What would you do differently/the same regarding extracurriculars?

[Sonshine]

Any been there done that advice?

 

Go with your child's career interests? With what makes your child happy even if there is not an obvious connection to a career interest? I'm primarily thinking of the middle/high school years. Any unexpected turns or twists?

[Laurie4b]

Include volunteer work in addition to extracurriculars. (College apps ask for volunteer work and nearly all merit-based scholarships do.)

 

Look for extracurriculars that involve leadership. (Again, both college apps and scholarships ask about this)

 

Go for depth in at least a couple extracurriculars. (Colleges like to see that students have a passion.)

 

Choose some extra curriculars that build up skills. (Eagle Scouting, Toastmasters, music etc.)

 

Participation in sports that will encourage lifelong exercise as a good habit. (Though you can do this with PE as well.) If your student is highly talented in a sport, this could lead to scholarship $$.

 

Choose some that involve people-skills. (This could be a job as well.)

 

Definitely allow extra-curriculars that are just passions/loves of your student. You don't really know what career s/he will choose. For dh, he pursued one career academically, but it was probably his love for puzzles (crosswords in ink, difficult jigsaw puzzles, etc.) which contributed to the actual job he has today, which involved novel problem-solving.)

 

Think of a funnel: more experimentation in middle school with some passions becoming clear in high school. Any extra-currics which involve several of these things are great choices (such as Eagle Scout: it shows leadership, community service,builds skill, allows for exploration of careers, etc.)

[regentrude]

Thanks for the summary, Laurie. Theoretically that looks very nice, but I wonder how one actually does that???

In particular

Go for depth in at least a couple extracurriculars. (Colleges like to see that students have a passion.)

 

 

This puzzled me as something almost impossible to achieve.

If my student really has a passion and goes in depth, it is hard enough already to fit in a bit of volunteering and maybe a second activity- but to go in depth in a couple of extracurriculars strikes me as virtually impossible.

My DD is passionate about horses and spends 20-30 hours a week at the barn. I assume the situation is similar for passionate musicians who spend several hours a day practicing.

So where do you compromise?

Do you cut the time short in order to squeeze in a variety of other activities?

 

We are just starting the high school years and she still has a light school schedule, but already her days are very full and she is juggling her time. Whenever I read lists like this I feel that it is impossible to achieve and would leave a burnt out student with no time to just sit, think and just do things that can't be billed under an activity heading (does writing poetry you don't show anybody count as an extracurricular?)

 

I would be interested to see experiences from parents of older students who managed to do this all.... right now it looks completely overwhelming.

Thanks.

[JennW in SoCal]

I would think that instead of looking at outside activities from the perspective of what a college wants, it is better to start with what your own child cares about.

 

I'm guessing here, but someone who spends 20-30 hours per week with horses isn't just doing one thing. Besides lessons and the caretaking of the horse, I can imagine there might also be helping younger students with their horses, helping the owners of the stables (if you don't own your own horse) with extra work. Both of those latter activities are volunteer work and demonstrate leadership.

 

For those kids who don't have a passion then you've got to push them out the door a bit. Volunteering at Volunteering at Sunday school or community activities (locally, for instance there community trash pick up days on the beach) is a good place to start.

 

As for the amount of time. Well, for my oldest, his extra curricular was as important as his academics, so we made the time for it. He is now paid for the volunteer work he did all through middle school and high school. He is on the tech team at our church and works as a lighting designer for several school and community theater groups. That is going to be his major and his life.

 

He also managed some other activities, but they weren't that time consuming.

 

The college application process can really make you panic and buy into the rat race. A true passion and commitment is all you need to nurture.

[4wildberrys]

Thanks for the summary, Laurie. Theoretically that looks very nice, but I wonder how one actually does that???

In particular

 

 

This puzzled me as something almost impossible to achieve.

If my student really has a passion and goes in depth, it is hard enough already to fit in a bit of volunteering and maybe a second activity- but to go in depth in a couple of extracurriculars strikes me as virtually impossible.

My DD is passionate about horses and spends 20-30 hours a week at the barn. I assume the situation is similar for passionate musicians who spend several hours a day practicing.

So where do you compromise?

Do you cut the time short in order to squeeze in a variety of other activities?

