<p>Jmmom, I’ve been sort of reluctant to get into the CC numbers thing, but I guess it’s just us old folks here… He’s a National Merit Semifinalist, 1490 SAT (+610 writing – he literally prints so slowly he didn’t finish his essay – who writes by hand anymore?), state-level recognition in the JH CTY program, three AP tests so far with 5s, lead programmer of his FIRST robotics team, varsity letter in track, Eagle Scout with six palms, sound and AV engineer at church, and (my favorite) works part-time as an assistant yacht designer. To my certain knowledge, over the last 12 years he has built more Lego spaceships and robots than any other kid in North America, and he went on a 50-mile-canoe trip in a boat he and I built together. His only “one of these things is not like the other things” stat is his GPA – which is going to end up at around 3.2uw. John has ADD and has trouble focusing once he “gets it.” Like most bright kids with ADD, his ability to focus when he’s interested and challenged is extraordinary, but if it’s not new, he’s mentally gone. To say that this is frustrating to his parents would be an understatement – his average test grade is about a 98, and he gets dinged for late homework pretty much all the time. (Yes, I know about using a planner and homework folders and …)</p>
<p>Anyway. There’s our dark family secret – my son is a B+ grade-earner with A level other records. If schools get his passion for creating stuff and learning, he’ll be fine. If not, he’ll still be fine, he will just be fine elsewhere. He’s starting his “I love to create” essay for the engineering/tech schools this weekend. He’s actually excited about writing it. (Unlike the “we are all victims” essay prompt from University of Washington.) The good thing about perspective is that I know his life will be cool. I did everything wrong you can imagine in getting into and going through college (except get a criminal record) and I somehow manage to hold down a professional job and pay the bills. Most people do turn out OK, after all.</p>
<p>Great kid, I can tell, RickT. Of course, your kid and mine have the opposite dark side - yours with the GPA, mine with the test scores :rolleyes:. So I don’t have any on-target wisdom for you.</p>
<p>However, there are <em>numerous</em> parents here with your kid’s profile. Top grades with the missing homework. Top performance in areas of interest; don’t care in areas not of interest. You can search for their threads for any pearls of wisdom, experiences they’ve had in the admissions wars, etc.</p>
<p>Or they might show up here, now that the cat is out of the bag ;). Or you might start a thread about high test score/somewhat lesser GPA admissions strategies.</p>
<p>Caltech and MIT are probably the two most strenuous universities in the United States. They want the best of the best of the best. In EVERY category. When they say they don’t just want perfect numbers, they want well-rounded kids too, they mean they want perfect numbers AND well-rounded kids. Caltech is REALLY an academically elite school… they only have about 2000 undergrads.</p>
<p>BandTenHut, MIT and other schools recognize that the “best” students are not necessarily the ones with the highest SAT scores or the most AP classes or the best class rank.</p>
<p>It’s sad that kids drive themseves so as to “fit” some idea of the “best” students–volunteering when their hearts aren’t into it, taking APs they don’t care about, grind, grind, grind. It’s sad because the chances of getting into one of the elite schools are small. Sort of like wasting one’s money on a lottery ticket.</p>
<p>My son got into MIT. I"m not sure why, but I know one part of it was coming from the rural West. Beyond that, he refused to do stuff to make himself look good. Not a lot of APs. He got Bs in a lot of English classes (no interest), so not the very top of his class. No volunteering at all, or leadership. He just did his own stuff with a maniacal intensity no one could manufacture. Maybe that was refreshing.</p>
<p>He enjoys MIT. But honestly, I don’t think it’s that big a deal. He finds good opportunites, but is just one of the crowd there. He’d might have a different kind of success–arguably just as good–had he gone to a slightly less sought-after school and been one of the best. </p>
<p>The most important thing is the confidence your kid gets from following his own interests, and then on top of that challenging himself intellectually–which is possible at plenty of schools (my daughter got a brilliant education at unsexy Grinnell!)–then he’ll do great!</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure “BandTenHut” is a high school student. Maybe a poster needs to answer a trivia question about 60’s Saturday morning cartoons before they’re allowed to read this part of the forum?</p>
<p>Hi Rick,
I’ve been reading this thread with great interest. Listen to molliebatmit instead of BandTenHut. She’s lived the dream. Your S sounds like a simply fascinating young man, with diverse passions. I’m sure he has as good a shot as most of the kids who apply to MIT. By the way, what’s your 60’s Saturday morning cartoon question? ;)</p>
<p>I’m as old as the hills and I can’t answer a one of those questions. Hubby is the pop culture trivia buff of the family. I was deprived in a no-teevee home.</p>
<p>His boy Sherman, of course. He was a brilliant dog? He wore glasses? He had a malfunctioning Wayback machine? What’s so unusual about that? (Great show along with Fractured FairyTales)</p>
<p>Clarabelle was on Howdy Doody (I hated that show.)</p>