My son is a sophomore with strong STEM background. Compared to his STEM peers, he LOVES reading as well especially sci-fiction books. It is quite an unique character which is apart himself from his peers. But he does not like writing. Is there any competition, scholarship or opportunity to allow the students like him (enjoying reading) to show potential and add credits to his college application profile? Many thanks.
Please do not try to go that route. Do not look at what he does from the perspective of what looks good on the college application.
His love of reading will benefit him in many subtle ways. He is NOT unique in this, btw. The pool of students you know just isn’t large enough to have many like him. Our family (H, son and I plus many relatives) are gifted in STEM as well as being excellent readers. We know many others who read as well as do STEM activities. btw- I took an elective (pas/fail) in college in Fantasy and Science Fiction just to have the excuse to read the genres- well taught Lit course (undergrad Chemistry major eons ago).
The more one reads the better one becomes on standardized tests. Good readers will read average material but learn what is/isn’t good. Plus we expand our knowledge bases. I also dislike writing and know son had trouble trying to do too much with his assignments. Part of being a perfectionist.
Let reading be the ends, not the means to an end for him. Be sure he includes many diverse activities to add to his life experiences. So much more I could write- but you get the idea. Be thankful you have a reader (and public libraries!).
OP, I don’t know of any specific scholarships for bookworms, but there are ways to be able to present his passion for reading as a part of his eventual college application. My niece was a devoted bookworm, until she met a young man (in the public library) who asked her to join the teen program in the library. They got together to read to / with special needs kids, some their age or maybe a couple of years younger than they were. This “bookworm buddies” program gave them a chance to talk about their favorite sci-fi or YA fiction, other days they spent playing board games or doing Star Wards puzzles. My niece is fond of saying she wasn’t sure who benefitted more from this, as not only it became a terrific EC that she was able to write about for her applications, it offered her a chance to hang out with kids who shared her interests. But this was a positive experience for everyone involved.
Not that I know of. My older son showed his passion for reading by getting a higher SAT score in CR than in math even though he was clearly a STEM kid through and through. One application asked for a book list from the last year and he provided them with a list of over 100 books - sci fi and fantasy mostly, though a fair amount of non-fiction in his are of interest which was computer programming. He got into that (very highly ranked) college - I doubt that the booklist was the deciding factor though.
I like the idea of being part of a bookclub for younger kids. Sometimes kids need to be nudged out of their comfort zone, so if he’s amenable to this idea, you might see if he could do anything with it.