 

We are just starting the high school years and she still has a light school schedule, but already her days are very full and she is juggling her time. Whenever I read lists like this I feel that it is impossible to achieve and would leave a burnt out student with no time to just sit, think and just do things that can't be billed under an activity heading (does writing poetry you don't show anybody count as an extracurricular?)

 

I would be interested to see experiences from parents of older students who managed to do this all.... right now it looks completely overwhelming.

Thanks.

 

:iagree: Your post mirrors my thoughts exactly, especially because at the high school age, there is NO way I could force any of this on my independent kids! I do understand colleges 'want to see this and that' but I would never encourage my kids to do something simply because it looks good for a college ap or scholarship. In fact, this type of encouragement is what encouraged me to do all sorts of things in high school simply because it 'looked good' but I didn't care a whit for what I was doing :glare:

 

I think it can be helpful to help your teen find a passion or try things they are interested in, but sometimes it can be a sampling buffet until they are much more mature. We certainly don't like it when our kids start getting lukewarm to something they were interested in, but I think there is more harm in forcing participation in something. In fact, it would have looked REALLY good for college if our kids had gotten their black belts in Kung Fu----but after the last couple of months of really encouraging them and them fighting every single day of it, we have finally conceded to let them make the decision to quit Kung Fu unless they have an inner drive to participate.

[4wildberrys]

I would think that instead of looking at outside activities from the perspective of what a college wants, it is better to start with what your own child cares about.

 

 

The college application process can really make you panic and buy into the rat race. A true passion and commitment is all you need to nurture.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[emubird]

My daughter did NO volunteer work. She had NO leadership activities. They just weren't her thing. She sang and acted and did other things that were her passion, and I fretted about how she wasn't going to look good to colleges because she'd never been team captain or any of those other little boxes that show up on the college applications.

 

Then she went in for a scholarship interview and we were glum about how she hadn't done any volunteer work or "leadership" activities and how that was going to cost her the scholarship. But the interviewing committee actually pointed out to her that every time she cantored at church she was both volunteering AND leading. Funny, she'd always seen that as being "allowed" to do something she loved to do -- singing.

 

Moral of the story -- let your kid do what they love. Don't force them into volunteering or leadership or anything else that colleges "want" to see. If they do what they love, they'll have something to talk about in the interview. If they just volunteered so they could check off that box, they'll come off looking like a really boring person.

 

And if your child doesn't go to college, at least they will have done something they really enjoyed.

[Amy in TX]

This (colleges demanding to see extracurriculars) is really annoying to me. I feel that it's nobody's business what I like to do in my spare time, and I find it offensive that anyone should want to "evaluate" that, lol. (Can you tell I'm an extreme introvert?)

 

I get that colleges want to use that info to guess how you will perform, how you will fit in in their environment, etc. But it seems to me that what you get is what others have mentioned in this thread, ie, kids doing activities solely because they need something to put on the app. The NYT had a story a couple of years ago about how "service trips" to developing countries were becoming a big industry because so many kids believed their college applications would be incomplete without something of the kind.

 

Some time back Ester Maria posted about European schools being interested in the academics and only the academics, and that sounded so refreshingly reasonable to me. Yes, I get that some students will perform well in college even though they don't look good on paper. It just appeals to my *very* private personality, I guess. :)

[4wildberrys]

None of my children have ever done something just to be able to tick the box, but their interests have provided great opportunities. They've never had time to hang out playing video games... :D

 

 

Just remember with a comment like this that the designers of those very video games more than likely started with a passion for playing them, which led to a passion to design them. Kind of like my son ;) Us allowing him to spend time 'hanging out playing video games' has led to his passion to learn everything computers and have a burning desire to design games.

 

Extra-curricular doesn't have to mean flashy, expensive or sports :D

[Tullia]

My son's community service tended to be seasonal, and was fairly consistent over time. Motivating teens can be a problem, but we focused on things our family would have been involved in anyway. He didn't have a lot of different things to list, but he did have the same 2-3 different activities over several years.

 

For extra-curriculars we focused on giving him a variety of opportunities to explore areas of interest to him during middle school. By high school, once he chose music as his primary focus, we concentrated time, effort, and money on that one activity. There are only 24 hours in a day; I was too busy in high school and didn't want that for ds.

 

The only thing I would have done differently was look into NHS for homeschooled students earlier. Ds missed out on some fantastic opportunities with our local chapter because I didn't realize it was an option until he was almost finished.

