<p>As I see kids in my year from schools all over the place effectively finding the same jobs... I see that the ones that end up with the best luck are the ones that chose a path they loved and worked hard at it. Leverage your talents and interest and I promise you will do well no matter where you go to school.</p>
<p>“Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” -Benjamin Franklin</p>
<p>I'm currently a senior in high school and I have two days left before our study leave for our IB exams in May. I enjoyed my high school, took courses that actually interested me, but made the mistake of choosing Maths at Higher Level because I thought it would look favourable to colleges as I'm looking to do something related to Business/Economics/Psychology. It is a hard course, even my friends who used to be excellent in Maths are struggling. That's my only regret. As for my extracurricular activities, I did a number, perhaps more than the average number of activities a student does. But I loved doing every single one of them. It's not because I wanted to pad my resume, but I really enjoyed doing those activities. Even if I go to an unknown university, I would still pursue those activities.</p>
<p>juliushark, i completely agree!</p>
<p>In my personal opinion I believe the issue starts in schools. We treat school like a competition to get by with the least amount of work possible, to ask on tests what subjects we will be tested on rather than just reading the textbook for fun (stop laughing at me). Then the competition extends to applying to college. Do the least work possible to getting into the correct college. The least amount of work just varies between different people.
And Admissions officers by no means get it. maybe some statistician should assemble some admissions officers from selective tope 50/20/5 schools and give them different types of students and ask them which ones they would admit if they were real students applying to their schools. Then we'd know for sure.</p>
<p>I like mikemac's comment above.</p>
<p>As a parent that has been through this process twice I think society is whacked. The ideal situation would be for kids to attend all 4 years of high school totally free of the college process. Then the year after high school work part time or find internships and apply to college at the same time. Not only will the anxiety levels for both the student and the parent be significantly less, by working maybe the student would avoid the "wrong major" selection and have time to visit colleges. I know in certain majors, music, art, MT etc they would have more time to prepare for auditions or work on portfolios. Others could improve SAT scores, add EC's to their resume etc....I know I know if everyone did this then the competitive pool would still look the same ? </p>
<p>Well Right now the current system which I call the "freshman funnel" works well for the colleges (they feed on all the anxiety) but does not work well for the students. Just my two cents</p>
<p>To be honest, I believe one the strong reasons for my acceptance into a university (UW, not a big deal) was the fact that I had all non-traditional ECs and sports. I ran a small computer business with my friend, ice skated, trained dogs, worked with mentally challenged students, and was the first female tech assistant. Only one of these were offered at my school so I suppose it gave me an upper hand in comparison to those students that exhausted the schools EC programs.</p>
<p>Despite my horrible test scores, somehow my essays and activities saved me.</p>
<p>songman --</p>
<p>We have an option for a more relaxed high school experience in California that is really, really slick, but requires a family put their pride and other people's expectations aside -- the community college track into Berkeley, UCLA, and other UCs.</p>
<p>There are articulation agreements with these highly ranked UCS wherein a person goes to a community college for anywhere from 1-4 semesters (depending on the amount of AP credit accrued). Assuming a minimum GPA, their transfer to Berkeley or UCLA (or UCSD, UCI, UCSB, UCSC, UCR, UCM) is guaranteed by a written contract between the community college (Santa Monica College, Glendale Community College, Santa Barbara City College, etc.) and the UC. The numbers taking this route are staggering... several thousand admitted each year into both UCLA and UC Berkeley as Jr. transfers... that's right, not several HUNDRED, but several THOUSAND.</p>
<p>The problem is one of pride... it looks from outward appearance like failure to the student's peers, family, friends, etc. Sure, the degree ultimately says UCLA, but for a year or two the student feels like they're being compared with the portion of his/her high school that did not even qualify for 4 year college admittance.</p>
<p>Dunnin- terrible that we do this to kids......but hey that is our culture here. crazy as it is-</p>
<p>Everyone I know who goes to an elite school did what he or she wanted to in high school. My neighbor and friend who goes to Harvard danced ballet until she hurt her back and could no longer dance because she loved it. I've taken classes with her since I was 8, so I know she loves it. She did community service in all her free time because that was her absolute passion. She didn't do sports. She took the classes she wanted to. She only took the SAT once. And now she goes to Harvard. Her sister who is also at Harvard did almost no ECs. She just studied, almost obsessively, and rode her bike everywhere, because that was what she liked. I can name you a bunch of others who are just the same.
