28 hrs/week in total extracurriculars- excessive? - Page 2

fogfog · 10-28-2009, 09:07 AM

Wow thats alot of hrs...Good for her..
With my sons school schedule and varsity sport 6 days a week..he averages 15 hrs a week during the school year...
During summer and training for Nationals etc..it was 6 hrs a day.

Youdon'tsay · 10-28-2009, 09:10 AM

^^^ Good advice from momofthreeboys, I think.

I didn't add up what ds wrote on his app, but I know he wasn't trying to pad anything. If his numbers look inflated, it's because of what others have said. For instance, what about the 10-day trip over the summer to Philmont with Scouts? Plus in the past year he rcv'd his Eagle. Spread all those hours over the 52 weeks/year he's in Scouts and it adds up, but the Philmont hours only came in the summer. I'm hoping adcoms will be sensitive to the ebb and flow of hours spent, like for ds's sport. During the season it takes up a LOT of time, including out-of-town tournaments and such, but you're unable to spell out that it's 72 hours one week and 15 another.

momofthreeboys · 10-28-2009, 09:18 AM

It's a poor question as most kids don't spend the same hours per week on anything they do. Would be much simpler to ask how many hours per year or leave the amount of time blank or simply ask if the kids what they are involved in and are they going to continue the activity in college yes or no. Some ECs are seasonable, work loads are clearly higher in the summer, some sports are seasonal. I general, I just think it's a "dumb" question that sends kids into a tailspin because they don't know what to put down.

vicariousparent · 10-28-2009, 10:38 AM

They do also ask how many weeks a year. My D added up the hours spent per year and divided by the total number of weeks when she is engaged in the activity at all.

But yeah, suppose you are gone to a debate tournament for 3 days, do you count the 7 hours you spent in the bus each way or do you just count the 30 hours you spent doing actual debate activities when you were at the tournament?

Youdon'tsay · 10-28-2009, 10:56 AM

I'd count traveling time because that's time spent on the event you wouldn't normally have spent that way.

geek_mom · 10-28-2009, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicariousparent

They do also ask how many weeks a year. My D added up the hours spent per year and divided by the total number of weeks when she is engaged in the activity at all.

That's what my son did, too.
As to travel time, I think he counted some of it (e.g., where it included loading and unloading school equipment), but not just driving to and from the venues. He didn't have any seven hour bus trips, mind.

AL34 · 10-28-2009, 11:05 AM

wow - I agree with momthree and hope this is just overthinking things.
I guess the student just has to be prepared to answer truthfully if asked about the amount of time. DS works 25 hrs./wk at one job and 10 hrs. at another, during Marching Band season (25+ hrs./wk) plus school, homework (sleep?) it doesn't look possible on paper but we all know the kids do it, may not be easy at times, but it's not that unusual.

CountingDown · 10-28-2009, 12:37 PM

S2's hours divide up as mostly football in the fall, debate and MUN kick in November through March, weight training is Nov.-late May, then July-mid-Aug., karate is year-round, occasional volunteering during the school year (more along the lines of targeted projects), then lots of it during the summer, etc. There were other things he'd like to have continued doing (namely stage crew), but the time commitment plus IB conflicted with too many other things.

Bromfield · 10-28-2009, 02:18 PM

I'd second the don't overthink advice and just put down the actual number of hours. Lots of kids are heavily involved in ECs and are also good students. It's not unusual.

rocket6louise · 10-28-2009, 03:17 PM

I agree with a previous poster. Some stuff like Musical theatre has INSANE hours(albeit not all the time)

For me personally, we do three shows/year(10 weeks each)

Fall Play: 2.5hours/day weekdays + 4 hours saturdays= 16.5 hours a week
One Acts: 3 hours/day 3 days/week+ 5 hours saturdays= 14 hours week
Musical: 3 hours/day 5 days/week + 7 hour saturdays= 22 hours a week

And that's just theatre. When you add in Debate(5 hours/week), Work (10 hours/week) and everything else a year, I average around 33. It's just the way it is.

appdad · 10-29-2009, 12:16 AM

I had a chance to do admissions. We were asked to take a close look at the number and amount of time devoted to ECs. 28 hours at first does not seem excessive might often reflect less than a critical eye for the admissions process. In high school I played 2 varsity sports was in student government and a couple of clubs. Yet my weekly avg. was lower than 28 hours. For example, most sports are seasonal and typically a member of the debate team does not attend all debate tournaments. Also I feel a bit weird about adding summer camps into the total. In my opinion attending a sport or debate camp is developmental activity not an EC. Think about it 225 hours on an activity over 52 weeks is ~4.3 hours per week. By the way the amount of time you devote to an EC is far less important than the contribution you make to the 'group effort'. Finally, the AdComs are professional they have a good sense of what it takes to for the typical HS ECs. It turns out that the 'stars' (football or debate) have balanced lives which translates to more than 3 hours a week for life outside of school per day.
You might be interested in taking a look at this article on the admissions process. (In or Out: Inside College Admissions - TIME).

vicariousparent · 10-29-2009, 01:29 AM

^^ That is a very interesting article appdad but could you please explain what you mean?

I see that you do not consider summer camps to be part of an EC even though it is directly related to that EC? That is an interesting take on what constitutes an EC, since I thought that the extra- in EC would mean it could happen at any time of the year regardless of school. But let us put that aside, I truly do not understand what you mean by the statement:

Quote:

28 hours at first does not seem excessive might often reflect less than a critical eye for the admissions process

Are you saying that those who estimate 28 hrs are simply not doing the math right? Or that, as I said in my OP, the adcoms will either assume the student is lying or has no social life?

Youdon'tsay · 10-29-2009, 01:44 AM

I was confused by that, too.

vicariousparent · 10-29-2009, 02:22 AM

I just looked at my D's common app- there is a question "When did you participate in this activity" and then two boxes, one for school year and another for summer, and you can check just one or both. So for a debater who attended summer debate camp it would make a lot of sense to check both boxes and report all the hours and weeks together in that section.

Anyway, now I am definitely overthinking it. I think the LORs, awards and music supplement should back up the hours quite nicely.

momofthreeboys · 10-29-2009, 08:49 AM

I get what appdad is saying. Play a sport or two or three per year (or substitute music or dance or theater), a part-time job and maybe a club or two plus study time and maybe some volunteer hours and the week if gone. Of course kids have more time in the summer but many kids work more hours in the summer than during the school year and realistically much more than that and you are counting crumbs. Kids socialize, too. They "hang out", play video games, read books, watch movies, go on dates, help around the house/yard, ...all that normal stuff that isn't an "EC."