 

I thought ds' community service was pretty meager (he had some impressive extra-curricular activities), but we have been told that many groups are looking more for consistency than quantity.

[Shifra]

Have you read 'What High Schools Don't Tell You'? Some ideas there.

 

I assume that you are asking for college admissions and/or scholarship opportunities. (I do have to preface this by saying that I find the whole competitive college admission thing appalling, and thus find all of the books I am going to mention symptoms of the college admission frenzy). I was also going to suggest What High Schools Don't Tell You and its companion, What Colleges Don't Tell You for ideas of extracurricular suggestions. In addition, How to Be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport gives suggestions of how community service can be adapted into major research opportunities that then translate into major scholarship opportunities.

 

For instance, Jenn mentioned that her daughter is into horses. Using the strategies from How to Be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport, she could volunteer for a veterinarian who works with horses and maybe learn about various diseases they are vulnerable to, and start a campaign about prevention for the disease.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Shifra

[Love2Smile]

Just remember with a comment like this that the designers of those very video games more than likely started with a passion for playing them, which led to a passion to design them. Kind of like my son ;) Us allowing him to spend time 'hanging out playing video games' has led to his passion to learn everything computers and have a burning desire to design games.

 

Extra-curricular doesn't have to mean flashy, expensive or sports :D

My daughter is like your son!:iagree:

[MommyThrice]

The only thing I would have done differently was look into NHS for homeschooled students earlier. Ds missed out on some fantastic opportunities with our local chapter because I didn't realize it was an option until he was almost finished.

 

NHS website seems to say that they don't accept homeschoolers. Am I wrong?

[FloridaLisa]

The only thing I would have done differently was look into NHS for homeschooled students earlier. Ds missed out on some fantastic opportunities with our local chapter because I didn't realize it was an option until he was almost finished.

 

Can you elaborate on this? Is this the honor society for homeschoolers (Eta Sigma Alpha)? What fantastic activities did they do? :bigear: We've started a local chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha and I'd be interested to hear what your chapter did.

 

Lisa

[FloridaLisa]

Any been there done that advice?

 

Go with your child's career interests? With what makes your child happy even if there is not an obvious connection to a career interest? I'm primarily thinking of the middle/high school years. Any unexpected turns or twists?

 

I've encouraged significant volunteer experience in the early high school years. It's much easier to fit in 100+ hours of volunteer experience in 9th and 10th than later, when classes are heavier and schedules may be less flexible.

 

Regarding all of the comments about doing extracurricular for college, there is a balance. We would encourage extracurriculars regardless of whether colleges want it. But the fact is, colleges want to see students that are passionate about something. And allowing our kids to develop there passions is a good thing. It may be related to career or not. Regardless, most kids have a bent, an interest, a talent and allowing them to pursue that helps develop them in so many ways. Academics are great, but the lessons learned volunteering, working, in sports, in leadership, in debate, in competition also help to shape them. The beauty of that is, that b/c colleges like to see these pursuits, they award money for it. :001_smile: It's a win-win.

 

So, no, don't pursue something just b/c it's a resume builder. Allow your child to taste, experience, learn and pursue. And, more than likely, colleges will see what a neat person they are.

 

Lisa

[TravelingChris]

I have graduated one, almost graduated second and have one more. My son did Eagle Scout and lots of volunteer and leadership positions in Scouts. He was in church choir the first two years of high school and then (after we moved to Europe), the soundman for church. He was in soccer for his first two years of high school. He also was in a musical, assisted a veterinarian in surgeries, and went to a summer program. My daughter who has been accepted into seven schools with all schools who have already awarded merit awards awarding her merit awards. She was a Explorer scout, in choirs for all four years- the last year being in a semi-professional choir, volunteer at library, conducted a drive for a food pantry and another one for an animal shelter with the Homeschool Honor Society and she currently is the president of her chapter and doing more drives this year. She is also two years in debate, one year in speech, has a shooting award, and did two years of soccer, and two summers of dive. The youngest is joining Venture Scouts, is in speech, plays soccer, going to a summer program this summer, and will be doing a lot more starting next year when I have more time for her.

 

I wouldn't do anything differently. They all do what they want and they all want to do a lot.

[Laurie4b]

Thanks for the summary, Laurie. Theoretically that looks very nice, but I wonder how one actually does that???

