I hope these aren’t the programs where parents pay to send their children to “volunteer” abroad.
Some parents think these will convince colleges how public spirited and giving their kid is, plus it’s a “unique” experience to help them stand out from the other kids.
Companies love to sell trips to these parents, it’s a profitable business.
Adcoms see them as a sham; if a kid wants to make a genuine difference they’d volunteer regularly in their community to help out with ongoing problems, not take part in short program abroad that comes packaged with plenty of fun labeled as “cultural exposure” or whatever. Adcoms also see them as a marker of high disposable income; if you’re a college looking for full-pay students then seeing these on the app is a good sign the parents can pay whatever is asked.
Schools liked to see ECs and leadership 10+ years ago as a way to suss out the top kids, but these days every kid has ECs and there is leadership if they want it. If your kid sees an opportunity to do something they like awesome, but if not join a few things to fill in the blanks on the app. They won’t help or hurt.
I think schools look for students that are engaged in things outside the classroom and are not just a robot. ECs and essays are where that stuff shows up. If you start a fun club like the board game it really shines on the essay section, but if you are the president of the robotics club that won regionals it’s dull. I need to add that doing robotics club because you genuinely like it is awesome.
Also, there are so many faked or puffed ECs out there that schools have to take all of them with a grain of salt.
My kids play a sport year round, so there isn’t a lot of extra time. They tend to join a couple of easy ECs to fill in the blanks, but they (and the college) see through this. The school also knows that it’s close to impossible to practice 20+ hours a week, travel to meets, make As in the hardest classes, AND put serious time into other ECs.
One last thing, having a leadership role in an EC can “check the box” when applying for scholarships.
“Well, just do what you like and they pick the kids THEY like. Pays to know enough about the college to know what matters.”
Colleges on their websites and in their presentations say all the time to do what you like and what interests you. Do not do something because you think it will look good for college. Your advice seems to counter that, Yale says it well:
“Our advice is to pursue what you love and tell us about that. Be yourself.” and "Within the context of each applicant’s life and circumstances, we look for that desire and ability to stretch one’s limits.:
I think that’s good advice for any college - do what you like and stretch yourself in that.
@mikemac of course we paid for him to go abroad. And definitely not because we thought it would help him get into a a good college, but because he was unbelievably inspired by the opportunity and we thought the growth and experience would be invaluable to him throughout his life and would contribute to shaping his world view at a formative stage. Even if he never goes to college, those summers were among the best parenting choices we made, and I’m grateful beyond words that we had the resources to do it for him. I appreciate skepticism as much as anyone and obviously this whole site is about getting into college, but why assume everything that people discuss here is blatant pandering to admissions offices? I hope that’s not the common attitude on these boards.
Sure, they do. But for tippy tops, after you read that, you need to realize what the standards are and what the competition brings. There’s some assumption that the bright match kids will have the drives, experiences, and accomplishments that match what the college wants.
You can’t just lean back and spend all your time with cats, because that’s “you” and then expect them to appreciate that. Lol. “Stretching one’s limits” means so mch more than leaning back OR just taking your activities deeper into your own “passions.”
Realize how much they seek a level of conformity to how they see their community. I see nothing wrong with rounding your experiences because that’s what it takes. They don’t want to see kids locked into their own boxes, unable to expand.