As a LatinAmerican I haven’t been able to understand why some US students:
Take up to 10 AP (why do they do that? I now it counts as credit in some institutions but do they really need all of them?)
Create and join clubs (I understand that this is a way to show your interests and your leadership, however, I can’t conceive a way to make those clubs work, how and why do they join? Is it because they are really passionate about that or they just need it in order to embellish their college application?)
Get into honor societies (I know that honor classes provide a better preparation for colleges but I don’t get the usefulness of honor societies beyond college admissions. besides that, do honor societies and honor classes have any relation?)
Do research (how do you even do that in the first place? :S )
When did ECs started to gain weight in admissions? When did people noticed that having ECs was a good idea to complement college application? Did people from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s had to do ECs to look competitive during applications? Do US high-school students with NO ECs even exist? (I think this is misconception of mine since I only see people full of ECs here in CC forums, please confirm) and
Where do they end up?
By the way, I love the US for how complete is its application process, and how they count the human component besides just money and/or scores, but these things keep floating in my mind occasionally .
Basically that’s all for now, I would appreciate your responses, in that way I would learn more context about the US education system and I would understand better how those things work.
You ask some good questions. For competitive schools, they have a surplus of academic superstars that apply. So they look for additional factors – ways that show the student really engages others positively and enhances his/her environment and is an aggressively curious scholar.
But what’s ensued is the tail wags the dog.
Schools A, B and C say they value leadership and discuss some fantastic student who began a charity or community service. Suddenly “club founders” mystically appear as students feel they’ve discovered a magical path into schools A, B or C and now wildly try to game their way into the schools.
Many students feel they have to have items X, Y or Z – because prior successful applicants may have had them.
I don’t know why either. I took seven AP’s even though I could’ve taken more (most of them math/science, although I also took language and lit) and only one AP score mattered. What matters is that you challenge yourself in high school, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to “take every single AP.”
Only meaningful if your club succeeds IMO. Some people do create clubs that go on to do interesting things and last awhile.
From my POV, “honors” has become a very inflated word when it comes to anything high school related (honor society, honors course, graduate with honors).
Only the brightest HS students I know did any sort of meaningful research in high school. I didn’t even do research.
Probably when the application process became more and more competitive, in which high grades and scores didn’t distinguish an applicant much anymore…
If you are a smart student and your school offers many challenging classes (and if some colleges value students who challenge themselves), wouldn't you take advantage of those offerings?
With the help of two teachers at my school, I made a creative writing club. We got other students to join and met for reading/editing sessions and had open mic nights. I created the club because I missed having other writers to talk to and bounce ideas off of.
Not related to honors classes, usually. Just an accomplishment that makes you feel good. Isn't it nice to be recognized as a good student?
Most high school students don't do research. It's unusual.
“Do US high-school students with NO ECs even exist? (I think this is misconception of mine since I only see people full of ECs here in CC forums, please confirm) and Where do they end up?”
My son who has Aspergers has no official ECs. He plays piano (but no awards or anything like that), codes (for fun), and writes fantasy fiction (again, for fun) in his spare time. However, he has an excellent GPA and excellent standardized test scores, so he will be attending an instate public school with a full tuition scholarship. He has no interest in any other colleges.
Data point: I graduated high school in 1980. I had EC’s and knew it was important for applications to elite colleges, but it hadn’t gotten anywhere near the crazed levels it’s reached today.
Daughter is planning on taking APs that will count towards her degree for state university and save money for me and give her room to take electives of her choice because the APs apply to her college degree.
And ECs are not important to us, since we are focusing on auto merit schools.
Agree, I graduated in the 80s and had ECs. They were super pointy (symphony band, orchestra, marching band, pit orchestra, music camp, giving music lessons). I did have some minor awards. And I had a part time job. Oh, and a summer field studies class. I don’t think they would do for top tier schools today, but probably okay for second tier.
D started a co-ed acapella group in her high school. 8 years later that group is still performing, still wearing the t-shirts her younger sister designed a few years later, and has done a lot of fund-raising for both charities and for the acapella program at her high school which is now 8 groups strong. D ended up getting her BM in vocal performance.
Many of the honor societies in her school do fundraising and other charitable work. They are also provide free tutoring to middle school and high school students in our district.
As for AP’s, why not? If you are a strong student, most kids go for them in the subjects they plan on taking anyway. By using AP credits in college, it allowed my D to double minor in college because many of her requirements were covered by AP classes. Due to AP credit, younger D was able to become a p/t student her final semester at NYU which allowed us to save over $10K in tuition.
As for research, although both D’s gravitated towards the arts, both were involved in research in high school. The year my D was a senior two of her friends were the first place winners of Siemens. They won $50K each. They were mentored by university professors and were involved in very legit research. One of the girls is in med school at Harvard, the other is in grad school at Stanford.
You’re describing only the small percentage of elite US students. MOST American students take only 1-3 APs, and their ECs consist of maybe a sport - and a part-time job. MOST American students also don’t apply to elite schools, choosing instead their local state colleges/universities and, for financial/academic preparation reasons, community college. The CC community (of both kids and parents) is NOT representative of the whole country!