I agree, my D22 would not want any real religious aspect to the school she picks either. That said there are some schools that are very loosely affiliated with a Christian denomination—one list I saw had Duke as a top religious school—that most people wouldn’t really think of as religious and she might be okay with something like that. (Though not Duke. Go Heels.)
I don’t have a feel for how religious the Jesuit schools are. I’m not Catholic and don’t really understand what Jesuit means in terms of a college.
JMU has a strong theatre arts program as well as music program. There’s very much an artsy vibe, right alongside the sports vibe and many other vibes. My D19 would have attended if she had stuck with her BA plans.
2 Likes
I’m not Catholic either, but I lived for a couple of years in a village settled by Jesuits (from the 1500s) in Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer. The Jesuits were historically a sort of renegade Catholic order, often in trouble with Rome because they were intellectuals, and often disagreed with what they were “supposed” to do. (They settled Paraguay, in part, because it was so remote they could do as they wished more easily without as much scrutiny from the Pope). In Paraguay, for example, they allowed people to continue their own indigenous religious practices entwined with Catholicism and speak the Guarani language (still spoken everywhere in the country) rather than stamping out the old culture (which happened violently most everywhere else in S. America). So, as far as Jesuit colleges today, to me it makes sense that these schools have a much more liberal and free-thinking atmosphere than you might find at mainstream Catholic schools, and more acceptance of students of different (or no) religion, though the idea of searching for a meaningful life would probably be there.
3 Likes
Jesuit schools tend to be more liberal and open to a diverse population. Jesuits are all about community service, social justice, and celebrating the whole person. While they do require a student to take a couple of theology classes, it can be on anything, not necessarily Catholicism. There are some priests that teach classes, but most of the administration and faculty tend to be nonsecular folk. Attending mass is not required. With that said, my child has looked at several Jesuit schools and really liked them . . . and my family is Jewish. When I attended the tours with my child (both in-person and virtual), religion was not pushed on us and it seemed secondary to the school experience. But, some of of the college tour guides did say a fair number of their students come from Catholic high schools. Finally, Seattle University seems the most liberal of all the Jesuit universities we have toured. We toured twice and both times our guide identified as LGBTQ. I highly suggest your son check out the student reviews on Unigo . . . they would give him a good feel about the school’s religous feel and acceptance of diversity.
2 Likes
University of San Francisco is Jesuit, VERY LGPTQ+ friendly, has an active arts/theater/social justice, quirky vibe.
I know that Eckerd is further south, but located on the water with a wonderful sea breeze. It has been less humid here than the weather in Raleigh where my daughter is living. A close knit community, liberal, very LGBTQ+ friendly, a new director of inclusive excellence has been appointed, there is an active theater program open to all students and a local theater company uses Eckerd as its base, new arts center. Well known for creative writing, it is the home of the Writers in Paradise winter workshop. Eckerd is well known for their professor/mentor program and great merit and financial aid. The city of St. Pete has numerous Indie bookstores, vintage clothing shops, thrift shops, and numerous eclectic cafes, art studios and museums.
3 Likes
I showed D22 Eckerd and I think her words were something like, “Auuggghh no! Not Florida!” I thought it looked like a nice school, but I’m not the one going this time around. For whatever reason (mainly weather) she is just not that interested in heading further south than NC. I’m hoping to talk her into visiting a few schools before high school starts back up just for a mini getaway. I’d like her to see Agnes Scott and I think she might enjoy Charleston, although I’m not sure CoC is her vibe. She may not go for it though.
My son has all kinds of pre-conceived notions about the Midwest, and they are not positive. No clue where they get these ideas from, and it’s highly annoying. Especially for S22 that can’t afford to be picky due to low grades. So I commiserate with you on your D and Florida! Fortunately, there are lots of other states to explore. (My D20 HATES the heat — we live in TX — and ended up in PNW and is very happy there.)
Yes, my D22 has some weird ideas about other parts of the country too even though she’s fairly well traveled. Oh well, I guess she will learn in time and she doesn’t have to go to school there.
Hey y’all, I was just reading through some other threads and am feeling a little nervous about ECs now. My D22 doesn’t have a ton. She has a few. She’s very involved in theater at school, and did a year of volunteering at an animal shelter, but she’s not a club president, hasn’t discovered the cure for cancer, or started a non-profit or anything. She’ll be okay on the activities section of the apps right?
4 Likes
If she’s very involved in just one activity, the passion is likely to show through in essays. She should be good.
Can she get a letter of recommendation from the theater teacher?
Yes, some colleges allow a third recommender and we used my D’s band teacher (my D’s main ECs centered around music) for that as I knew he would be very enthusiastic, and he knew her better than the core course teachers did. So if she could get a recommendation from the theater teacher, that would bolster the weight of that EC, I would think.
