<p>Remind the student that the colleges are trying to put together a community of learners, so it's not only about competition. Encourage him not to feel discouraged but to present himself in a forthright, upbeat and clear way so they can know who HE is. Ask him to imagine a table of people eating together; one will have been developed by the work ethic of a paying summer job in his town; another has academic coursework from the summer but doesn't know much about working 9-5 and coping with bosses; etc. In college, each will be more ready for college work because of such background but few have it "all" to describe. People learn from each other and no school wants to enrol a freshman class full of clones. This might be a pep talk for your friend. </p>
<p>I agree with others above: As long as there has been something outside of h.s. classrooms shaping the kid, he is shaped and shouldn't hesitate to leave one category blank, IMHO.</p>
<p>I agree with the wisdom in Paying3tuitions' post. The applicant should not compare him/herself to what others have done or feel he/she needs to do the same. I know with my own kids, they chose to do things they loved doing for their own sake and never thought of what they "SHOULD" do for college applications (other than do well at school of course). When it came time to apply to college, they documented the things they had chosen to do. It worked for them and I believe that colleges are looking for students to follow their interests, all sorts of interests, and not do something because they feel they "should" or because others are doing it. Your friend sounds like he/she has done enough worthwhile things to document. The colleges don't want all kids to be the same and have done the same stuff. There is no "formula."</p>
<p>Agree with NSM that this question seems to be targeting applicants who have been involved in special programs geared towrd first-gen, URM, and/or lower socio-economically placed students. Leave it blank.</p>
<p>Just saw this thread and wanted to add that NSM and ellemenope are correct. This is a question on the UF application and when S attended a summer recruitment session for Natl. Hispanic Recognition Program kids, they went over the application step by step explaining how to complete it. This question was geared specifically to the groups mentioned above. There's no problem with leaving it blank.</p>
<p>"What activities and programs have you done outside of school to enrich your education?"</p>
<p>I would interpret "activities and programs" and "education" in a broad sense to demonstrate the initiative and the motivation toward self improvement.</p>
<p>doubleplay: I wouldn't be concerned about the blank space. A good idea would be to incorporate everything you explained in your initial post into one of his essays.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses!
He was concerned about the "etc." in the question (which begs...what other types of activities does the college want to hear about?), along with the fact that most of the other kids he knows put something in that box...whether it's a summer class they took at local CC, or an academic camp of some sort, or a travel/education program.</p>
<p>patsmom, thanks for your clarification. It is UF, and he was worried that even though the examples they gave were fairly specific, they still put the "etc." at the end.</p>
<p>After looking at the thing, I asked my own kids what they put there...one put Boys State and one put an engineering camp he did. Obviously they didn't hold it against them :).</p>
<p>The key to any application is not that every blank if filled, but that you put in the application every thing you want the adcoms to know about you.</p>
<p>UF basically selects people by the numbers: gpa, scores and possibly class rank. </p>
<p>They use ECs and similar info for merit aid. I doubt that family-sponsored trips abroad and attending expensive summer camps would cause a student to get merit aid.</p>
<p>Stupid question, but --</p>
<p>Are kids filling out college applications now? In August?</p>
<p>Whoah.</p>
<p>Looking at an application now gives you an idea of what kind of information you should be collecting. D found the MIT application was suitably comprehensive and organized so that once she filled it out, she could just use that application as a fount of information for most other apps.</p>
<p>AnnudahMom,
At this school, a student's choice priority for on-campus housing is based on when he submitted his part of the application. A lot of students try to get their apps in early if they are interested in living in a particular dorm.</p>