Most parents overall, or most parents in the typical forum demographic (self-described “middle class” who will not get any financial aid)?
a few thoughts: kid we know participated in a stanford summer program; kid’s mom told me that was an “in” to the school. NOPE. didnt get in with the 36/2400. They were so sad; kid did get in to an HYP school though. it was eye opening to our midwestern community.
my kid qualified for a Duke TIP program a few years back, but we couldnt afford it. We could afford $150 to let kid go on a mission trip to SD – Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Look it up if you’re not familiar. It’s one of the most impoverished areas/reservations in the US, quite dismal, (and that makes me sad but that’s a whole other story). 30 kids stayed in a church basement and tore down a rotting community center. It was eye opening, if anything. This was listed on EC section, and a small part of essay focusing on architecture. No answers to the “pay for play” question - but know kiddo gave willing time and labor, and learned, and that was worth mentioning.
Someone earlier in the thread asked how a student would explain what they did over the summer if they didn’t include their pay to play activity. I’m a bit confused by this as the Common App doesn’t ask kids to write what they did over the summers, just list their activities. So my son, for example, only mentioned things over the summer that tied into to ECs (band camp or volunteering, etc.) but didn’t include things that he did over the summer that didn’t fit within one of those categories. My D went to an outdoorsy camp for teens several summers where she hiked, climbed, boated, etc. I wasn’t thinking that she would mention that on her application. Should she? And, if so, where and how would you fit that in?
@pittsburghscribe, it could have been a supplemental essay/question, I.e. Stanford, they ask what the kid did last two summers, or at least did in the past