What colleges don't care about extracurriculars?

Culbreath
Sun, 04 Apr 2021 21:18:14 +0000

I would first make sure he has a solid list of schools that go beyond the Ivy+ list. I’ve encouraged my friends to understand that attending an Ivy+ school should not be the definition of success for a student.

Of course it’s great to aim high. My S21 enjoyed the book “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport, which I think outlines a more sane approach than just stacking up excessive AP classes and creating a laundry list of ECs.

My S21 was admitted to UChicago. I don’t know exactly why they chose to admit him, and he has no “hooks,” but I can tell you he did not “play the game” by someone else’s rules. Meaning, he took AP classes that interested him (12 total). He participated in, and excelled at, ECs that excited him (band, speech, and creative writing). He did not join NHS or student counsel, did very few volunteer hours, and his only leadership position was prepared speech lead in 12th grade. He didn’t do anything for the sole purpose of resume building. Rather he did things that were important to him. One of his greatest assets is that he’s just very interesting, as well as authentic, and I think that came across in his application.

I share this because I think too many students are caught up in the competition with others, when they’d be better served by just pursuing their own interests and challenging (but not overwhelming) themselves with an appropriate level of rigor based on the classes available to them.