I agree that colleges tend to like to see a few genuine activities. Maybe super-elite schools will expect to see 10 very driven ECs but most would be skeptical of the quality when the student seems too pulled in different directions.
She can definitely get a LOR from the theater teacher. He teaches other stuff too and she will have him for AP Psych and Civics this year too. She’s got him for 3 classes!
She has been in other clubs like the literary magazine, but she’s not been president or anything.
She’s not applying to T20 schools. Y’all are my peeps over here in the 3.0-3.4 thread, but sometimes reading the other threads where folks talk about all the things their kid has done I’m like what about the kids who just go to school and get some As & Bs and maybe a C once in awhile?
5 Likes
I’ve got the kid that gets Bs and Cs and maybe the occasional A. So you’re safe with me!
3 Likes
Don’t even worry too much about the ECs it sounds like she’s fine. My d18 was not an ec over achiever and applied to schools appropriate for this thread, she got in everywhere. I expect similar results for my similarly ordinary d22. That said, the common app allows only 10 activities to be listed, my d has done theatre too and I had her list each production individually because she did different things for each (props, set, house, etc. All crew). And if your d has a job include that too. The most important thing is to just include things that have been important to her.
I try to stay away from the overachiever threads on here, which is most of them. Not great for my blood pressure 
. It just makes me angry to see that mentality of if you haven’t or can’t do xyz super extraordinary thing as a teenager then rip guess you won’t have a successful happy life because no college will even consider educating you. 
So toxic and false!
Sorry. End rant 
11 Likes
Thanks all for the reassurance. I think she’s a pretty good kid and she actively does not want to apply to T20 schools so I don’t think she needs “cured cancer” on her ECs.
Dropped her off for a week long camp at Hollins yesterday. It’s her first real dorm living experience. She was supposed to do it last summer, but we all know how that went. Haven’t heard too much from her, which is probably a good sign, and what bits I got sounded positive. Hope she is loving it and it will give her a bit more perspective on what college will be like and inform her choices and maybe spark some more enthusiasm.
2 Likes
Don’t worry! My son has very few ECs - a few years of cross country & track and regular volunteerism since the 7th grade. No school clubs etc. He does do sports blogging on his own and is self-taught on the piano as well. ECs don’t have to just be clubs and other organized activities. Unless your kid is trying to get into a super competitive school, my sense is that they just want to see some kind of activity outside of school work. In our case, I don’t think it will hurt him too much - he has good grades (3.65 UW and 4.10 W) and rigor, but isn’t looking at top 20 type schools.
2 Likes
Don’t worry @Sweetgum - my sweet D23 is not doing much of anything. She played FH freshman year, quit last year due to Covid and also not really loving the team experience. She has a part time job at deli! And she’s kind. And a solid B student. I hope she gets involved with something and “finds her passion” next year but so far her passion is Netflix. It is going to be really interesting how the pandemic affects admissions for these kids. I was pleased that she didn’t totally bomb this year…I kept telling her that online school was a big opportunity to boost her grades…but they just stayed the same. She got up every day and logged in and completed the work-and I know it wasn’t easy to stay motivated when a lot of kids were not showing up at all. So I give her credit for that. She signed up for an Algebra 2 pre-class online in late August, and I thought that was really mature. (We suggested, but she filled out the form and registered on her own.) She’s a really good kid. I am so curious where she will wind up and she is just not ready to dive into college search yet. And after the last 17 months, I just want her to enjoy the summer and have some fun. But we are going to SC in a few weeks so maybe we will walk through Coastal Carolina University. 
6 Likes
I’m a big believer in the idea that finding the right college is about finding the college that fits/matches. I also think it is totally ok for a 16/17 year old to have Netflix as a passion, I know I have gotten sucked into several shows (as have all three of my children). Love Great British Baking show, and The Repair Shop and oh my goodness, I guess I really am a total mom, lol.
There will be plenty of schools that think your daughter is a great match for them. She just needs to find them while she is searching. My advice to my oldest when she was going through the admission process was to be honest about who you are in your applications, because you are going to be who shows up to campus. The schools who truly like you are most likely the schools that are the best matches for you. My next two are hearing the same message, and fingers crossed they will find the perfect school for them just as my oldest did for herself. 
5 Likes
So I have another question about activities on the Common App. I know a lot of kids do pre-college summer camps, like coding camps or science camps or the writing camp my D22 is doing this week at Hollins. Does that count as an activity? I mean, she has a friend who is doing Governor’s School (have to be nominated to go) and I’m sure that needs to go on the Common App somewhere, but just not sure on the kinds of academic camps that you pay for. She will be planning to major in Creative Writing so it is relevant to her future studies. Advice?
3 Likes
My S put it on his application. Especially if related to prospective major I would think, if nothing else, it shows passion for the subject.
1 Like
Are students allowed to use recommendations from teachers they had sophomore year if they were remote for all but a few weeks of their junior year?
1 Like