There are probably tons of service opportunities connected to his robotics interest. My non-joiner volunteered to mentor the elementary age team. It was a great way to stretch him a bit in an area he was already interested in. Just a thought.
@AlmostThere2018 do you think he has schools in mind? If so, maybe do a little research on CC results threads and see what you find. Show your son. At the very least, it would be good for him to understand what these colleges expect and then he can make informed decisions.
We offered opportunities, and encouraged our kids. We also discussed continuing activities they were doing that they liked when they had second thoughts.
One of our kids had been in youth orchestra at a university for three years, and considered dropping it her senior year. The thing she wanted to do instead was worthwhile…but we talked about the pros and cons of leaving orchestra. She continued…and also played in her college orchestra for four years.
Our other kid was lean in the community service department…or so he thought. As a musician, he took two instruments, and played in two precollege ensembles, and a quintet or two. When we were discussing this with his music teachers, they reminded us of the more than several times he played the national anthem at community events, and the times he and his quintet played at the local senior center or skilled care place. Or the times he volunteered to play at a hospital reunion. And he also did lights and sound for a civic theater. It turned out, he had a lot of community service we hadn’t even thought of.
There is also a lot of growing and maturing that happens as kids work their way through HS. Mine made a big jump between sophomore and junior year and was suddenly applying for leadership positions and really stretching herself. I’m OK with a “nudge” but ECs have to be student motivated/driven.
I can spot a kid in minutes who did an EC to pad a resume when doing an alumni meeting. I would much rather talk to a kid like your son about his interest in the tech industry and to hear more about what he researches, etc… My bet is that he would be able to have a very enthusiastic and dynamic conversation.
You may want to think about how to have conversations next year around using his interests as a spring board for how he’ll package himself on the common app.
Given your son’s interest in tech and Silicon Valley, perhaps he would enjoy learning about the stock market and playing one of the stock market games…Here are two possibilities: http://registration.smgww.org and
https://www.marketwatch.com/game/find. Even though its not volunteer work or civic engagement, its good exposure to finance and can be a lot of fun, especially if he’s able to do it with a team or compete against classmates.
What about just supporting your kid, his interests and goals unless you see something problematic? Why would you want your child’s childhood to be a reflection of what colleges want? Wouldn’t it be better for him to have a fulfilling childhood and go to Pudunk U than for his parents to convey to him that he should become more what colleges want to see (even if that helped him enroll in Harvard on a full scholarship)? (it won’t, by the way). About this, “But the biggies like rounding.” No. About “colleges look for volunteer hours” No.
I know plenty of students enrolled in the schools some people view as so attractive they’d try to reshape their own children into the image wanted by the schools (if they could just figure out what that would be). None of the students I know at those schools were admitted to them because they pursued activities their parents thought would help them get into a certain college. Well I guess I have to say one did; but he was an Ivy school legacy who ended up there after being rejected from a number of similarly competitive schools he’d have rather attended. Just support your son, encourage him to pursue things that he finds meaningful and he’ll be accepted to a college that makes sense for him-a good fit. And if you do that, he will also not end up feeling that he’s not good enough or that his parents had some other kid in mind when they ended up with him.
I’m not suggesting you are not doing what I recommend. So, if you are, keep doing it. And avoid the pressure to pursue bumper sticker schools.
Oh, c’mon. No one’s Frankensteining this kid. And top colleges do look for more than “pursued only what I want to.” Ypu can do what you like or that advances your major interests, can do for and with peers or other groups you belong to, and do for your community-- and still be yourself.
Take a look at what MIT says about unilateral, as an example. And as for arguing, CYA always seems safer than telling kids it doesn’t matter. Would you tell a stem kid to skip math and sci rigor if he “wanted to?”
OP seems to understand.
I personally think the correct approach is neither pushing nor letting be but gentle nudging and guidance. Not pushing the kid into the activities he doesn’t like, but helping him expand a bit with things he enjoys. For example, your son can start a stock market club, or give some talks about the tech industry, or write a blog. Basically, find a way to share his passion with others.
