<p>A parent of 8th grade twin boys ask me this question. Her boys are very smart and have talent in music and both love to do community services. They need to decide what extracurricular activities for the next 4 high shcool years. The decision need to be made between doing science work in a lab and strive for Intel Award or spending all their after school time in debating, marching band, and teaching English in summer camps in a third world country. All these things are time consuming. Can someone help them to make the decision?</p>
<p>The most important thing with extracurriculars is that the student is passionate about them. Why force the kids to do something that they are not interested in just to pad the application. My son loved running and did cross country and track for four years. He loved writing and was editor of the school newspaper. He was very political and helped start the Amnesty International club at his school. He also had a deep love of history and has a website that is study guide to AP Euro History. He did a podcast for each chapter of the textbook and students all across the country have used it as a study guide. These items when combined with the essay showing his passion and the letters of rec’s from his teachers helped him get into his reach school. College ad coms can see through a padded application.</p>
<p>Take college completely out of the picture and let the boys decide what they love to do. Also, these decisions are not binding. Children’s passions change overtime and that’s okay. </p>
<p>Top colleges are looking for students with real passion, not burned out students with the perfect application.</p>
<p>There is a book titled “What it Really Takes to Get into an Ivy League School”. There is a section in that book that rates what counts at elite schools. An eyeopener to many parents when they see the level of excellence and recognition for such excellence needed before it matters to the top schools.</p>
<p>The other issue is that it is a moving target and differs from school to school. My oldest was an athlete. However, if there was a glut in his particular athletic talent at a school, it meant little in terms of even a tip. The school had to have his sport and position down on their wish list for it to be something that counted. Oh, and he was good enough to perform college level. </p>
<p>Few kids really have hooks in their ECs. They may be great athletes, and, yes, that is something that is good for their apps, but unless they are wanted by the college team, it is not a hook. Unless you are the level of Joshua Bell, being a violinist is not going to give you a gold star either, unless you are going to be a performance major and get auditioned for a spot.</p>
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<p>The commitment to an EC that is of interest to the CHILD is much more important than any particular EC. In addition, as noted above, what will get you into one top college might be of NO INTEREST at all in a particular year to another. For example, if the orchestra already HAS a tuba player…they won’t need a second one. So if your child is a tuba player, that won’t matter as much as it will to a school who NEEDS a tuba player. If your child is a star LaCrosse player, but the school to which they apply doesn’t have a lacrosse team, well…you get the picture.</p>
<p>Tell your friend with the 8th grade twins to let the kiddos do what is of interest to THEM and forget about trying to impress top colleges. Top colleges are more interested in students who take the initiative and show some kind of commitment to something they love than to students who somehow are “packaged” doing things for which they have little passion or interest.</p>
<p>Redondo Dave is right. Trying to out-think or out-guess the adcoms strikes me as a pointless exercise - no matter which books you read. Go with what your child likes, at least he’ll have fun along the way. He’ll probably be better at it too.</p>
<p>Do lab work during the school year, and teach English during the summer. They want well rounded geeks. Try to fit in Debate. Skip marching band.</p>
<p>This level of micromanaging children’s hobbies and interests just to get into the “right” college is absurd. I refuse to even get on that path. My children are individuals and can chose activities they enjoy. College admissions is somewhat besides the point.</p>
<p>I agree that you shouldn’t manage your kid’s activities just to get into the right
college. But! The kinds of things top colleges look for are skills that are good
to develop anyway. Experiencing excellence in an extracurricular activity can
give you the kind of confidence that you will draw on for future success. Developing
leadership skills might not be a kid’s first choice. Yet who would argue that stepping
outside one’s comfort zone and learning to be a good leader (and often, in the
process, a good follower) is not immensely valuable?</p>
<p>If your friend’s boys like music and community sevice, what can’t these loves be
developed with the support of the parents? Teaching English seems good, but
could they also teach music? Nothing wrong with debate and Marching Band
(MIT won’t throw out your application because you did Marching Band). </p>
<p>If the boys have any genuine interest in research, maybe the research could be
bent toward community service. There are plenty of environmental projects that
they could start on that would then lead to learning more chemistry or biology
or civil engineering, that would then perhaps lead to a remediation project…</p>
<p>It seems to me the trick is to take their natural inclinations and show them the
wide world of possibilites for using those skills and interests. It is nice if this fits
into some pre-existing school club or activity or program structure, but if it doesn’t,
your friend can help them develop their own “extra-curricular”.</p>
<p>Enjoyment >> Passion >> Time & Effort & Concentration >> Excellence</p>
<p>They are in eighth grade and mom is trying to figure out what they are going to do over the next 4 years? Geesh. I think there was one activity my daughter stayed with in the five years between 8th and 12th grades, and that was unusual compared to many of her friends who started and dropped things constantly. Once they are in high school they begin to figure out what activities they like, and often that changes between freshman and senior year.</p>
<p>OP: Don’t be naive. Not every extra curricular activity bears the same results and involves same efforts. Be sensible. Just being passionate about something won’t get you accepted into a college. Plan the activities properly.
