I'm inspired by the other thread. I admit that it's been a long time since my offspring went off to college. Still, I think these strategies can help.
It's true that it's all about "building a class." That means that GPA and test scores and the curriculum you've taken account for about 60% of the admissions decisions at "holistic" admissions colleges. Do what you can to improve the other 40%. Here's one thing you can do.
Seek validation of strengths. For example, maybe your kid is an excellent speaker, but there is no speech and debate program. Seek out contests. Examples are Optimists http://www.optimist.org/e/member/scholarships4.cfm ; American Legion http://www.legion.org/oratorical; VFW https://www.vfw.org/Community/Voice-of-Democracy/ ESU https://www.esuus.org/esu/programs/ipsc/
Does your kid excel at academic (non-scientific) research? Try for http://tcr.org/event-1996062 or submit an article to the Concord Review.
If your kid is an excellent mathematician, but his/her school doesn't offer the AMC and AIME, (s)he can participate in http://www.usamts.org/ If your kid is a talented writer , enter the Scholastic Art & Writing program. http://www.artandwriting.org/ Artists should also attend a National Portfolio Day http://www.portfolioday.net/
An actor? If you can afford it...there is some financial aid available, consider a summer at http://www.stagedoormanor.com/
Instrumentalist? Try Interlochen http://camp.interlochen.org/ (which also has a writing program) or Tanglewood http://www.bu.edu/mysummer/arts/tanglewood-institute/
I'm sure many others can list other contests. I think they are particularly important for kids who are interested in "reach" colleges who are coming from high schools that don't have a track record of sending many students to them. Please note: it's not necessary to be the national winner in the contests for it to have an impact on an application.
The idea is just to have some proof that your child genuinely excels at something beyond a letter of recommendation from a high school teacher.
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