What is wrong with Indians...

[mathmom]

Well, we can switch it to worker bee. It's not clear to me what sort of ECs he has. It's perfectly fine to be a worker bee in your EC, not everyone has to have an obvious leadership type position, but even worker bees contribute or they may show other qualities through their ECs. As an example, my younger son for a volunteer activity (which started as a government community service requirement) was helping our neighborhood association archive its paperworks. Basically he made pdfs of everything and then created an index so they could be located. He was given the project, but he was by no means a leader. In his essay about his "favorite EC" he talked about what happens when you only have access to a limited set of primary sources, that you often never really get the end of a story. He showed his intellect in the essay which I think many schools valued as much as leadership.

For your son, I think you should think about what qualities you like best in your son and then try to think of examples that show those qualities. Don't worry so much about whether he's a leader or not.

[zbreeze]

"But honestly, yes, you need to stop reading the chances forum! It's nothing but the blind leading the ignorant down paths of clueless irrelevance. "

Really, why do they even exist? And, not entirely a rhetorical question.

[rhumbob]

Not all boards are stupid. To date your son has not stretched himself in community involvement. There is more to the world than self interest (your job, your family, your own security). Of course, you should tend to your own garden first, but your S may have talents that can change the world, or at least make a difference for others in the community.

College is a great place to explore. ECs for the sake of impressing a college seems pointless to me. Involvement to better the community and broaden your horizons is a good thing. Being a leader is not important. Offering your talent and being an example can make a huge difference.

Good luck to you and your S.

[ordinarylives]

Lol, as someone who lives very close to a number of reservations, I read the thread title with more than a little horror. In fact, didn't open the post at first because I was afraid of some kind of racist rant. Thank goodness it just refers to the old leadership expression, which, by the way, you should refrain from using in my part of the country.

So what's wrong with not being a leader? Not a darn thing.

[geeps20]

He also had a part time minimum wage job which, imo, is just as important as any EC.

much more important IMO

[Shrinkrap]

""But honestly, yes, you need to stop reading the chances forum! It's nothing but the blind leading the ignorant down paths of clueless irrelevance. "

Really, why do they even exist? And, not entirely a rhetorical question. "

The chances forum exists to keep all the lunacy in one place.

[limabeans01]

I agree with rhumbob. Why would you make a comment that all boards are "stupid"? This message may have been sent to your son and so he has learned to keep to himself. Sad (IMO) because I think everyone has something to offer the community at large and it doesn't have to be by leading others.

[Big10Champ]

"ucbalumnus, I believe she was speaking metaphorically. "

@Kdog044, I believe ucbalumnus was speaking facetiously...

Of course everyone is familiar with the phrase. That doesn't make hurling it around any less disrespectful. Surely on a forum about higher education we can imagine ways of articulating a problem without reaching for racialized phrases. mom2collegekids managed to do so (queen/worker bee comparison)...

Oh well. Carry on

[Classof2015]

Just to keep it straight -- I don't think OP said "all boards are stupid". In her first paragraph, she used her own husband as an example of someone who would rather come home to his family after a hard day than "sit on some stupid board."

In the second paragraph, she referred to "the chances board" (here on CC).

From the little info she gave about her child, I don't know if "Indian" is jumping out at me as his most salient character trait. I want to know more about the kid who "loves academics".

I never liked the "you're either an Indian or you're a Chief" polarization. How are chiefs made chiefs? Is it an elected or appointed position? Is there animal sacrifice involved? Is there a clawback provision?

Sorry...

[frazzled1]

The chances forum exists to keep all the lunacy in one place.

But how does it keep escaping to the other forums?

[Shrinkrap]

^ It happens, but I see the mods working feverishly to keep it in check.

[momknowsbest3]

Sorry. I didn't consider the colloquialism racist since chiefs are Indians. We can change it to worker bee if that would be better. As for not liking the boards.. I meant like hospital board or chamber of commerce or rotary or something like that. My husband doesn't like things like that. I, on the other hand, am very involved in the community. Too much so to my husband's point of view. Family is everything to him. My son is a lot like him. My husband is a great doctor with a great beside manner ( all I ever hear is how wonderful and nice he is..and they are right. He is the nicest man on the planet. ) But he lives for being at home on the tractor or camping in a national park with our family.

My son got a 34 on the ACT and a 5 on AP Stats and Gov, 4 on Chem. He made A's in Spanish I and II last year at our community college. Next year he will take Spanish 3 and 4 at the cc and Eng I and II at the cc. He will also take AP Economics, AP Calc AB, and AP Phys B.

He has played piano since 2nd grade. He is involved in our church youth group. He has gone to the church leadership camp each summer. ( REally leadership in name only..just a summer camp.) He is involved in the audio-visual team at our church and that is his main extra-curricular. He runs the service once a month, now twice since one person quit. He also ends up running the power point for all adult choir concerts and children's choir concerts, including all the extra rehearsals that go with that. He ends up running it for Christmas Eve and Easter and such as well. Sometimes he has to come up with original slide shows or movies for the services. They like him because he can add slides and take them away so much quicker than the adults that run it and he anticipates our words nicely as well and keeps the slides going at a good pace. He likes it because it deals with computers and is behind the scenes. But in the world of college confidential that sure isn't much of an EC. He didn't cure cancer or anything.

He wants to major in computer science. He is looking at Baylor, TCU and LeTourneau.

My huband doesn't want him to get a job ( he didn't have one until he finished residency..his job was school) , partly because he doesn't want him to miss all of the travel and mission trips that we do.

Oh yeah, he's been to Honduras, Ethiopia and Ecuador on family mission trips.

[mom2collegekids]

I think his chances at Baylor and TCU are excellent with his stats. I wouldn't worry about his ECs.

[frazzled1]

His A-V work at church sounds like a major EC to me. It demonstrates multiple competencies, responsibility (leadership), commitment (leadership), the ability to work with many different groups - lots of good qualities. He needs to describe it accurately in his applications. Excellent stats, too! I think he'll do well applying to the schools he's looking at.

[TXArtemis]

^ Wow, you sorta hid his light under a bushel in your original post! His ECs are more than fine and show an array of talents and impressive maturity and personal development. Baylor's gonna like him and will probably give some attractive merit money. And as between BU and TCU (don't have any personal experience with LeTourneau), Baylor sounds like a far better fit...but I hope you'll encourage him to do overnight visits so he can decide. The were key to my kids' decision-making process.