anthropology program.</p>
<p>@schokolade thanks I will talk to her.
@ xu2011 I will speak to her.
DD and H have gone on holiday for a week so I have some quiet time. I will talk to her when they get back.</p>
<p>To be competitive for top tier schools it’s good to have over 42 for IB points and your daughter is looking at 45. For her ECs it’s more important that she has some sort of leadership role. Basketball - could she make captain or co-captain? How is the team? Do they compete? With her musical instruments - which one is she better at? Does she compete? Does she play at a national or regional level? If she is too busy, then drop one and spend more time on the one she is better at. Could she teach music to kids, either for profit or volunteer? </p>
<p>ECs are more important for top tier schools, and Chicago is one. Those schools also look for students who could contribute to their community.</p>
<p>Another thing to look into regarding aid would be if the University offers a chance at a music scholarship, as she sounds like she is very musically talented.</p>
<p>But remember to only have her do EC’s she is truly interested in, not just to pad her resume. Be sure she is enjoying her last year of HS, not obsessing about getting into colleges. Be sure she is living her life now, not only preparing for her future one. Sounds like she may be doing so but could fall into the trap of forgetting the here and now counts too.</p>
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<p>I see student predictions for IB totals all the time here on CC. My DD did the IB diploma, but I just don’t remember anywhere on app’s asking for for predicted totals. Since you don’t find out IB final scores until way after applications and acceptances, do schools even take into consideration a “predicted” score? Wouldn’t that be a subjective thing that is up to the IB coordinator or IB teachers? I know IB shows rigor, but could somebody explain the prediction thing?</p>
<p>D2 is doing IB now for the first time, so it is new to us also. But she has been told that she would need over 42 points. My understanding is that those points are added over time (cumulative), so are they using past and current to predict future (similar to GPA)?</p>
<p>Points are given for the IB tests given at the end of Junior and Senior years, just like AP’s. You don’t get scores until well into the summer, and the HL class scores that really count aren’t reported until June/July before going to college. “Predicted” scores persay I can only imagine come from a students performance in a particular class and NOT a definite prediction of scores. 42 is EXTREMELY high, and I don’t think that is a reasonable number that accepted students at elite schools even score. Maybe a current IB student could weigh in on this, but isn’t the only scores you actually know before college apps and acceptances 3 tests (whether SL or HL) from junior year? Do SL tests even count towards your score? Jeez, it’s been only 2 years and I can’t remember squat!</p>
<p>Somethings are best to be forgotten. But I would like to hear from some current students.</p>
<p>I <em>think</em> the predicted scores are the sum of points earned and total points that the teachers think the student will earn by the end. I think in Canada and Europe, there is much emphasis on “predicted scores” while, in the US, we just talk about the scores already earned.</p>
<p>Here’s a link about where one school’s grads ended up based on predicted IB scores. (I realize a UWC may not be indicative but it seems to suggest that a student with a predicted score of 42 could be aiming for ivies and very top schools):
<a href=“http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/page.cfm?p=1399[/url]”>http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/page.cfm?p=1399</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the link 2collegewego. Predictions to me don’t mean much however, I would love to see the actual end diploma scores. I’m pretty sure they would be very different.</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>My DD is attending Chicago this fall, so I can make some comments on this.</p>
<p>Chicago is a school that will care for the ECs and it will be useful if she is on the boarderline for tipping her into the admission. In my DD’s case, an unique EC is the only thing I can think of that got her off the waitlist.</p>
<p>My DD is like yours. plays three or four different instruments in the band and she specialized in flute for over 10 years. Play instuments is not an unique EC that can tip some one. An Unique EC that no one does will stand out. My DD hand knitted blankets and donated to the hospital, each blanket took her one month of her spare time. She also taught knitting to the adults at the hospital. I think those are unique and perhaps that impressed the adcom.</p>
<p>Think of some thing special that your daughter can do and it might be the difference of accept or reject, if she is applying those tipytop schools.</p>
<p>Good luck with your quest in American schools.</p>