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<p>This is logical and seems to be true of most schools. I am still puzzled by a few that designate class rank as Important or Considered while designating GPA as Very Important. Fortunately there aren’t many, and my son’s not applying to any that I know of.</p>
<p>According to the UC Common data set, the UCs don’t consider class rank at all.</p>
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<p>Still the recognitions don’t have to be “official”. So, no need to despair if your kids don’t have them. If this were the case, then we’d not be hearing the proverbial sarcasm of “helping hungary kids in Africa” as significant differentiator. Top 20 adcoms can detect honesty in your story. Essays describing the activities coupled with LORs from a person who can testify and may be a website should be able to convey legitimacy. I was really impressed by a scholarship essay on teaching kids chess, an activity which did not give the author any official recognition, but created a touching story that beautifully portrayed a fine young man with impressive maturity.</p>
<p>[Asuka</a> Nakamura’s Chess Scholar Essay](<a href=“http://www.nscfchess.org/nscfhigh_asuka.htm]Asuka”>http://www.nscfchess.org/nscfhigh_asuka.htm)</p>
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<p>Pizzagirl, the documentary category at National History Day might be just perfect for your son if he also has TV interests. It is more difficult to complete a project on your own without school support, but it can be done. My kids’ middle school encouraged participation in NHD and provided teacher support, so they got started there. In HS, there is no school support, so I had to sign up as the “teacher”, and S was very much on his own without any real teacher feedback.</p>
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<p>I mean this with love, but this isn’t a UC thread, so I don’t know how relevant that is to the parents on this thread!</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, your son sounds similar in some ways to mine - wise beyond his years, adults love him, etc. His history teachers have told me that hes the most insightful student in the class, yet he has never been the top grade-earner. Frankly, he doesnt have the drive to excel as some other kids do. I was instrumental (okay, I pushed him) in getting him involved in two of his top ECs, although he decided on his own to do another.</p>
<p>Ive suggested many history activities for him to pursue, but he just has never wanted to do them. And Ive learned that there is only so much encouragement that hell accept before he just begins to ignore me, politely of course. Kinda like my DH does. :)</p>
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<p>S wound up tutoring a learning-disabled girl in Hebrew for her bat mitzvah, and he could write a tear-jerker story about it - ah, but how do you do those things without coming across as deliberately manipulating heartstrings?!</p>
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<p>At a top school, this sort of thing would only be a differentiator if you did it on a major scale. Like the girl who started the school supply backpack program which spread to 30 states.</p>
<p>Just read the chances board to see all the (expensive) trips these kids have taken to help someone…</p>
<p>Does anyone have RD/ED Naviance data for Cornell and WUSTL? </p>
<p>I wonder if schools will be more forgiving of lower-GPAs but still within Top 10% (w/ high test scores) during ED than during RD.</p>
<p>Payfor, perhaps your son is really my S’s twin … not my D as previously thought :-). I could have sworn it was a boy and a girl on the delivery table …</p>
<p>Pizzagirl - If the writing is from the bottom of her heart, then no need to worry about it coming across as manipulating. As parents we help them see possibilities and opportunities to present themselves AS THEY ARE, albeit in a more favorable light.</p>
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<p>I have no idea how there is any semblance of a family life if you have a teen running around doing all those activities that I see on CC. That would mean never seeing them, never having family dinners, eating / doing homework in the car, etc … Some things I’m just not willing to give up, nor do I want them leading that kind of lifestyle. Achievement and hard work is one thing – being on the go 24/7 and never having time to just be and chill is another.</p>
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<p>mantori – That sounds intuitively correct to me, but the only thing I remember reading is that top state schools are more likely to be formulaic in their admissions process.</p>
<p>Good heavens, it sounds like the Ss on this thread would all be great buddies!</p>
<p>S1 did NHD in middle school as part of a school project – really enjoyed (and tied it into his Bar Mitzvah speech and some other projects) – but IB is so demaniding that it pretty much precludes participating in NHD, unless he does it in March of senior year. Pizzagirl, S continues to read Torah at synagogue – not sure adcoms “get” what it means to trope from a scroll without music or vowels, but whatever.</p>
<p>He also doesn’t grade-grub and likes a balanced life. Does not pull all-nighters. He does tend to dominate the classroom discussions – he has always been able to pull ideas and details across a wide range of disciplines to make some interesteing observations. Declined to join the race among the rising seniors to suddenly grab leadership spots in organizations they’ve barely been involved in over the past four years.</p>
<p>Went through this process two years ago with S1, who had a mid-3.7 UW but not top 10%. Thanks to math/science stuff (but mainly some really good essays), he did quite well.</p>
<p>Mantori, both my kids have dealt with the ADD issues and both their GC said not to bring it up – their grades and scores were strong enough without relying on that. OTOH, I am aware other families may make a different choice!</p>
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<p>A 3.9 that is not in the top 10% might mean that the high school is a competitive one where most students are top academic performers or that it simply inflates grades. A 3.5 that is in the top 10% might mean that high school has a more diverse mix of academic achievers or that the teachers are hard graders. Does that make sense? This is puzzling to me. Is this why many high schools do not rank?</p>
<p>At our high school, 3.9 lands you in the second decile and a 3.5 in the third decile, neither in the top 10%. I wonder what that says about our school.</p>
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<p>I think we can all move forward much easier by admitting that, yes, there are kids who can do all that amazing ECs and still get stellar grades and test scores and STILL HAVE TIME FOR FUN. But, luckily these superkids are few and far in between. After taking their slots, there are still rooms for some of our kids!</p>
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<p>Yeah - S has reading honors this year at the High Holidays, which in our synagogue is a big deal to give to the high schoolers. That’s the kind of thing I mean – the teachers at Sunday school love him because he’s good with the kids, but awards and honors don’t come to that type of thing. And he’ll do things like youth groups, but he’s just not intereted in being an officer.</p>
<p>I did a values exercise with him (related to my work) and he identified these values as ones that spoke to him / resonated with him:</p>
<p>Encouraging, ministering
Discovering, discerning, uncovering
Leading, guiding, inspiring, governing
Pleasure, fun
Humor, laughter, play
Teaching, informing, enlightening</p>
<p>I fear that the elite college process tends to reward people for whom the core values are more like “Winning, triumphing” and less people for whom core values are just discovery, even if the discovery isn’t earth-shattering or advancing human knowledge. </p>
<p>If that makes sense?</p>
<p>Just a word from somebody who went through this a few years back and is trying to avoid the same trap the second time around:</p>
<p>The reality is that the vast majority of our 3.4 GPA kids aren’t going to end up at a top-20 school. </p>
<p>By all means let you kids play this lottery, and do what you can to help them put their best foot forward, but make sure you start out by scrolling on down the USNews ratings. Check out some of the schools beyond the first 20 or 30. Five reaches and a ill-fitting safety is not a good list.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, both my guys are reading at High Holidays, too!</p>
<p>Dad’o’2 makes a good point – these kids need to have good lists that aren’t just focused on the top schools. We really pushed S2 to spend quality time at the flagship last spring because it is so different from the rest of his list and we felt strongly that he needed to have at least one in-state school under consideration. (It was one of the few things I have insisted on in this process!)</p>
<p>^^Amen, dad’o’2. Solidify the safety/match foundation and then support your kid in applying for all 20 top 20 schools, if that is what he or she wants to do. But first get that foundation in place.</p>