When our kid was a freshman, we advised her to drop her activity in the GSA, because the club was both dying and toxic, and we couldn’t see that she was doing anything there that would help her future. We urged her to maybe join one of the more active and well established clubs or organizations, because they weren’t actually doing anything in the GSA but being negative and nasty to each other. Instead of listening to us, she took over the club (as a sophomore), cleaned house, and rebuilt it to a very large, active, thriving club. Her leadership there was a major reason that the school nominated her for Posse.
So I guess that, when it comes to ECs, parents don’t always know best, and kid should sometimes be allowed to be where they feel the best.
@AlmostThere2018 Your kid is doing Robotics and Rockets. between those, there is enough stuff to go around. Awards don’t usually pop up immediately. My kid did Vex Robotics 6th and 8th grade, but only in 8th grade did she win any awards. It takes a few years, during which you learn how things work, find the people who make the best team for you, etc. Between Robotics ad Rockets, he’ll find his way to shine.
If there is a middle school Robotics club, maybe he can mentor them. It could be a fun and enlightening experience for him, and he would be providing a valuable service to younger geeks.
Usually, robotics clubs provide a lot of leadership opportunities for upper classmen, not necessarily with a formal title.
There must be some way to take advantage of all this tech love - maybe blogging on his Silicon Valley knowledge.
I agree nudging is ok, as they don’t know all that is available to them at that age. He clearly is passionate about what he is doing, and I do think that he will shine through in his college apps. He is still young. He has time. A little guidance never hurt.
Maybe he wants to consider tech-focused schools (in addition to Georgia Tech, Va Tech) like RPI, RIT, WPI.
I didn’t read all the posts in this thread but you say your son “reads up on tech companies and news (his passion).”
This seems to me the kind of non-cookie cutter interest that could be of interest to ad-coms. It reflects his curiosity and ability to intellectually engage with topics.
I have a daughter who attended a highly selective LAC. Her EC’s did not tell any particular “story,” only that she had been involved in a number of activities, some more seriously, others less so. She did her required community service hours at the very last minute. She never held any leadership positions. Her only job was to walk a neighbor’s dog.
This was sufficient to get her accepted at a selective college (along with the rest of her application, of course).
@AlmostThere2018 you stated that your son is involved in 2 clubs, and enjoys reading etc about tech companies. You also said that he will have about 5 or 6 things to put on the common app…he won’t fill up 10 slots. He has good grades but pre-ACT scores that aren’t great.
A few thoughts:
I don’t think he needs more activities. I think if he digs deeper into the activities that he already has, that would be great…if he wants to. I think a blog was suggested?
There are lots of ways to do community service. What about teaching a neighborhood kid about Robotics etc? He will need community service hours if he wants to be in NHS, but other than that schools ( as far as I know) don’t directly ask about community service. These hours can be weaved in throughout the activities to tell a story, and become evidenced through essays etc…as opposed to saying “I have 100 hours delivering meals, 50 hours doing xxx.” As I mentioned he may need that if he wants to be in NHS…but it’s not reported on the common app ( unless it changed).
What kind of awards are you thinking about as a sophomore? My daughter received many academic awards, but she never received any awards for her ECs, and she was very very involved both in and out of school. Accomplishments…yes…but awards? No. Senior year she won a student athlete award involving several counties in our state, but that was senior year. Prior to that, I do not recall any awards for her ECs…only for academics. She still got into top schools.
What I see is a sophomore with good grades so far, who needs to study for the ACT or SAT. I also see a kid with very specific interests that he enjoys without being pushed to do them. A gentle suggestion may help bring these interests to another level…or maybe not.
He’s only a sophomore and I think he’s doing great. If he aspires to apply to top schools he will also need course rigor and high test scores…that’s all on him. Regardless, there will be plenty of schools for him to choose from, and they don’t have to be in the top 25.
