28 hrs/week in total extracurriculars- excessive?

vicariousparent · 10-28-2009, 12:04 AM

Okay, so for the infamous common app question, my D tried to estimate the amount of time she spends per week on extracurriculars, and comes to a conservative estimate of 28 hrs/week when averaged over 40-48 weeks.

Is this too large a number, or is this within the ballpark of other kids? Personally I'm a bit horrified, because if you add on top of that about 40 hrs of school, 30 hrs of homework and 50 hrs of sleep a week, that leaves only about 3 hrs/day for everything else!

Are colleges going to assume that either a) she is lying or b) she must not have a normal social life and therefore would not make a good addition to the campus? Should she 'deflate' her E.C. hours to look more normal?

Am I overthinking this?

static75 · 10-28-2009, 12:10 AM

she just better be prepared to back it up, possibly with a rec from a coach or a teacher/sponsor/mentor..whatever the EC(s) is/are for. I think it's fine though. Nothing for you to worry about, assuming it's true. It IS a lot though.

geek_mom · 10-28-2009, 12:28 AM

It sounds like a lot of time, doesn't it? But I think it's in the ballpark if some of her ECs have "peak" periods. In dance or musical theatre, for example, they really rack up the hours in the last couple weeks before rehearsals. And if she has a significant role in multiple ECs -- sure, it can add up quickly.

momma17777 · 10-28-2009, 12:40 AM

Personally I don't think that is alot of time. My son spent at least 3-4 hours per day on Debate research and then some weeks from 1-10Pm on Friday and 6AM-8PM on Saturdays at tournaments. So that's easily 28+ hours a week and then he did debate camps as well during summers, as well as other ECs. Like was said by static75, as long as the student can document and especially if they have a rec from the sponsor, don't over think it. (PS my daughter also did 225 hours on a Girl Scout Gold Award her senior year, that didn't include anything else that was done.)

wis75 · 10-28-2009, 12:47 AM

The important issue is - is she thriving with her schedule? Is she getting the grades she should/could be getting? Is she getting enough sleep? Does she have enough unstructered time to destress? Some people need less time for homework and sleep than others and thrive on organized activities. How would she spend the hours if she dropped any activites? Would she be restless or enjoy the freedom of nothing to do? Is she missing out on desired (on her part) family time or other non countable activities such as reading for pleasure due to lack of time? The answers to these questions will determine the answer to the your question.

soozievt · 10-28-2009, 12:49 AM

I would show her true hours. What you said it pretty common for kids applying to the schools your D is shooting for. My own kids had more EC hours per week even than your D did. All of it was easily backed up. I would not worry that it sounded like too much. Show what's real. And what's real in your D's case is typical of a lot of kids I know who are very involved in ECs and also very good students.

soozievt · 10-28-2009, 12:50 AM

My kids rarely had free time in HS or in college. They were still very happy. I think their activities are their social time in many ways. If they were not happy, that would be one thing but they thrive on being very busy. They have always been scheduled 24/7 but out of CHOICE.

scualum · 10-28-2009, 12:57 AM

My son had way more than that with his sport as well as other activities - it simply adds up - especially if there are peak periods where it goes 12+ hours a day. (e.g. at a tournament)

vicariousparent · 10-28-2009, 01:08 AM

momma17777: You guessed it. Debate class, debate tournaments, debate prep, and debate summer camp. Add to that the choir, musical theater, voice lessons, literary magazine, creative writing camp, and so on. And yes, she is a well-adjusted, normal kid, who has lots of friends and hangs out with them, goes to movies, loves shopping, etc. Gets good grades too.

CountingDown · 10-28-2009, 02:06 AM

Heck, S2 spends almost that much time just on football, not counting his other ECs. It doesn't seem out of line to me for kids going for highly competitive schools.

Now that I think about it, I probably spent that much time on ECs in HS, too. I practically lived at the yearbook advisor's house senior year. Would babysit her kids while doing layouts!

FallGirl · 10-28-2009, 07:34 AM

If she is enjoying herself, her grades are kept up and she's not too stressed out it's fine. As you can see from other posters this is not unusual. My own child put in about that many hours/week with dance studio,school dance team, school musicals and other activities and she thrived on it. It didn't hurt her at all in college admissions.

momofthreeboys · 10-28-2009, 08:21 AM

28 doesn't feel unusual. Obviously it varies for most kids from month to month. If you think about it many teens work 10-20 hours per week and play a sport and participate in clubs so, yes, the hours add up. For my kids they put their work hours down because those tend to be fixed each week for the entire year. For the sports they were varsity sports so they just left the hours blank. For ECs I think they put a couple hours a week or something reasonable. Admissions people know how that runs in my opinion and don't need a "number of hours per week"...many hours in season and fewer in the off seasons....The kids have maybe 40 hours a week plus weekends that they aren't in school and aren't sleeping. Not too difficult to glance and figure out if the app is realistic or not regarding homework/ECs/work/sports balance etc.

mnmom62 · 10-28-2009, 08:43 AM

I have a dancer that does Debate as well, it doesn't seem outrageous to me. My d was dancing 25 hours a week in 5th grade!! We left that studio though, because it was clear that was too much once academics really kicked in, she's now at about 18 hours a week of dance.

beth's mom · 10-28-2009, 08:50 AM

I think you need to tell the truth on the application (good or bad). If your D actually spent that much time on ECs, why discount it out of fear a college might think she's exaggerating? My D doesn't have that much throughout the year, but during her sports seasons she puts in 25+ hours a week between sports and volunteering, and I can assure you there are kids at her school who are a LOT busier than she is. Now if I could only get her to do that 30 hours a week of homework you mention . . . .

momofthreeboys · 10-28-2009, 09:01 AM

The best advice is not to "overthink" this "stuff."