<p>Even if not applying for med school or grad school, many of those “extra-curricular” activities are still important for resumes, so they can get a good internship, for the resume, so they can get a good job upon graduation… although it often becomes more focused depending on their area of interest.</p>
<p>Ultimately, what does it matter if they swam the Amazon? Most graduates end up in entry level jobs where they can prove themselves based on skills that matter rather than their squash championship. Unless of course it’s field related.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m thinking more field-related ECs at the college level. My DS11/15’s most time consuming activity is the engineering project team he works on. They work on a robotics project for a national/international competition. This gave him lots of stuff to talk about other than classwork when he had interviews for internships for last summer, and lots of “real life” (sort of) experience teamwork on an engineering project, beyond what you would do in a project for a class.</p>
<p>aack … I haven’t thought about college-level, field-related ECs. Hopefully these opportunities will become evident as my DD navigates those not-to-distant waters. Right now she manages to juggle her school work with her two loves: music and science olympiad. And she’s already explained that whatever college she attends will have to have a great physics program and a piano near at hand so she can play whenever she wants! At least one of her current ECs is a calming element to this busy and stress-filled junior year. As I write this she is playing Chopin Nocturne Op. 37, No. 1 in G minor. It calms me, too!</p>
<p>Portlandia, it’s great that the music is a calming element for her! </p>
<p>Most schools offer “undergraduate research” in one guise or another, and it’s worth looking for, for those to whom it is career-relevant. Also acting as an undergraduate TA in a relevant course can be good for the resume early on.</p>
<p>Neither of DD’s major EC’s are remotely relevant to her college major so I guess she’ll have to develop new interests. (Where did I put that climbing gear and map to Everest?)</p>
<p>Question about psat/nm- So how does it work when you are so close to the line between commended and nms? If you don’t find out until September- does that only leave the December date to take the sat? </p>
<p>Ds went up 36 points and could be hovering on the line. He has one SAT average test behind him and he needs to focus on at least two act dates this late winter and spring. (Hardly anyone takes Sat here) </p>
<p>We will probably just wait and skip the fall sport if necessary.</p>
<p>My understanding is even if the student is a NM finalist, they still need to take the regular SAT. Why not take it this winter and get it over with?</p>
<p>Agent99, I would assume she already has interests relevant to her major, or she wouldn’t be majoring in it. I think the EC thing is more “natural” at the college level. Of course to the extent that she still enjoys the ECs she used to do in HS, it’s great to continue those for fun and a break from the career-related stuff!</p>
<p>29happy – he can take the SAT anytime between now and next December, and if he gets a “good enough” score, send it on. I believe that any score over 1970 total is considered “good enough” for a NMSF to advance to NMF. You can even use one of his free score reports to send the score to the National Merit folks before he is named a semifinalist. If the SAT that he’s already taken isn’t high enough, and he isn’t planning on re-taking the SAT for any other reason this spring, then yes, I’d just wait until September and see if he needs to take it. There are October, November and December test dates he could use. and congrats on the huge increase :)</p>
<p>Mathmom: I thought the NMF was solely based on the PSAT. Confused here. And no, her college interests are very far from her EC’s. She has a lot of interests :)</p>
<p>Agent99- they have to take the SAT to confirm the PSAT results I think.
S has a concussion. Can I say, this is not the time?? As if he planned it… But still. I feel so bad for him. He is trying so hard to get everything as good as it can be for apps and now this.
