<p>My D was State History Day champion twice, as an 8th grader at the junior level, and as a freshman at the senior level (also placing nationally). She made the difficult decision to drop this competition after freshman year even though she loved it so much, since she knew it would take a bigger hit on her GPA, especially her APs, so I am familiar with your concerns. If you are targeting the top schools and she has the time to devote to a high level competition like Intel or YES, go for it! Otherwise a local competition won’t give you the added benefit relative to the time effort, in my opinion.</p>
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These two items aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s possible to do activities AND have a high GPA. Some would argue that the activities themselves could have the benefit of helping to acieve a higher GPA (more structured study/HW time, enhanced knowledge through the activities themselves, etc.). </p>
<p>With your D’s SAT scores I doubt that she’ll have any problem doing both. If she feels she’s starting to take on a bit too much she can always cut back accordingly.</p>
<p>My D did all APs Junior year and it can be a tough schedule but she managed fine and still was able to do varsity tennis, Academic League, etc. There are many similar examples on this board.</p>
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<p>I guess this depends on what is meant by a “top school”. The group of son’s friends who did A LOT of team-based academic competitions throughout hs are at, or were accepted to, schools such as Rice, Northwestern, Wash U St. Louis, Brown, Williams, U Chicago, Duke and Vanderbilt, many with very lucrative merit scholarships. It may well be that even the slightest hit to gpa will damage chances to HYP and the damage will not be counteracted by an active hs profile, but I saw no evidence of deleterious effects at non-HYP top 20 schools.</p>
<p>^^agree with midmo,
Son was in local [Bay area]academic contests only, and was accepted at Brown, Dartmouth, Chicago, Wash U, Pomona,Carleton, etc. Won a full tuition scholarship at USC. Refused to apply to HYP. Was only declined at S. His other EC’s were piano and classical music studies.</p>
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<p>One response to that is to say that NOTHING is a sure thing. You’ve heard from a lot of other parents that extracurricular activities are very valuable, and I agree with that.</p>
<p>My D would have done academic competitions but freezes up in those settings and just doesn’t do well in them. Oh well. Kids just really do need to try lots of venues to find what fits them.</p>
<p>leicestermom, with a 232 on the PSAT as a sophomore, your daughter does not need any prep courses! Working through the blue book of Real SAT’s should be more than enough. D’s friend scored 2400 just by working the “SAT problem of the day,” which students can receive online after registering for the SAT. At your daughter’s scoring level, the time spent on a prep course would be absolutely wasted.</p>
<p>I do think that there are some American cultural expectations built into the SAT’s, which make them somewhat easier for a student who’s been educated here. However, again, at your daughter’s level, this seems irrelevant. Two comments vis-a-vis writing, though:
- In British English, collective nouns such as “committee” are often treated as plural, so that it would be correct to say “the committee have decided that . . .” In American English, such nouns are singular, and "The committee has decided that . . . " This one will crop up on the Writing portion, in the form of “agreement in number.”
- In British English, if a student is asked, “Are you planning to participate in academic competitions?” (or something similar), she might reply, “I might do.”
But in the US, the response would be, “I might.” (I could be missing a subtlety of British usage here, and this one is less likely to crop up.)
British spelling is not an issue.</p>
<p>The difference between 232 and “almost perfect” could easily be 1 or 2 questions. Most Americans attach no importance to the difference.</p>
<p>Also, I emphatically agree with tokenadult that nothing is a sure thing. . .
except, to turn the situation around, it’s very nearly a sure thing that a student with 2300+ and a 4.4 GPA–but no extra-curricular activities–will be turned down by almost all top universities.</p>
<p>Your daughter should stick with the academic competitions, if she enjoys them. She might also want to consider a different type of activity, either something that benefits her community or something done purely for fun, to follow an interest. </p>
<p>You might want to limit time spent talking to the score-mongers, too. I know the score of only one of QMP’s friends, the one with 2400, and only because that was in the school newspaper.</p>
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<p>I agree with this refinement of my statement for its descriptive accuracy in describing the practice of UNITED STATES universities. The very most selective of those universities mostly expect students to be active in extracurricular activities as well as having good high school grades and excellent test scores.</p>
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Since she did fairly well as a soph I’ll do it for $2500 and you can pay it out by using Curmie’s Double Secret Extra Special Interest Freedom Plan in 20 equal monthly installments of $175 each. With approved credit, plan unavailable in Arkansas and Wyoming. Void where prohibited by law or mathematical skills.</p>
<p>The xiggi thread is VERY long, here is a link to a summary of his method:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggi-s-sat-prep-advice-39.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggi-s-sat-prep-advice-39.html</a></p>
<p>It works and is much cheaper than prep courses or Curmie’s plan.</p>
<p>^^OP-meet Curmudgeon, our beloved resident philosopher, storyteller, leg-puller, goat-raiser, and father of one CC most famous daughters [and success stories as far as college outcomes go]!</p>
<p>Just skimmed the responses. Also have a gifted kid- was 2 grades ahead, did tons of academic competitions, AP courses. Keep on letting your D be mentally stimulated with the academics. AP classes are not that tough for well prepared gifted students - no big deal for some students to take many at once. Do not waste time or money with SAT prep courses. Do have her go over the free test for practice. Possible to go to a regular Wis HS, where most don’t take the SAT (ACT here) and get a 2400 without studying for it (my son)… Learning the material in her HS classes and combined with her innate ability is all she needs. Relax about things- many bright students study hard to perform nearly as well as some can with no effort. The prep courses are for those who don’t have the same natural academic talent as your D. BTW, son also had music and athletics, but some B’s because he didn’t always do the homework (not for lack of time with a busy schedule, either)… his grades hurt him, as did not applying to many schools to increase his chances (but he didn’t want them…). Even with superb credentials you can’t count on her getting into the top schools because there are too many such students for the number of spaces available- have some safeties when the time comes.</p>
<p>She tried to volunteer where her classmates usually volunteer- nursing homes, library, soup kitchens etc. Since she is only 14 , they refused her to work there. We had a tough time finding places to meet her NHS volunteer hours. The local elementary school carnivals & family festivals were our only resort.