Here is what my analysis is
- If they are good in sports; choose a sports that is not accessible to all like lacrosse, golf, etc.
- If they are good in science; then research gives you maximum rewards for the efforts as even if you don’t win any award; you can send your paper which can show what you did. Also participation in math/science quiz bowl, AMCs, Math/Science Olympiad are very beneficial. Another good science activity is Robotics which is time consuming but gives good results if you take up leadership position by the time you are senior, otherwise the returns are not great.
- Debate is one activity that is very costly in terms of effort (equal to research) but returns are not similar. If you don’t win any national awards your effort is more or less wasted.
- If you are into Arts/Humanities Model UN is a very good activity and bears good results. Another good Arts/Humanities activity is Newspaper editor.
- If you are doing volunteering then choose organizations that have well defined agenda in US. Doing work outside US is of not much use as there is no verification possible of whether or not the work has been done as stated unless it has been recognized by a US organization as such.</p>
<p>So rule of thumb with extracurricular activities is that if your child is not gifted, in some area like music, sports etc., planning the activities over following the child passion is more important.</p>
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<p>That made me laugh 
Yes, time consuming indeed! Certainly worthwhile to think about these things and what is important to YOU (you the kid) not just the college.</p>
<p>Coft is right on. ECs are great and what not, but unless it is something spectacular (cure for cancer) they are not going to make any difference in acceptance. I can imagine Adcoms yawning while reading most applicants’ list of ECs. So students might as well be doing something they really like without thinking about what’s going to impress Adcoms.</p>
<p>Let them try different things. COnsider their interests and you may have to help by directing them into activities. My kids bounced around from activity to activity for a couple of years before they finally decided (around 9th grade.) My S went from basketball to music to newspaper before joining the band and the newspaper staff. Now he’s doing photography on the side. My D went from years of ballet to golf (figure that out) and student government. My S joined a group that organized a “battle of the bands” concert to benefit the children of Darfur this winter. It was so successful that they plan to do it again next year. My husband (who was an athlete in HS) and I never thought music would be our S’s passion, but it is!</p>
<p>A student at their school was interviewing for an Ivy school 2 years ago. Of course, he had a list of ECs just like the others. But when they asked him if there was anything else he wanted to share with them, he showed them a video of his academic decathalon team. It wasn’t an avg video of them in competition, but rather, a performance of a dance routine they were asked to put together for a school assembly to show that its cool to be smart. He thinks that’s what sealed the deal.</p>
<p>There’s little doubt as to what the best silver bullet happens to be. </p>
<p>Be a national level athlete - as in the top 50 or 100 in the nation in your sport. </p>
<p>One must still be a reasonable student, but nothing will enhance admission chances like being a national level athlete. </p>
<p>And if it is in a major sport like football or basketball (both genders), all the better. </p>
<p>Put bluntly, well rounded is not what schools are looking for.</p>
<p>mam, I hope you’re not serious! Actually, my D’s golf coach really wants her to pursue the sport seriously because she has a CHANCE for a college scholarship. She’s also in the top 5-10% of her class. I want her to totally focus on school and if golf happens to help with getting it, great.</p>
<p>I have a perspective on parenting twins that might add a bit of value. The boys may have completely different interests as my twins did. Let them pursue what they each want to do. They are 2 separate people - not a team - and may need encouragement to join clubs or participate in activities without their twin brother. For example, one may just love debate and one may love band. And they can both continue to participate in science research - if they choose.</p>
<p>My daughters are now seniors in college and occasionally meet up with somebody new from their high school class (yes, it is a very large school) who didn’t even know they were sisters.</p>
<p>I agree w/the other posters re: letting the kids pursue what they want. Obviously, be informed and guide them along – but to steer them too hard seems a waste of time to me. My main EC was a job washing dishes – because there wasn’t an option. I was also a student leader at an urban (predominently african american) HS – I’m Asian. I took the most rigorous schedule possible and had about a 3.85UW GPA – scores were good but not the greatest. I applied to 5 colleges: two Ivies and 3 top engineering schools. All accepted me and I turned down lots of merit money for a very affordable FA package from one of the HYP colleges.</p>
<p>I’m not going to obsess about my kid’s ECs.</p>
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<p>I know I might be talking to a brick wall here, but I just have to disagree with this. There is so much to be gained from debate and lots of other activities even if you don’t win national – or state or even local – awards. Life is not all about getting into prestigious colleges. My daughter did debate for just one semester and learned enough about research and speaking and talking in public to make it an invaluable activity. Her time was not wasted. Trophies had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>I also disagree with this:</p>
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<p>The only thing I can add to what has already been said about passion in an EC is to prepare your child to write about that passion in an essay or to talk about that passion in an interview. My D is a senior, and schools that have interviewed and accepted her (so far) have given her feedback far and away about her Venture Crew EC. One school specifically said that they always get applicants who spend the $$$ to go on a wilderness trip during the summer, but to them it was a more refreshing thing altogether to hear from an applicant who spent the year planning the trip from soup to nuts before going on the trip itself. FWIW, there really is a difference…</p>