In particular

 

 

This puzzled me as something almost impossible to achieve.

If my student really has a passion and goes in depth, it is hard enough already to fit in a bit of volunteering and maybe a second activity- but to go in depth in a couple of extracurriculars strikes me as virtually impossible.

My DD is passionate about horses and spends 20-30 hours a week at the barn. I assume the situation is similar for passionate musicians who spend several hours a day practicing.

So where do you compromise?

Do you cut the time short in order to squeeze in a variety of other activities?

 

We are just starting the high school years and she still has a light school schedule, but already her days are very full and she is juggling her time. Whenever I read lists like this I feel that it is impossible to achieve and would leave a burnt out student with no time to just sit, think and just do things that can't be billed under an activity heading (does writing poetry you don't show anybody count as an extracurricular?)

 

I would be interested to see experiences from parents of older students who managed to do this all.... right now it looks completely overwhelming.

Thanks.

 

I meant something different than that. 20-30 hours per week would be very hard to add something to and is beyond what I meant by show a "passion. "

 

What I meant was to "major" in a couple extracurriculars and do them all 4 years of high school. That is apparently more attractive on a transcript than "dabbling." My son is a musician and that is where most of his time is spent; however, his music extended into volunteering & community performance (at church) & to work (he got paid for some gigs) & leadership (planning worship services & organizing other musicians) as well as just practicing. His other activities that were consistent for 4 years were youth group (again, this overlapped with music & leadership) and karate. He did a year of Toastmasters, tutored, etc. He also did community service through mission trips during the summers. There can definitely be a seasonal aspect to things. That ds is a senior and got into his first choice college.

 

Next ds is a junior. His consistent extra-curric's are Odyssey of the Mind, volleyball, and youth group. He has done Odyssey of the Mind for 3 years now and they've gotten awards at the state level. He is a leader on that team, so leadership overlaps. He did Toastmasters for a year (Toastmasters pretty much always involves some kind of office holding--they have short terms, so rotate leaders> He earned some award for having given a certain # of speeches). Volleyball is a couple times a week and is seasonal. My guess is that this ds will start to build a lot of work/volunteer experience that has to do with doing things with his hands. This is related to his chosen career in engineering.

 

Next ds is in 8th grade and has some specific learning challenges. His extra-currics will be church, Scouts (shooting for Eagle), and Odyssey of the Mind (if the team continues into high school.) He may add music. We'll see. He's exploring that now. We'll do Toastmasters until he's earned his award and has held an office.

 

Youngest ds is still all over the map with his interests. He'll need to narrow down.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Laurie4b

[Jane in NC]

We volunteer as a family with a shore bird/raptor rehabber. But my son's assistance there provided him with a mechanism for working off some energy when he was a growing teen. During orphan season, he would pop on his bike several times a day to help feed the baby birds. If he needed to get out of the house, he could grab a cast net and catch dinner for the water birds.

 

Later, my son's volunteer work at an archaeological field school that was held nearby led to his essay on his college applications. That was an unexpected benefit. He participated because of his interest in archaeology. After the field school he was convinced he found his passion. A librarian we know thought that she was going to be an archaeologist until she spent some time in the field. She could not handle the heat, snakes and insects, something she did not realize until she was several years into her academic program. My son has had the good fortune of trying on the job for size.

 

Of course, transportation can be an issue. I'd look around the neighborhood. Are them some elderly people who need a hand with yard work? Can your computer savvy teen be the on call repair person? Libraries will often welcome teens who wish to shelve books. Finding things to do for your community is not hard.

 

I will add that my son was an active 4-Her who won numerous local, district and state awards. He did these things out of interest and was surprised later to see how beneficial they were to those applications, although in case he also won monetary awards. Admittedly, that was a motivator for him.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Include volunteer work in addition to extracurriculars. (College apps ask for volunteer work and nearly all merit-based scholarships do.)

 

Look for extracurriculars that involve leadership. (Again, both college apps and scholarships ask about this)

 

Go for depth in at least a couple extracurriculars. (Colleges like to see that students have a passion.)

 

Choose some extra curriculars that build up skills. (Eagle Scouting, Toastmasters, music etc.)

 

Participation in sports that will encourage lifelong exercise as a good habit. (Though you can do this with PE as well.) If your student is highly talented in a sport, this could lead to scholarship $$.