Best wishes!
My S had no interest in amassing EC’s for college apps. The kid is smart, did very well in the most difficult courses he could take, had an excellent ACT score … and was completely & utterly disinterested in what he considered playing games to get into college. He spent his free time playing guitar, recording music, producing music, and playing in bands. Because his genre of choice was metal, his musical interests did not translate into what most adcoms consider EC’s.
I did not push him. I explained what schools would be looking for, and he wasn’t interested. In the end, he was waitlisted at our state flagship. He got into several good schools, got automatic merit based on grades and test scores.
Fast forward to almost five years out of college. He has a job he enjoys in a field that frankly suits his “different drummer” personality.
I think each child is his own person. I am in favor of allowing teens the freedom to be who they are … and are not. I have an overachiever D who worried about EC’s, and I supported her in figuring out what she could do strengthen her resume. But her brother was not so interested, and that was okay.
Both my sons declined to do the honor society stuff. The grades and scores will tell colleges he’s a good student. My guys preferred to go deep with their ECs rather than broad. One did the bare minimum for student service hours; the other had over 500 in a couple of activities that he valued. Both got into fine schools.
My feeling is that ECs are for personal exploration, and for both my sons, their EC interests have become lifelong pursuits. This makes me so happy, as my DH didn’t have hobbies/outside interests in HS, and it really affects our lives as a couple.
You can look at the Common Data set of these colleges to see how they rate ECs in admission. There is an aging thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. I suspect what she wrote is still true. The post is at The post is at [“Those ECs are weak…”- So what’s good?]("Those ECs are weak...."- So what's good? - #3 by Northstarmom - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums)
As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says
What to do? Well, you can share the info that has been posted in this thread with him. It isn’t like he is just sitting home watching TV and playing video games, but discuss whether what he is doing will reach his goal. And he can make a decision. Weak ECs and pretty selective college admission don’t tend to go together 
@CountingDown our s19 also did not jump through the hoops to be in his school’s NHS. He was invited but it takes a ton a service hours to be inducted and he didn’t have time. I agree that his grades and scores show his academics and he has volunteer hours already so it didn’t make sense for him to kill himself with NHS.
Northstarmom’s post goes back 12+ years and she was an interviewer, not an adcom. In the interval, admissions to top colleges has gotten much more competitive.
When tippy top colleges put their communities together, they like to see kids who will engage and try various things. That’s “show, not just tell.”
While lookingforward is correct that selective schools can afford to be, well selective, not every kid needs to go to the most selective school out there. But some kids do need a nudge. I think his ECs are fine. The real question is what he does with them. You can be art editor of the year book, or you can be the art editor that revamps the layout. You can be a volunteer at the hospital, or you can be the volunteer who invents a system for making translations for common requests easy for patients and nurses. (True story that predates phone translating apps.) You can be the kid who messes around with computers, or you can have a neighbor or a parent who suggests a few ways you can use your skills on a volunteer basis.
While I am not a big fan of school requirements for volunteer hours, I do think it is good for nearly every kid (and family!) to spend some time giving to the community. That might mean the family volunteers at the soup kitchen. That may mean that your kid gives some concerts or teaches a class at the senior center. (Which my kid did one summer - and he really enjoyed it to his surprise.) Same kid did a little math tutoring which he said actually helped keep him fresh for the SAT.
One thing that can be helpful is to pull out a copy of the Common Application and look at it. At least when my kids were filling it out “volunteer activity” was a separate table. They got that it would look kind of bad for it to be completely blank. You don’t need a jillion hours, but it’s nice to have something there.
My perspective is definitely slanted toward most competitive. From my view, it’s not just that you do something/anything for free. There a difference in, say, the kid who gives school tours (comfort zone, racks up “service hours” in many hs) and those who go out and face the world of needs, locally.
And no,you don’t need to go to a college that looks at service and the balance of ECs.