@missbwith2boys What were your DS ECs like? Mine has had only a few, none with any leadership positions. He’s one of the smartest kids in his class, but not one of the leaders. If there’s a group forming for a project, he’s not the one jumping up to lead it. He’s the one that the other leaders are scrambling to get on their team. Colleges are usually looking for the leaders, I think, to get those big, competitive scholarships. I saw a few where they were looking for creative thinkers in the essay questions - he’s definitely got a shot there.
One of the things that we’ll have to work on is how he presents himself on his applications. He has dealt with learning disabilities (he had IEP for both speech and ADHD through elementary school). His grades aren’t perfect, but they are good. He can make careless mistakes on tests that drop him down a grade. His papers and his projects are spectacular. His ADHD disability oddly enough is also his superpower and it’s why other kids like him to work on his projects. He is able to make some really interesting logical leaps - so from a creativity and out of the box thinking perspective, he’s fantastic. From a transcript perspective, he’s lower down on the totem pole.
All of the really competitive scholarships that I’ve seen so far are looking for leaders.