 

Choose some that involve people-skills. (This could be a job as well.)

 

Definitely allow extra-curriculars that are just passions/loves of your student. You don't really know what career s/he will choose. For dh, he pursued one career academically, but it was probably his love for puzzles (crosswords in ink, difficult jigsaw puzzles, etc.) which contributed to the actual job he has today, which involved novel problem-solving.)

 

Think of a funnel: more experimentation in middle school with some passions becoming clear in high school. Any extra-currics which involve several of these things are great choices (such as Eagle Scout: it shows leadership, community service,builds skill, allows for exploration of careers, etc.)

 

Thanks for the summary, Laurie. Theoretically that looks very nice, but I wonder how one actually does that???

In particular

 

 

This puzzled me as something almost impossible to achieve.

If my student really has a passion and goes in depth, it is hard enough already to fit in a bit of volunteering and maybe a second activity- but to go in depth in a couple of extracurriculars strikes me as virtually impossible.

My DD is passionate about horses and spends 20-30 hours a week at the barn. I assume the situation is similar for passionate musicians who spend several hours a day practicing.

So where do you compromise?

Do you cut the time short in order to squeeze in a variety of other activities?

 

We are just starting the high school years and she still has a light school schedule, but already her days are very full and she is juggling her time. Whenever I read lists like this I feel that it is impossible to achieve and would leave a burnt out student with no time to just sit, think and just do things that can't be billed under an activity heading (does writing poetry you don't show anybody count as an extracurricular?)

 

I would be interested to see experiences from parents of older students who managed to do this all.... right now it looks completely overwhelming.

Thanks.

 

She's on the money and I think it is possible. We were told our college choices would rather see few activities w/ leadership involved than tons of clubs. We're going to stick with church activities (he teaches elementary aged Sunday School, Young People's Class Leader., member of Son's of Allen (men's group). Youth Choir guitarist, Young Adult Choir, Men's Choir, volunteers in nursery 1xmonth) and while it looks like a lot of little church things it conveys dedication to the church as a whole and the willingness to lead by example. He is grounded in his faith and enjoys serving others. It also covers a lot of volunteer hours.

 

Boy Scouts -- he'll attain Eagle Scout before high school is over, holding many offices along the way....this is pretty easy and totally enjoyable! Again, volunteer hours are abundant in scouts.

 

2 varsity sports: track/cross country and we're debating swimming in lieu of cross country. He loves athletics. He'll even volunteer at local events simply b/c he'll be there and loves the environment.

 

There is a seasonal aspect for us, too and he Wants to do these things, so he is willing to get up early for things to happen. He has to. If his grades don't keep up, activities are dropped like yesterday's paper!

 

What we're learning right now is he has to choose how to spend his time. Since he wants to run, he will play guitar less. On w/e when he has camping, he isn't signed up to serve in church. Balance definitely takes practice, but we're getting there and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. This w/e he had a chance to do 3 things (church fund raiser, camping, Boy Scout training w/e). He chose the training w/e b/c it adds to the leadership quality and potential in scouts and he knows there are plenty of opportunities to camp and wash cars.

 

To accomplish all of this, we're also focusing academically on what is needed for his future. For him that means strong math and science and enough humanities to fill the "honors" roll, but not go all out AP. Once again, balance.

 

Granted, I'm new at high school and I'm learning the whole balance thing, but it seems we're beginning to find a nice groove.

Edited January 25, 2011 by johnandtinagilbert

[angela in ohio]

I can only do what I learned based on my experiences. I got good comments from college admissions and scholarship committees on my activities (500+ hours of volunteer sevice in HS, clubs and competitions, leadership camps, etc.,) and that is a consideration for my dc. I also feel that I had a good balance.

 

For my dc, our guidelines are that they get a wide variety of experiences, go deep in one area, and volunteer continuously. We are supporting them financially, so that they can work volunteer positions instead of a paying job. They are able to learn a lot more from the volunteer positions, imho, than they would from the usual teen jobs, and they will interact with other workers who have similar goals. Our guidelines are based probably 25% on what we think colleges and scholarship apps will want and 75% on what we think they need to develop into competent young adults.