It’s a huge week for the 2013 kids. ED results coming daily. Such stress- I think more for some parents than for the kids! My D’13 is all EA and none of those come until January so for now the stress is manageable.</p>
<p>Agent99: NMF Seimfinalist is based solely on PSAT score. Once they are semifinalists they have to apply to become finalists, which includes sending a SAT score that “confirms” the PSAT result (it doesn’t have to match, just be “good enough” as suggested above). They also have to write an essay and be recommended by their school, and have the school send their transcript, which also has to be “good enough”. </p>
<p>89wahoo – sorry to hear about the concussion! Make sure he really does take it easy so he can heal! GL to your D’13!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For med school, it’s still just to get in. The competition is far tougher than undergrad. Essentially, anyone who wants to can go to college because at the very least, there is always community college and remedial classes. But, for med school, you pretty much only have those with high MCAT scores and high (3.0+++, usually higher) GPAs competing for limited spots. Currently, the overall acceptance rate is 45%, but we aren’t talking about a wide spectrum of students as from high school. These are mainly the top kids competing with each other. So, like with everything else, the ECs come into play. From what I understand, both field related and non-field related are practically essential. According to Table 24 here:</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/</a></p>
<p>Only 91.5% of those with a 3.8+ and an MCAT of 39+ (uncommonly high) make it in. That still means one out of ten with impeccable academic creds don’t - and not everyone has those impeccable creds.</p>
<p>If someone has a more common 3.4 - 3.6 and an MCAT of 33 - 35, then the rate is 67% - only 2 out of 3 will make it in. ECs are even more important then.</p>
<p>Wahoo - I hope the concussion gets better soon!</p>
<p>S’14 said all his friends are going to see the Hobbit tonight, at midnight. It’s a 3 hour movie. It’s a school night. I told him no way. Is he nuts? Are his friends nuts? Are his friends’ parents nuts?</p>
<p>I can see it if he was a senior and he’d already gotten into college, but as a junior???</p>
<p>The friends’ parents are nuts. The kids are also nuts.
Or else, I am old. I just can not conceive of wanting to go to ANY movie at midnight. It does seem to be quite the thing with the kids however.</p>
<p>29happymom26 – 36 points!!! That’s fantastic!</p>
<p>89wahoo – hoping for your son’s speedy recovery on that concussion and best of luck to your D “Lucky 13-er” on her EA.</p>
<p>89wahoo - On a ‘school/work night’ I agree, it’s a bit over the top. I hope your son is feeling better soon. You know I’m sending extra special vibes, and will do a dance around the statue of Homer in her honor when I pick up S2 next week. It can’t hurt, and lord knows I’ve done stranger things on grounds. ;)</p>
<p>Anyway, I have taken the kids to a few midnight openings during the summer. S3 has a July birthday and there always seems to be a big movie release he wants to go to with his friends. One of the best was Inception.</p>
<p>No midnight movies in this household! At least, not on a Thursday in the middle of the school year. </p>
<p>We got S’s PSAT today. Squarely in commended territory. I’m trying to be happy. DS had been out of school with illness prior to taking it and he still felt “spacy”. I just keep thinking maybe it could have been a lot better. But I also feel like a whiner - sorry. Time to move on and concentrate on the SAT.</p>
<p>Very sorry to hear about the concussion, 89wahoo. I hope your son is better soon.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those who may be semifinalists!!!</p>
<p>Re: all of his friends are going to a midnight movie on a school night…</p>
<p>I’ve heard that one before. Usually, the friends’ parents are all being told the same thing.we’re all equally amused, and nobody gets to see the movie until the weekend.</p>
<p>No midnight movies here. My preference is actually for a matinee a few weeks after opening when there might be a dozen people (including us) in the theater… but I do let my guys go on Friday or Saturday nights with friends.</p>
<p>As a reminder that the college hunt isn’t everything… S’14 got into an accident with our car last night (his fault - a turn partially down a hill and he forgot to look right twice). Fortunately, everyone is ok - though we find out today about the car. Going back to one vehicle for even a short while is going to stretch our schedules a bit, esp with my college boy returning. Getting a new car - or even fixing the old - will stretch our budget quite a bit. We didn’t have collision on it as the car was 21 years old and only cost us $200. It ran fine though - and was just inspected for 2013 on Tuesday. Figures.</p>
<p>I’m hoping for a lowest cost scenario of $3 - $500 to fix it (tow truck driver’s best estimate, but he admitted he couldn’t look underneath). Then, of course, there will be the fine for the ticket (no idea on $$ for that one) and the increase in insurance costs.</p>
<p>There’s always something… but again, at least all people involved were ok (and insurance covers the other car with no hassle).</p>