I have no idea why people are acting like "OMG, there are kids who do what they enjoy?!"</p>
<p>OMG there are kids who enjoy studying</p>
<p>Kids would never want to sit around and read about existentialism or paint watercolor pictures or ponder the universe (unless you're roasting a bowl with some friends) or do any of that crap. All of this 'self-satisfaction' stuff isn't really productive in any way. Your psyche will be just fine even if you do work hard in school, take classes you don't really want to take, etc. You will probably feel even better because you will find a sense of accomplishment in taking the challenge and conquering it. In high school, you do what you have to do, and when you're done you do what you want to do. There's time for both, and the kids who can't do both are just going to suffer. It's a weeding out process no matter how it's structured; the kids who can handle it all are the ones who will be able to handle it all in the future. The real world does not let you do whatever you want all the time, so it's only sensible that high school be structured somewhat the same.</p>
<p>So basically, it would be bad if kids did "whatever they want" in high school, even though most of them do anyways. The ones who realize that high school isn't for jacking around and that they need to succeed if they ever want to succeed in the future are the ones who will go on to have good work ethic in the future. They will succeed in college, get great jobs, feel good about themselves, make money, and whatever else they may want to do. </p>
<p>Successful people work hard even when they don't want to, then jet out to their summer homes on the beach to paint watercolor pictures and read about existentialism...</p>
<p>I think this is a definitely a problem, but not every high school student going to a top college is in high school for college's sake. There are certainly students who fit the description (one guy I know knew where he wanted to go as a freshmen and tailored his classes, grades, and activities to fit the admissions standards- using sites like CC to give him an idea of what type of applicants get in)--absolutely disgusting in my opinion, but he did get into that school in case you were wondering</p>
<p>Most of my peers are in classes they enjoy and do activities that they are interested in. Grades are important, overly important IMO, but at least they are not sacrificing everything for the sake of some top colleges. As for me, I fall into what I would call the "chill" category. I've been recommended by my school's college counselor to pursue different academic tracks in order to help me come time for admissions, but I chose one that I was the most interested in (very science oriented). I've also been told not to do certain activities/clubs because colleges do not regard them as highly. Never really practiced for major tests (SAT, AP, ACT), because those tests were in the spring and I would rather play golf than raise a score by a few points. As for grades, I didn't get great grades early on, but now I get good grades, not mainly to get an A, but because I think that (for the most part) grades reflect effort and mastery of material. And I contribute my attitude to a few teachers I've had who had heart-felt in-class discussions about learning for learning's sake (that, I believe, is the best solution).</p>
<p>DS and DD both worked very hard in HS, both received mostly merit scholarships (each received over $100,000 in merit scholarships)...Hard work pays off...You just have to know where to draw the line...life is a balancing act...The good thing about the current economic crisis is that you can pursue your 'real' dreams...bling bling is no longer in fashion...you don't have to keep up with the Joneses.</p>
<p>Do what's interesting and enjoyable to you, but be aware of colleges' desires & expectations --it's fine to spend time [insert obscure or inane pursuit here-- e.g. video games, leisure reading, hunting wild mushrooms] rather than playing soccer, but if that's a big part of your life then plan how you'll use it to show adcoms the "commitment," "leadership," and "love for learning" that they'll be looking for in you. Throughout high school, I have chosen pursuits based on what I enjoy or what sounds interesting. But because I certainly couldn't do EVERYTHING that sounded interesting in 4 years, when choosing between two or more equally appealing activities, I went with the one that would look best on an application. </p>
<p>So for example, I would NEVER choose playing a sport over reading good books--because I find reading much more personally profitable/enjoyable than sports. However, junior year I knew I didn't want to be part of both the Book Club and the Literary Magazine Committee because of the time commitments involved; I liked both groups about equally but since one had to go I chose to stick with Book Club because I could more easily become an officer there-- which "displays leadership" on applications. </p>
<p>I've received a full-tuition merit scholarship to the college I most wanted to attend. (With need-based aid, it actually ends up a full ride.)</p>
<p>I don't know, throughout highschool I've been split between feeling I had the responsibility of working super hard and going to a good school and just doing what I want, which is mainly a little bit of everything. Nothing intense. I guess in highschool I was confused about what I really want. That's why I'm happy I'm going to an LAC, to hopefully find myself and not become even more confused, which is most likely what would happen if I tried to go to an ivy. I'd be weighed down by expectations and "well she goes here, she's supposed to do this."</p>
<p>I didn't get into the whole college frenzy/AP class thing until junior year. Before, I was just a normal kid (considered stupid by the AP kids, by the way). </p>
<p>I felt a little, well, culture shock going into the AP classes with these overachievers. I had never seen so many people freak out over college and grades. A lot of these students seem a little emotionally unstable to me, to be honest. It seems totally unnatural to me that girls would cry over B's and that students spent all day studying and doing homework, updating their Facebook statuses with their complaints. </p>