 

My oldest will pursue some type of science or teaching career. Her deepest interests are music and art, and that is where she spends most of her extra time. They are not related to her career, but we encourage them in order to instill a love of the arts and beauty. She also volunteers in a school and various camps for special needs students, and she participates in math and science competitions and groups. Those are her career exploration times. As she gets later into high school, we plan to have her narrow her career plans and find more targeted activities, job shadow opportunities, camps, and volunteer work.

 

My younger dd will either go into music, teaching, or (most likely) a STEM career of some sort. She spends even more time on music, which we encourage for the same reasons. She volunteers in the same place. We arejust starting to think about what her extra activities will be, though computer camp is a definite this summer.

 

Anyway, I don't know how it will all turn out, but that's our plan. :001_smile:

[Amy in TX]

But the fact is, colleges want to see students that are passionate about something.

 

(snip)

 

And, more than likely, colleges will see what a neat person they are.

 

 

 

But, this is just what I find irritating. Why should a college interest itself in whether a student is passionate about something, or how neat a person they are? Neither of these are predictors of academic success, that I'm aware of. It just seems inappropriate to me, and always has.

 

Maybe this little rant is out of place in this thread. As you say, the fact is that that is what they want to see.

 

:)

[4wildberrys]

But, this is just what I find irritating. Why should a college interest itself in whether a student is passionate about something, or how neat a person they are? Neither of these are predictors of academic success, that I'm aware of. It just seems inappropriate to me, and always has.

 

Maybe this little rant is out of place in this thread. As you say, the fact is that that is what they want to see.

 

:)

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

No offense to anyone, just I totally agree with how irritating it is that colleges want to 'see' all of this. Some kids may not have the opportunity for all of that outside stuff with their academics due to geography or energy levels or interest. I just really have a problem with the whole 'Trained Monkey' atmosphere these days for college admission..:glare:

[Jane in NC]

But, this is just what I find irritating. Why should a college interest itself in whether a student is passionate about something, or how neat a person they are? Neither of these are predictors of academic success, that I'm aware of. It just seems inappropriate to me, and always has.

 

 

Really? This is totally derailing the thread, but I am curious what you would prefer the college to use as an introduction to the student. Test scores?

 

Homeschoolers often do really interesting things which fit into those extracurricular or volunteer boxes. To me, this can be one of our strengths.

 

My two cents.

 

Jane

[FloridaLisa]

But, this is just what I find irritating. Why should a college interest itself in whether a student is passionate about something, or how neat a person they are? Neither of these are predictors of academic success, that I'm aware of. It just seems inappropriate to me, and always has.

 

Maybe this little rant is out of place in this thread. As you say, the fact is that that is what they want to see.

 

:)

 

I can't speak for the colleges, but this is what I've gathered. First, if a college only looked at academics, there would be waaaaay too many applicants (generally) than spots. So extracurriculars help the student to stand out beyond academics. Second, when the student shows passion in an area, that student is demonstrating a certain character -- i.e. the ability to find an interest, pursue it and excel in it. Why would a college want that? B/c that kind of student may invent the next big thing, write the novel, or become the next senator. These students have already demonstrated in high school that they are the kind to invest in their world and the colleges hope that those students will continue to invest while in college and later. Third, colleges are all about a diverse student body. Geographically diverse, racially and ethnically diverse and extracurricularly :D diverse. Colleges know that the type of student that will likely be student president is different from the one that will be a PhD/MD candidate and different still from the one that participates in all of the intramural sports. You get the idea. The myriad interests and pursuits that make up a collegiate student body are derived from kids that have demonstrated different interests.

 

HTH,

Lisa

Edited January 25, 2011 by FloridaLisa

[Tullia]

NHS website seems to say that they don't accept homeschoolers. Am I wrong?

 

Sorry, I should have been mores specific; there is a separate organization for home schooled students called Eta Sigma Alpha. I've deleted my bookmarks, but this link gives a nice summary of the history of the organization. There are some general requirements, and individual chapters may add their own. Our local chapter begins in middle school, and has opportunities for social and service activities.

 

http://www.crosswalk.com/homeschool/1246328/

[Tullia]

Can you elaborate on this? Is this the honor society for homeschoolers (Eta Sigma Alpha)? What fantastic activities did they do? :bigear: We've started a local chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha and I'd be interested to hear what your chapter did.