In nut shell we are in fear of unknown - fear of the mighty SAT , complicated college admission process ( at least it seems like that to me) financial worries related to college. As we are not American citizens( only green card holders), I am not sure she will be elligible for many scholarships.</p>
<p>leicestermom, I don’t <em>think</em> there will be a problem with many merit-based (that is, not need-based) scholarships at private universities as long as you are permanent residents/green-card holders. I don’t remember seeing any qualifiers regarding citizenship on the merit scholarship portions of university web sites. At state universities, at least at the ones in our state, I believe citizenship may be a factor.</p>
<p>As I remember it, the National Merit Scholarship requires that awardees be citizens or be “in the process of obtaining citizenship”.</p>
<p>I’m surprised at the age restrictions you have come across for volunteer work. My daughter was volunteering in hospitals, animal shelters and at a therapeutic riding center (horses and children with special needs) since she was in junior high. However, this is a smaller town in a fairly unregulated state, and I’m sure this varies from place to place.</p>
<p>Green card holders (permanent residents) are treated just like United States citizens for most admissions and scholarship purposes.</p>
<p>leicestermom,</p>
<p>tokenadult makes a good point in #29–the admissions processes of universities outside the US are different, and more narrowly focused on academics (by using the word “narrowly,” I don’t mean to suggest that this is bad). Might your daughter want to apply to a university in the UK or Canada?</p>
<p>In your post #34, you refer to the “mighty SAT.” I don’t think many of the parents here would characterize the SAT in that way. It’s just a test, and your daughter shows the clear capability to handle it well, based on her PSAT scores. People of my generation rarely prepped for it at all–I worked through the practice test in the booklet that I received from the College Board when I signed up, and that was it; similarly for my spouse–neither of us had a study guide, let alone a prep course. </p>
<p>Your daughter might benefit from going through the writing sections of the study guide, though, to observe what (American) grammatical points are emphasized in the writing portion. </p>
<p>You yourself might benefit from looking at the math portion of the SAT I, and the math IIC, chemistry, and physics SAT II tests. There is a separate book available from the College Board, containing real versions of the SAT II’s. This will free you from any fear of the SAT, and I doubt that you’ll ever think of it as “mighty” again. (I have the impression that the admissions exams for IIT or Chinese universities might be “mighty.”)</p>
<p>Re: volunteering. Yes, the age issue is a problem that we encountered also. There are some agencies that will permit a 14-year-old to volunteer, if you or your spouse are volunteering at the same time. That might work for your family. Otherwise, your daughter could look around for independent opportunities to do something useful. She should ask the staff members at the community service agencies what they need, and see if she can help to supply it in any way.</p>
<p>For example, the food bank near us often needs fruit, vegetables, and protein-containing foods with long-ish shelf lives (canned tuna, chicken, and peanut butter). Your daughter might be able to work with her classmates to organize a food drive.</p>
<p>Our local food bank also carries paper products that people need, and they have more requests for disposable diapers than they can fill. (Please, readers, don’t flame me about the environmental consequences.) If your family is sympathetic to such requests, your daughter might also be able to organize a group to raise money for diaper purchases–or for cloth diaper services.</p>
<p>Your daughter may have a particular cause or issue that is meaningful to her, and she could think of a way to pursue service related to that.</p>
<p>the idea of sending her to UK for college comes up… (But think about the conversion rate of dollar to pound??? ). . She is definitely applying to Canada .
I know how tough IIT exams can be.That is how my husband reassures her -there are tougher exams in other parts of world
After going throgh this forum( students & parents both), she got a better sense of SAT . we also realized that she needs to take SAT subjects.She really need to streamline her academic plan. Unfortunately , she is in big school system & GC are overworked to the max , not very helpful as far we know. We have to meet with new GC coming weeks to register her last 2 years classes, hopefully new GC will be helpful</p>
<p>leicestermom,
The best time to take subject tests is in May or June of Junior year, or right after she has finished her AP test or finals when the material is still fresh in her mind. She should take the corresponding subject test to her AP classes- APUSH= US History subject test, AP LIT=English Lit, etc. In general, I would recommend taking 2 subject tests in may, 2 in June.
She should probably take the SAT in Jan or March of her Junior year.That way, IF she wants to retest to raise her scores, she can do so in Oct of her Senior year.
And don’t hesitate to come back and ask questions of CC’s “guidance counselors” any questions you have. I hate to brag, but you will find more knowledge here about the college application process than at most HS’s GC offices.</p>
<p>Thank you . That makes sense.</p>