<p>Thank you. Very powerful words to absorb for a 16 year old but I’m glad to say that my head is screwed on right and that things will work out in the end. :)</p>
<p>I actually haven’t seen too many national presidents here–mostly just class presidents and people with no obvious interest in science researching with local profs. Gets boring after a while.</p>
<p>What does RCI and TASP stand for?</p>
<p>Provided you have an excellent academic record, music and athletic accomplishments, do you still have to do one of the ‘save the world’ kind of voluntary projects to get into a top tier college? After all there are only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week!</p>
<p>lol, I hope not.</p>
<p>My plate is already full. I can’t afford to save the world with the course work my school is shoveling down my throat.</p>
<p>^You made me laugh…hahaha…</p>
<p>What about winning dozens of medals in Academic Decathlon and Debate at the regional and state level, last year? This year I am captain of both.</p>
<p>I think a lot of people here are missing the point with ECs, most people seem to be putting more emphasis on what the colleges want to see rather then whats in the best interest of the kids. I have a daughter who is a High School Senior, and an IB diploma Candidate who sees her own extracurricular experiences as a tool in finding what interests her. She has had some great opportunities along with some unique experiences because she had had the foresight to try so many varied activities.
When she entered High School she joined what seemed like every club available to her, along with Tennis Team after school. As her work load in class increased the number of activities she was involved with needed to decrease. Now, some three years later as an officer of the only club she belongs to, the Red Cross Club, because that was the one she enjoyed participating in the most, and feels she receives the most personal satisfaction because of the activities associated with that club.
The range of summer programs or activities she has gotten involved in also shows a curiosity and willingness to try new and different things. Her first summer she spent in a residential program at the University of California Irvine, studying Bioinformatics and Python programming, followed by a summer as a volunteer/interns at the National Archives in Laguna Beach, California, helping in the preservation and recording of various artifacts. This past summer she gave long distance hiking a try, hiking section G of the Pacific Crest Trail from Walker Pass to Whitney portal where she also needed to assist an injured hiker out of the back country so she could receive needed medical attention.
We are not sure how colleges will view the limited number of ECs, but I think she believes that she has a pretty good idea of what direction to steer her ship. Rather than trying to meet others exceptions, I can proudly say my daughter is for good or bad following her own dreams.
Its not about what some school wants to see, it should be about what your kids need to find themselves.</p>
<p>It’s not my fault colleges favor things i don’t give a crap about.</p>
<p>(Debate club, Math club, etc…)</p>
<p>Colleges favor achievement. It need not be in debate or math.</p>
<p>If only i could achieve achievement in the ping pong club but, colleges tend to favor the things geared towards the nerds of it’s some community service BS i have no time for but, have to do anyway to impress colleges.</p>
<p>I’ve done many things i didn’t want to to even have a chance at cornell/duke.</p>
<p>^If you are doing community service BS just for college, you shouldn’t get into a top school anyway. They’re looking for leaders, not people who will only do just what’s ‘required’.</p>
<p>Really? Don’t you get good grades because you want to get into a good college? Don’t you want a high GPA to get in good classes? Don’t you take a bunch of AP’s so you can get in college? life is about doing things you don’t want to do. Most of the people at the top-tier school’s didn’t get in because of their “love of learning”. It was because they worked hard and grueled over papers, porjects, and the juggling act is takes to pass AP classes. C’mon, How many seniors do you think take all APs just for the love of learning. Not alot. </p>
<p>I see EC’s the same way. If it was my choice, i would just keep playing varsity soccer and be in my doctors club but, no. Top-tier colleges don’t think this is good enough which in essence forces me to do stuff i don’t want to do.</p>
<p>I think Daxlo has a point. Trust me, i love creative discussions, but im no writer - but im still planning to take AP English senior year because i DO want to impress colleges, with my hard work i mean. That class is probably, at least for a person like me, the hardest class you can take at my school. Of course ill be taking Calc 3, Differential Equations, Organic Chemistry, and Quantum Physics at the UIUC that senior year, but AP English will still probably be the one i struggle in most… Now, as for my math and science APs/Clubs, i absolutely love them so i can’t really complain.</p>
