Perils of striving for elite colleges

Parents Forum
41

<p>SS, they would never know that that was a reason for a rejection, would they?</p>

<p>I don't think that their core is being judged there, more like the school wants to know who they are beneath the resume, transcripts, accolades,etc.</p>

<p>My S's ED interiewer asked him how he'd spend a day in NYC. He said he'd go to a Mets game and a jazz club. Truthful, but kind of generic. But the interviewer seemed pleased according to S; he could hear an honest answer in those choices.</p>

<p>Similarly, the app for that school asked what books you've read that you liked in the last year, what magazines and newspapers you read, what shows/movies/concerts you've attended recently. S again answered honestly; LOTR movies, Springsteen concert, Al Franken book, Sports Illustrated juxtaposed with Stephen Hawking book, Andy Goldsworthy art exhibit, NYTimes and a classic concert. Pretty uneven list, but honest. it showed who he really was, and that seemed to work out pretty well. </p>

<p>I think students should look at questions like that as opportunities, not minefields.</p>

42

<p>Hey, this is coming from a student here,
I'm a sophmore and played soccer for 2 years, softball for 1, and plan on doing so this year. But idk if I'm going to do it next year b/c @ my school, juniors can't play on JV, and I don't think I'd play very much on Varsity, and then it would just be a waste of time. </p>

<p>For soccer, practices end at 5:30, and games can end anywhere from 6:30 to 8:00 (if they're away, we play up to about an hour away). For softball, practices end at 4:30 and games anywhere from 5:30 to 7:30. </p>

<p>This being said, I also take an extremely rigorous schedule for an underclassman. During sports seasons, on good days (practice and little hw) I'll get to bed around 11, leaving 1 hr. for fooling around, tv, and procrastination.<br>
On a bad day (home game and reg. hw) I'll get to bed around 1. On a competely horrible day (away game and lots of hw or a big test), I may get to bed anywhere from 2-3:30, sometimes later. Twice during soccer this year, I've been forced to stay up until 4:30 to do projects for my insane english teacher.<br>
This is when I SHOULD be getting up at 5:45 (I end up ACTUALLY getting up at 6:15) because I have to leave the house @ 6:30 to get to my bus by 6:45, and ultimately to school at 7:10 (starts @ 7:20)
And fyi, this is NOT just me. I think its absurd and that my teachers would like me to one day die of exhaustion. Fall and Spring are not very pleasant seasons. I love winter though. </p>

<p>The one thing is, to a certain extent, being that busy teaches you great time management skills. They seem to develop when you hope to get more than 2 hours of sleep. </p>

<p>To give you an idea, this has been my schedule for the last year and this year. Obviously, not every student athlete has a similar schedule. Most that do that I know of is taking at least 1 course in a level lower than mine though.</p>

<p>Schedule (H = Honors)</p>

<p>Last year (9th Grade)
--10H Biology
--10H French
--10H Math
--10H English
--AP World History (5)
--Studio Art II</p>

<p>This Year:
--11H Chemistry
--11H English
--11H Math
--11H French
--AP U.S. History
--Studio Art III</p>

<p>The only person that I know of that completely AMAZES me at her crazinesss is one of my bffs. She's so freaking great at everything it is quite scary. First of all, She's taking everything the same as me except math and art. She's like a math genius or something, and she's been accelerated since 6th grade. She is currently, as a sophmore, taking Calc BC (and acing it). Instead of art she's taking AP Macro/Microecon. She also just happens to have been on Varsity Tennis since 9th grade. Figures.</p>

<p>--
sorry that kinda ended up being a rant. LOL.</p>

43

<p>doubleplay, I understand your posts...all of them. My S asked for piano lessons at age five, played for ten years and then gave it up. He wasn't wonderful or ranked or competitive or whatever, but he got a lot of pleasure from the piano. I was upset when he stopped, esp. since his video gaming (rather than studying or homework) seemed to step in to fill that time. However, I felt it was fruitless to try and "make" a 15 year old play the piano. How it would look on college apps was never a factor, since obviously he wasn't using it as any kind of hook. It just seemed odd to me that he'd work on something for many years and then give it up, but he'd done the same thing with chess.</p>

<p>The thing is, though, is that college is only a small percentage of a person's life. S can read and enjoy music, just as he can play chess, for the rest of his life. Last month, he bought a bass guitar with his Christmas money. He's teaching himself to play it in his room. Adcoms will never know this. His apps are finished. His life isn't.</p>

44

<p>I agree with Stickershock, I think students thought they had to say something that would impress the judges and it made them intimidated. My son said he'd go to a ballgame. If that doesn't impress the judges oh well. He wouldn't want to go to a school where no one likes ball games. So maybe if the judges don't like the answers, it's a good thing to know ahead of time. Frankly, I assume they're more interested in the way the kid expresses himself than the answer itself, but who knows.</p>

45

<p>"The thing is, though, is that college is only a small percentage of a person's life. S can read and enjoy music, just as he can play chess, for the rest of his life. Last month, he bought a bass guitar with his Christmas money. He's teaching himself to play it in his room. Adcoms will never know this. His apps are finished. His life isn't."</p>

<p>My son started guitar the same way. Your words express how I feel exactly. Life's too short to waste on things you don't find satisfying.</p>

46

<p>alamode</p>

<p>Glad you're taking the bus. DO NOT drive with that kind of sleep schedule; it's as dangerous as DUI. I'm glad my kid usually gets 8 hours of sleep per night. He is almost never sick and recovers quickly from occasional colds (ok, maybe this is random luck, but getting plenty of sleep probably doesn't hurt). I love that he's done the EC's he really enjoys, taken the classes he wanted and applied to colleges that really appealed to him, despite the fact that many around here haven't heard of them. I've even come to realize that he learns a lot while surfing the internet. I think some HS students do feel unhealthy stress. How much comes from parents, how much from peers and how much is self-inflicted I'm sure varies from case to case. As I've hung out on CC the past year, I've started to appreciate our local HS's low-key approach to the college admissions process.</p>

47

<p>alamode, I hear ya brother. My sons' junior years (two sons) were the hardest, though, so hang in there.</p>

48

<p>^^haha, thanks for your support :)
but bethievt, I'm a sophmore, and onnly 15, so I cant drive anyways. so I guess that may be a good thing.</p>

49

<p>Really alamode, I'm serious as a heart attack. When you are of driving age, don't drive under the influence of 2 hours of sleep. My son's best friend falls asleep after a few minutes in a car. He never sleeps enough. Just take care of yourself.</p>

50

<p>yeah thats good to be reminded of. I fall asleep on the bus....idk what I'd do driving. Scary thoughts.
And thanks.</p>

51

<p>alamode, I happened to catch the end of this thread and went back and read your post concerning you're lack of sleep. You have to get more sleep. It's very dangerous and unhealthy. A friend of my son's started having sleep deprivation seizures because he was only getting two to three hours of sleep a night.<br>
<a href="http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/provoke_sleepdep.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/provoke_sleepdep.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

52

<p>alamode</p>

<p>You sound like a great kid. If in NY, you have snow and other challenges we have in VT. Kids going to school today had white-out conditions and slippery roads. This was in the am. My son is out on the freezing roads in the dark tonight. Just be careful is all.</p>