@MotherOfDragons http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1912336-do-people-actually-attach-a-resume-to-the-common-app.html#latest
I agree with the thoughts on the thread. Having one to give to an interviewer should be a given, however.
My dd is using zeemee as an audio/visual portfolio of her accomplishments.
So I read this book my wife gave me called Dirty Little Secrets for getting into a Top College last night.
Wow, didn’t realize how screwed my kids are, lol!!
I’ve discussed with my wife what little chance even top students from our high school have at making it into the Ivy League/MiT/Stanford etc. She refuses to believe me.
This book broke down the typical incoming class and introduced me to a points system that admissions uses to create their class. You get points for being poor, 1st gen, not from New England, a race other than white, growing up someplace other than a suburb, legacy, athlete, etc.
The book talked about the kids that have multiple hooks, like super hooked. Such as a black/legacy, or a poor kid with amazing stats, or even the case where kids have 3 combined hooks.
Basically, the antithesis of my kids, ha. My younger son19 is a very good student and very good athlete so he might have the slightest chance, but only from being recruited. He would never get in based out on school stats, way too much competition. And there are lot of upper income white boys from the burbs with nice Ecs and test scores.
I liked the pie chart breakdown they used too, of how many kids from each region would make up a typical class.
It was an interesting read. Not the best book, and a lot of it I already knew. But if you were in Barnes and Nobles and they have it, grab it for a few minutes and enjoy a few nuggets of info.
Hah, I just found that thread 
and was coming back here to post the link. You all are too fast.
I wish an adcom would chime in on it.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I can’t see a spot to plug in ZeeMee on the common app.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’m exaggerating at 8, of course. The point is, it’s not a job resume that needs to be condensed to 1 page. If 1 page, it’s probably not needed as its unlikely to contain any information that isn’t already somewhere on the common app.
Our school had a college day with about 1/2 dozen admissions people. Most of them liked to see a resume so they could get a quick overview of the kid, and they read in any detail more about EC’s/activities/awards and interests.
One guy mentioned he liked to see stats on the resume, like gpa/tests scores. And also if the kid was taking AP classes and applying ed/ea add them, because they won’t receive your schedule in time and want to know you are not slacking off.
2 ladies from a state school and low-mid range college said they don’t need resumes, they mostly go by scores and gpa and EC stuff, all found on the Common App.
I figured it can’t hurt to have one, doesn’t take long to draft one up. If the person looks at it, fine. If not, no biggie.
@rightcoaster The point system is definitely real. It is why I get so frustrated about the SRARs. I cannot say Inknow definitively that is what happens, but I am pretty sure that your student is reduced to a computer-generated # based on what is entered. When those entries are untraditional, students get dinged.
Here is an article where an application with pts written on the application: http://blog.prepscholar.com/successful-harvard-application-common-application-harvard-supplement
@MotherOfDragons Dd is still near the beginning of the CA. If there isn’t a place for supplemental info (which I remember from ds), I will add a link to her zeemee page in either my counselor letter or course descriptions.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek the point system was funny. I never thought of it that way before. Anyways, in the books example they had 9 categories or so, and you could score up to 24 points. Points for not being white were a lot, points for being poor were a lot, points for being a recruited athlete were a lot, points for legacies, points for living in a obscure zone, points for being super student, etc.
My kids basically scored the lowest in every category, ha. I think they would earn like a 9 or 10 on the scale of 24.
Under 12 was basically the kiss of death. Or basically my kids app would be trashcan fodder. I knew that already, but seeing how undesirable my kids actually are based on something they can’t control is pretty sad.
But whatever, I’ve always said that I don’t care where my kids go to undergrad, as long as they like it and it has stuff they want to study.
** Resume **: if you have access to Naviance, check and see if you have access to their resume builder (under the About Me section)…its a pretty nifty little perk and it prints a nicely formatted, streamlined resume. you can add/subtract stuff as needed. we found it easy to use.
i vote absolutely NOT on an 8 page resume–i personally would roundfile a resume of that length just because i’d be annoyed. sorry–way too long. get it on a single page.
@RightCoaster @Mom2aphysicsgeek did you post a link to this point system? Or is it in a book? I googled “college application point system” and saw a few that were for specific schools but didn’t see anything general.
@homerdog it was in that book I read listed above. I don’t know if a similar point system has been published online or not. Basically, the point system was the more diverse you are the better, the poorer the better, the higher test scores.gpa the better, from a certain locale the better, 1 or 2 legacies the better,legacies that donate/volunterer the better, recruited athlete better, etc. Points went from 1-3, 3 being the best. So as an example if your parents make no money you get a 3, if you aren’t white/asian get some points, play a sport get 3, live somewhere other than the north east get some points.
The highest scores go into the pile for review. If you are in the lower category, hello trashcan.