<p>And yes, we do have most APs, just not those weird ones like Japanese Language/culture, etc.</p>
<p>llazr. Exactly, we have to do things we don’t want to do to get ahead in life. I hate but i’m taking this super accelerated class so, colleges will be impressed.</p>
<p>llazar, with your achievement in math and science, it’s unlikely any college would expect you to take advanced English classes as well. </p>
<p>Do colleges want to see Ping Pong Club or Pie Eating Club on your resume? No (but, um, duh). They want to see you applying yourself and accomplishing things. This does not have to be part of a school club. You can start your own business, join the school board as a student rep, take over your school’s floundering literary magazine and turn it into an award-winning publication, help a failing peer turn their GPA around… The possibilities are truly endless. </p>
<p>Of course, a more traditional, less entrepreneurial route can work as well. There are countless science and math competitions for someone like you, llazar. </p>
<p>The “do what you love” mantra works if you use your passion to bring about accomplishment. It doesn’t mean colleges want to see BS clubs or meaningless awards. But it does mean that there is no one route that will get you into a top college. </p>
<p>Honestly, I’m always surprised at how few people on these boards actually believe the less is more/do what you love ideology. No, “passion” isn’t a requisite for admission to top schools (how exactly is “passion” measured, anyway?). But following your interests to a deeper level can create something like passion and help to prevent burnout. If you have the mentality that top schools are looking for some cookie cutter class president-researching-debating mathlete, it’s unlikely you’ll have developed any one interest to a level of accomplishment impressive enough to get you into HYP and their peers.</p>
<p>Eh, but unfortunately too many people, notably Asians, go down the “hurr hurr, take all APs, join all the clubs, and become valedictorian” route. It ****es me off to see these kids throw away their school experience so they can get into harvard. A smile always crosses my lips when someone fill the gap between these kids logic and tells them that the top tier schools actually don’t like Academic geeks and instead they prefer well rounded students. (e,i: Kids who play sports, president of a couple “non cookie-cutter” clubs, and that have stellar grades)</p>
<p>I apply this rounding of myself by doing crap that i don’t want to do so i can show the colleges just how “rounded” i am. If i wanted to, i could just say “F” it and just go to Georgia Tech but, i want to go Duke/Tufts/Brown. I don’t want to give up so i’ll just keep on grueling over attending class with weird anti-social kids.</p>
<p>Btw, Anyone else, have a majority of weird anti-social bums in their AP classes?</p>
<p>Is 53 hours over the summer at a Nursing Home which involved talking with the patients with dementia/disabilities a strong service? </p>
<p>I know the hours aren’t a lot, but the subject matter may be more impressive than library/hospital volunteering?</p>
<p>And Daxlo, why are you saying people who do Math team/Academic decathlon academic geeks? I’m in both, and there are certainly some people (mostly math team) who do it because they enjoy math (I myself am not the captain or do well).
I do agree with you however, that getting into college requires selling yourself as a merchandise, and in a way I find that a bit dehumanizing, but it’s not alright to condemn everyone who do these academic activities as Asian geeks wanting to become valedictorians. The (future) valedictorian at my school is probably the most humble guy there is.</p>
<p>Enemy Crabs, Yes that’s very strong for comm service. I commend you on that nice deed. </p>
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<p>For the argument, Never mind the academic geek remark. Just a stereotype man.</p>
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<p>Daxlo, you seem to be of the belief that colleges want well-rounded students. Not so. They are looking for a well-rounded entering class, which means they need a high proportion of “well-lopsided” kids. The applicant who is a state or nationally ranked debater, or is head of the national NHS, or organized a city-wide fundraiser that raised thousands for breast cancer research will fare much better in admissions than the kid who is member of the debate team, secretary of his school’s NHS, and participates yearly in Relay for Life. </p>
<p>College don’t expect you to do everything. They expect you to do one thing or a few things impressively well. </p>
<p>And this means that academic geeks, should they be impressively accomplished in some way, perhaps math/science competitions, are more likely to be accepted to top schools than the “well-rounded” student who in all actuality is just spread too thin to make his mark on anything. (There are truly well-rounded students with high level accomplishments across multiple disciplines, but they are exception and not the rule.)</p>