 

Lisa

 

Yes, I should have specified that in my post. I need to see if I can find the folder so that I can give you some useful information. Those files are buried somewhere in my now sewing/used to be school closet. I never willingly throw papers away!

 

There were lots of musicians in the chapter, and they did things like form small groups to perform in nursing homes, convalescent centers, and assisted living facilities. Unfortunately, by the time we found out about the existence of the chapter and the fact that ds was eligible to join the Albuquerque chapter (we live outside the city), he was almost through high school. As I remember, most of the activities, including the induction, were combined with social events like pizza suppers. My son joined as a senior, but the rules have changed since then, and you must now apply no later than your Jr. year, which I think this is a good thing. We were encouraged to apply even though I was afraid it would look as if we were just "checking a box". However, ds did meet the qualifications, and had excelled at high school work under some very trying circumstances so I was and am grateful that he got some extra recognition for his work.

 

Also, a couple other members of the chapter who graduated the same year as ds were National Merit Finalists from NM. And, I think there may have been a couple of semi-finalists and commended students too. :party:

 

So, bless you for helping give home schooled students the opportunity!

[MommyThrice]

Sorry, I should have been mores specific; there is a separate organization for home schooled students called Eta Sigma Alpha. I've deleted my bookmarks, but this link gives a nice summary of the history of the organization. There are some general requirements, and individual chapters may add their own. Our local chapter begins in middle school, and has opportunities for social and service activities.

 

http://www.crosswalk.com/homeschool/1246328/

 

OK, thanks. My son just joined our local chapter. I though you were speaking of NHS (for public schoolers). The link to the article was interesting. It also discusses the National Society of High School Scholars. My son has been getting invitations in the mail and I've been throwing them away. I though it was just a money-making venture. Are they legitimate?

[Amy in TX]

Really? This is totally derailing the thread, but I am curious what you would prefer the college to use as an introduction to the student. Test scores?

 

Test scores, course descriptions, difficulty of courses, grades, work samples/portfolios... Not just test scores, certainly--those alone aren't indicators of academic success, either. But a thorough picture of the student's academic work and attainments.

 

You're right that this is harder for colleges to evaluate with homeschoolers.

 

Edited to add: I'm not *against* someone submitting other-than-academic info if they think it will give an indication of their academic potential--I just don't like it being demanded of everyone when, in general, it doesn't really predict academic success.

 

Also, I really oppose test scores such as the SAT being the ultimate determiner of who is admitted.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Amy in TX

[Amy in TX]

I can't speak for the colleges, but this is what I've gathered. First, if a college only looked at academics, there would be waaaaay too many applicants (generally) than spots. So extracurriculars help the student to stand out beyond academics. Second, when the student shows passion in an area, that student is demonstrating a certain character -- i.e. the ability to find an interest, pursue it and excel in it. Why would a college want that? B/c that kind of student may invent the next big thing, write the novel, or become the next senator. These students have already demonstrated in high school that they are the kind to invest in their world and the colleges hope that those students will continue to invest while in college and later. Third, colleges are all about a diverse student body. Geographically diverse, racially and ethnically diverse and extracurricularly :D diverse. Colleges know that the type of student that will likely be student president is different from the one that will be a PhD/MD candidate and different still from the one that participates in all of the intramural sports. You get the idea. The myriad interests and pursuits that make up a collegiate student body are derived from kids that have demonstrated different interests.

 

HTH,

Lisa

 

Yes, I pretty much have gathered that this is the reasoning. But there are so many aims here besides gaining academic knowledge. That's a difference, I understand, between US schools and European ones. I'm not sure how the European ones choose when faced with more qualified applicants than they can admit--I'd be interested to know that. The differences between our schools and Eur. ones has become a topic of interest to me lately. Maybe someone who knows can weigh in on this.

 

:)

[Tullia]

OK, thanks. My son just joined our local chapter. I though you were speaking of NHS (for public schoolers). The link to the article was interesting. It also discusses the National Society of High School Scholars. My son has been getting invitations in the mail and I've been throwing them away. I though it was just a money-making venture. Are they legitimate?

 

I did some research and satisfied myself that Eta Sigma Alpha is a legitimate organization; obviously the criteria used to evaluate publicly schooled NHS candidates would be hard to apply to a more diverse population. It makes sense that there is a need for a separate organization. I tossed the NSHSS mailings partly because I just didn't have the time to do the research.