My kids, instant garbage toss.
Oh my! I would think that parents who have money to pay would be give some kids an advantage given the price of school these days! Being poor gives you an advantage? Interesting. I guess if you are poor and still have great scores, that definitely says something impressive. I get that.
I know that at my alma mater, they consider legacy mostly if parents have donated. There’s a box they check for parent who donated each year irregardless of amount. Then, of course, there’s a box for kids with parents who have donated BIG money. That’s a different thing all together. I’m covering my bases and donated my measly $100 per year. (I know this because I have a friend in admissions there!)
@srk2017 Thanks for the article link. I have read elsewhere that when admissions reps read of such trips, they see it as a proxy that implies that the student is more likely to be full pay.
@thermom Don’t know your child’s stats or list but she might want to look at places where there aren’t significant barriers to moving from an A&S college to engineering (Case Western and WUSTL come to mind). If another change of heart happens, having to undergo one more hurdle to get admitted into a popular engineering major sounds like no fun.
Resumes: Our kid had to use the Naviance format because that’s what the GC requested. She found it easy to input but clunky for editing.
LOR: At D17’s school, they are counseled to request letters at the end of spring semester, junior year.
@VickiSoCal - Think it depends on what they do on the mission trip. DS13 and I went on one to Honduras. We spent most of the week putting in cement floors in homes one bucket at a time. Definitely not for the out of shape. The homes were 1 room shacks that most people in the US wouldn’t even use for a shed. It was pretty depressing that people have to live like that. But I think it was definitely worth doing.
My daughter gets her schedule today. For the first time since 5th grade, she will have a class with her best friend. They have taken the same classes just never at the time time/with the same teacher since. Only one AP German class so they have to be together.
Only open item at this point for her schedule is her AP Physics C class. School just started offering that class 2 years ago (replaced Algebra based AP Physics). But the teacher who taught the C class left over the summer. Not clear if they will have anyone to teach the C class (teacher who taught the Algebra based class retired two years ago). If that class isn’t offered, my daughter will need to determine what to do. May just take regular physics and self study for the AP tests because she would like to test out of physics.
Today several members of band leadership are playing for the teachers who start back today. She didn’t necessarily want to do it but she felt bad because very few kids signed up to do it. Then she has a welcome/mentoring session with the incoming freshman class. Summer break pretty much ended with band camp starting a couple weeks ago. But I guess this is the official end.
The official NMF scholarship is the $2500. One time not per year. And a little more than half of the NMF kids get one. In addition to schools that offer scholarships (some competitive and some automatic) to NMF kids which range from several thousand dollars to full cost of attendance (plus), some corporations offer scholarships to their employees’ kids who are NMF. Never applied for one but I believe they are competitive as well.
@homerdog There is an advantage for being full pay students, just not at elite need blind schools according to the book. This book was really focused on getting into the top schools where they want more diversity more than money.
There are still schools out there where full pay is certainly helpful. Especially expensive privates without huge endowments.
Alabama: The mystery deepens: Maybe there was an oddball hiccup for my daughter in the process, then? Because once she received her CWID, when she checked on her application it said “action needed” or something like that (I mean, aside from the obvious stuff like not having her ACT scores or transcript yet, of course), and she clicked through and it asked for more basic information. (And then after that she completed the scholarship application.)
Resumes: I really, really don’t get the point of resumes for common app schools, and that’s the one item I’ll be suggesting my daughter skip for those schools where it’s optional (which may be all of them on her list that have a slot for it, I’m not sure). I mean, aside maybe from some non-traditional/returning students, if you can’t get everything that would be on a resume on the common app somewhere, you’re doing something wrong.
Points for admission: Yeah, such a point system seems realistic, given that absolutely zero wealthy white kids from the Northeast (who don’t play a sport well enough to be recruited) have gotten into any highly selective colleges, ever. :-<
Resumes again: my son is meeting with a couple of coaches this week and he thought it would be helpful to have a resume to hand them so they could have more information about him other than lax stats, scores, and gpa.
Let’s say a one week trip to a developing country costs 2000. And let’s say the prevailing wage there is 5 dollars per hour. The choices are:
Send an unskilled American teenager to work 40 hours for one week.
Hire a local worker to work 10 weeks at 40 hours a week.
The question is does the benefit to the local people and the to the volunteer add up to more in the first scenario vs the second.
@M@MotherOfDragons
Your D18 sounds a bit like my S17. Didn’t study much for the PSAT. Still ended up with Commended but will miss the NMSF level. It’s water under the bridge, but it’s a bit of a shame he didn’t make NMSF when he could have. Did very well on his one & done for the SAT’s last spring. His grades aren’t stellar so it doesn’t really matter since he would never make Finalist. And because of his grade he’s not getting into top competitive schools.