<p>I couldn't tell you if there was a better way for students like this to spend their time, but something definitely isn't right about the culture here. It encourages unnatural striving for these high scores, GPA's, standardized tests, uninteresting EC's, unmotivated community services, etc. They don't seem to be doing it out of their own enjoyment or even their own free will; they just seem mechanically drawn to improving their college application, perhaps by pressure from peers, parents, teachers, and even themselves.</p>
<p>As I started getting into the frenzy, I started annoying my old "normal" friends. They were irritated to death by all this talk about colleges, grades, teachers, college applications, etc. The thought was like, "Your going to do that just so your college app looks better!?" A lot of decisions we made started becoming based off how it would look to colleges. It's really crazy. I had a friend who, admittedly wasn't very bright, but got caught up in the frenzy and applied for AP classes, knew everything about colleges and college apps, did his research, etc. He really couldn't maintain the work load and he simply crashed. I see him wandering around nowadays at lunch, with no friends, probably feeling like a failure for not being able to do this. He could have spent his time other ways and could have been happy perhaps making friends or playing sports, but instead, he got caught up with this "college craze," only to find out he wasn't cut out for it. This sort of stuff definitely isn't natural.</p>
<p>Nowadays I feel a bit of resentment towards these overachievers. Kind of like, "don't you care about anything else!?" Many of them have some sense of superiority over other students as well, which seems to be encouraged by teachers telling them how much better they are than everyone. Although I do realize that at least we have our future in mind.</p>
<p>Tailoring your activities and interests to get you into college is a stupid idea. College admissions is about fit. If you pretend to be someone you're not, and then get into a school based on that, be prepared to keep pretending. Granted, I go to Caltech, which is such a specific school that fit is perhaps more important than it would be other places, but still. The college at which you are most likely to be happy is the one that accepts you for who you are.</p>
<p>
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The college at which you are most likely to be happy is the one that accepts you for who you are.
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</p>
<p>That is some good insight there. Hopefully it proves to be true!</p>
<p>Songman, I'm with you. Colleges, parents, students have all become whacked in what we expect from our kids.</p>
<p>I guess it depends on what you mean by "elite" schools. Those of you who write that you did exactly what you wanted and still got into elite schools live in a different universe from me. If you are an unhooked ORM from my area of the northeast who doesn't play sports, and your goal is an uber elite school, you had better think twice before foregoing that AP math class. The brilliant, quirky, lopsided kid just isn't going to be admitted to the schools that demand some unknown specific quality as well as seeming perfection. It came as something of a shock to my kid to realize that the friends heading to Ivies and their equivalents were less intellectually curious and less intellectually creative than the friends headed elsewhere. These were, by and large, the kids who took academic risks. The unhooked kids heading to Ivies were those who had played the game, either consciously or not.</p>
<p>The good news is that there are so many bright, creative, talented kids out there these days that there's a great variety of schools that will provide a wonderful college experience for those who do pursue their passions without regard to college admissions. I am eager to see the places from where the movers and shakers of the next generation emerge.</p>
<p>I definitely know of people who do things simply to get into college. For me though, while I do participate in some activities I don't particularly enjoy as much as others, its more about training myself to become the type of person I want to be. That doesn't necessitate a top school or anything but I've always liked the idea of being a polymath and I view oratory and debate as very useful skills so I do them regardless of whether they help me in admissions or not. Of course, I've come to love many of the activities that I used to be uncomfortable with so I think it's a good thing for students to branch out a bit and try something beyond their comfort level. That said, if you don't have any free time left over you should be aiming slightly lower. Its fine to do these activities but don't make your life revolve around them.</p>
<p>Also, to those who are so critical of "overachievers." Being one myself, I still haven't found myself overloaded with stuff. Yeah, there are days that I stay at school really late but thats a choice I made because I actually enjoy the subject. I would never do that for chem but I spent about 3 days staying until 10pm at my school to prepare for a physics comp even though I'm going into business. Yeah, there are alot of required elements to college apps but many overachievers do have time left over to do what they want. I play a TON of video games but also play piano out of interest, read fiction alongside Fortune and The Economist and study for IB. I've found that most of this comes from building a good foundation from an early age. I honestly really enjoyed learning since elementary school. Some of my interests have changed but I find that I need very little studying for school to get by since I've been through most of the material before. While ages 5-9 may seem far off from college, they do keep you one step ahead. Its not a huge sacrifice either especially since you learn quickly when you're young. The point I'm making is, not all "overachievers" have no life. It honestly didn't take me much studying to get a perfect SAT simply because I loved reading as a kid and read hundreds of books in elementary. It's not like I had no social life either. Just make efficient use of your time early on and you'll be reaping the rewards for years to come :P.</p>