Cookie-Cutter Extracurriculars

cptofthehouse
Fri, 02 May 2008 22:03:45 +0000

Of course, most activities are cookie cutter. That’s why when there is a break from the usual, it is considered out of ordinary! The push to make kids extraordinary in the activities that are supposed to be their fun time, their break from school is really a problem in my book. I say this even as a mom who got caught up in it, as my two older kids really got themselves in competitive situations in what was originally was supposed to truly extracurricular. I’ve avoided this with the younger ones, because it really is difficult to disentangle once you go that route. You see, the kids really want it too as it becomes their lives. They make friends with others in the same groups and want to continue if they are doing very well.

It’s hard not to get caught this way when your kids truly excel in these pasttimes. There really is no easy answer to this one. But be aware that in the world of college EC ratings, the level that you have to be in oder to get more than a 3 on a 5 point scale is really waaaay up there. They have concert masters and state champions up the whazoo at the top schools. What it comes down to , is whether they could use someone like your kid and if he is pursuing that sport or that activity in college. They have a good idea from the profile and essays if that is the case. Of course for sports, you have to get by the coach and on his list, no small doing. And unless the sport is important to that college, it isn’t going to make a huge impact anyways.

So many kids and parents get disappointed when they realize all those years of piano, violin, dance, softball, basketball, football, don’t mean a danged thing to the college adcoms. It fills the EC page just like a kid who didn’t spend nearly the time on those activities. That’s another reason to be sure that your child is enjoying the activities and that they are not becoming a burden and unrealistic expectation for getting into a top school.