This is something new being started at our HS. Wondering if D21 should try to get involved. Here is her info in a nutshell:
Probably pre-med, and right now leaning towards math as an undergrad major. She enjoys it and it comes relatively easy to her.
Probably applying to very selective colleges. Based on HS so far, her testing history, her siblings, etc. I expect her to graduate with at or very near a 4.0 UW and at or near top of her class. Probably 30+ ACT, hopefully 30+++. I realize that she is a soph and all of this could change, but for purposes of this thread please assume she continues on that path.
She is a 2 sport athlete and already heavily involved with a couple of other time intensive EC’s. One of which is probably pretty unusual at least for IVY/NESCAC and similar type schools. She doesn’t really have extra time to do anything. I don’t really know what this club plans on doing. So I don’t know if it will be a big time sink or not.
Mostly I just wonder if it looks odd to apply as a math major to places like Brown, Williams, etc. and she hasn’t been in math club or participated in math competitions.
I think it looks a little odd to have no STEM related activities. I also think that unless she is a recruited athlete, it isn’t helpful to have almost all sports ECs at the very top schools.
That said, I’m not sure I’d have her change her activities for the sake of college admissions if she really likes what she is doing. Why are places like Brown & Williams so important? She still sounds like a strong candidate for a lot of meets need and merit schools.
For my daughter, a math major at one of the sought-after alter-Ivies, being in her HS math club was a natural fit, and a way for her to do with math what she did on the track, go up against her peers in a team-oriented fashion, and have everyone still be okay with each other at the end of the day.
Do I think it was important for the colleges to which she applied to see that? It probably helped them to understand why she would place her area of interest at the college level as mathematics, and gave them a way to make their tally marks when it came to outside interests and activities, when compared to the other applicants. But on the whole, I can’t see that the math club would have tipped any admissions officer to think, “Let’s take this girl.”
She, too, was a lifelong sports girl, and didn’t have any big titles to show for it, but was consistent with that throughout her HS career. We worried she might look a little light in the math-heavy side when being reviewed, save for her standardized test scores and class grades.
I can’t say it is not something which helps, but I would say a dedicated interest and investment in activities other than what a student states they want to major in in college shows a commitment and passion that speaks to a well-rounded kid. And I think that helps.
If your D is enjoying the activities she is involved with and has a busy schedule I see no particular need to join the the math club. However, If she has a strong interest in learning about the club there is no harm in go to the first meeting or two so and get a sense of what they will be doing. I’d follow your D’s lead on this one.
If she enjoys her current sports and is committed to them, I wouldn’t drop them for math club. Maybe the math club will attend math meets, but there may also be other opportunities for competition - single day events like that AMC tests. She might consider participating in those.
The issue is when you name colleges like Ivies/Brown and Williams. There, they’ll look for ECs that do reflect the possible major. It’s part of looking to understand one’s thinking (and commitment, some stretch.) You can bet plenty of the competition will have these- and rounding. It’s all part of “Show, not just tell.” And it’s a perpetual disagreement on CC.
A good balance is 3 fold: what you like or serves your future interests, what you do with your groups (peers in hs or, eg, your culture group.) And what serves your community, its needs. Can’t go wrong with a balance.
What math class she’s taking now? College math for math majors is very different from school math, even calculus. I would at least get acquainted with higher-level math before thinking about being a math major.
If she wants to be a math major, it would look good for her to demonstrate that interest not only by doing well in all her math classes, but by doing math-related EC’s. That may or may not mean being on the Math Team. She could choose to tutor other kids in math, if she prefers, or some schools have a teacher assistant program. I’m sure there are other choices too.
It also looks good to have interests outside your potential major for well-roundedness, to make you a more interesting person, to show you’ve explored other things, and for physical fitness.
I’d have her attend the first meeting and find out what she is getting into and what kind of commitment is required, then decide.
@dadof4kids - You can get into STEM areas in college with none, or almost no STEM ECs in HS.
I am the proud parent of 2 Northwestern Engineering Alums. Both were non-recruited varsity athletes, but only 1 of them participated in Math Club, and in our School District, the Math Club meets were in the “off season” from the sport. Obviously to get into NU, they had top grades and test scores, but their non-sport ECs were primarily tutoring, SADD and NHS activities. Robots and rockets were not a part of the equation!
BTW - I have had personal conversation with AdComs at a couple of major universities, and they tell me that they DO understand about varsity sports and the time commitment necessary to participate. So if your D wants to check out the time required for Math Club, and if she wants to do it for the fun of it, then great, it wouldn’t hurt, but IMHO, it’s not necessary.
Thanks for all the input. She definitely won’t be a “pointy” math or stem kid, even if she does this. That may be the more attractive path for admission, but that’s just not who she is.
Already she has to go to school early 3x a week for EC’s. No after school sport right now (she is fall and spring) although club soccer is pretty much always in season.
There is a theme to a couple of her EC’s, one in school and another that does similar activities during the summer. Plus she has the athletic commitment pretty much year round. I’m hoping between the deep commitment to athletics and unusual ECs, along with lving deep in flyover country, will make her unique enough to get one of the well rounded slots when admission time comes.
Hi-
This sounds similar to my d situation. She is studying at an arts magnet school, and only realized into her junior year how much she loves math. She’s taking 2 aps this year, calc and statistics, but there aren’t really any clubs for math at her school or other stem ecs. She has 4 years of lit mag and other more humanities based clubs.
I’m hoping she will have a chance to talk about this in her essays. But, I love all the feedback you’ve gotten- it’s reassuring.
My DD never did Math clubs and majored in math at a Big State U. But her goals was to become a HS math teacher.
I think it depends on her goals…if it is pre-med I would not go for an Ivy.
Also she should think about the students she is competing against. I woudl imagine for an Ivy there wuold be many with math competition experience.
If you want to go pre-med then think about:
The cheapest reasonable college so you/your parents can use the money for med school
The college needs to prepare you for MCATs but still allow you to get a good GPA
Access to volunteering opportunities (e.g., near a hospital)
Just remember OP said Brown, William’s and implied possibly NESCACs. The game is different. Unless you’re truly laid back and believe a kid will bloom wherever, have happy safeties, you don’t really get to just do what you want. It’s a factor of the competition.
Another reality check: lots of strong kids apply from flyover country and there’s not always a way to know if ECs are truly unique. Or relevant to what a particular college looks for.
@Cwela23 the essay isn’t where you talk about limitations, btw. If needed, a few lines in Addl Info and/or have the GC explain.
This comment is not related to whether it will help your daughter in admissions, but I felt Math club helped in learning that you’re not always going to be perfect which is a good lesson for difficult college work. Our son only did Math club his senior year. Some of those tests they’d do were so difficult that getting half right would put you in the top 10-25% and advance to the next round. 4.0 GPA kids aren’t used to getting that many wrong, so I think there is a beneficial lesson there such that when they get to college and don’t get 95-100% on every exam, they don’t freak out.
