FrogMom5 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 My son is interested in taking the chess class through OM. If we count this as an elective on his transcript, how will colleges view that? Will it be looked down on or will it seem like a good thing? He is currently in a small chess club here locally. He wants to major in math/physics, probably applied physics. If you have any insights, I will appreciate hearing them. Thank-you. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 It will look like an elective?:001_huh: Certainly the type of elective one could picture a math/science kid taking. The point of the transcript is not just to reflect back what collages typically look for - it is also supposed to reflect the individual student. So if a transcript has a chess elective, the college will think your son likes chess. Which he does. So it's all good.:) At least, that is the opinion of someone who has two years to go before graduating her first kid and then a kid a year thereafter for a decade (gulp!) - me.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 We're keeping chess as an extra-curricular activity. Remember, colleges want to see those as much as they want to see academics. It's good to have dedicated nice ones on the application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 Thanks Martha and Creekland for responding. I agree with both of you. Chess does reflect who he is and what he likes to do. But maybe we should list it as an extra-curricular activity instead of a class. Yeah, then I have room to bog him down w/something really hard and boring that "looks good!" Sorry, I'm just having a moment of cynical attitude. Ok, it's gone. Back to reality. I'm just trying to figure out this getting into college game.:tongue_smilie: Thank you again for your help. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 ...but... Doesn't your son want to take the class? This is something your son has decided he wants to learn. He has found a way to learn it. Isn't that what the end goal of education is - to produce an adult who has interests and finds ways to learn about those interests? Do you have to decide now whether this is going to count for credits on the transcript or whether it is going to be listed as an extra curricular activity? Can't he take the class, and then when you make up the transcript to give to colleges, count it as whichever makes most sense: elective if he needs the credit or extracurricular if he doesn't have enough of those? -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Yeah, then I have room to bog him down w/something really hard and boring that "looks good!" Sorry, I'm just having a moment of cynical attitude. Denise Not necessarily. Many things look good on an application. They don't all have to be hard and boring. Choose what he likes for electives. My thoughts with chess are simply that it looks really good having an elective that they do in depth. Mine are at it for their whole 4 years of high school (and then some if you count middle school). If you are solely talking about a one time class, then count it as an elective. Since you had mentioned he was part of a club, I thought it might be a more in depth pursuit and could look good as an extra curricular similar to other sports or events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Colleges love interesting extra-curriculars and they love to have students expound on them. But, when it comes to listing it as a course, well, some will think it is fine and some will wonder, "Exactly what was the academic work assigned and how was this work evaluated?" So, in terms of transcript, I stick to things that I can define as an academic course, but then dd waxed eloquent about her extra-curriculars. This worked. But, I went the extra mile with her transcript. Every school received a Great Books reading list, curriculum notes for things like "rhetoric and logic" which is unusual for what they normally see, an explanation of my grading system, and all out explanations of extra curriculars on separate pages. I bound the whole thing in presentaton folders and sent by priority mail with delivery confirmation so I had receipts and no one could say, "She missed the deadline. We never received it, etc." We found that the online ap's didn't give us enough room for explaining anything and didn't allow you to really make that application "shine". So, we went with old fashioned paper and bound everything together so that the admission's people couldn't just look at the application and toss the other stuff without noticing it. We received lots of "Wows" from admission's people. So, I don't think it's wrong or anything to show chess as an elective though I think there would need to be some sort of regular, academic study and documentation of it. But, it could be done given that there are a lot of books on chess strategies, history of the game, famous players, etc. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Thanks Martha and Creekland for responding. I agree with both of you. Chess does reflect who he is and what he likes to do. But maybe we should list it as an extra-curricular activity instead of a class. Yeah, then I have room to bog him down w/something really hard and boring that "looks good!" Sorry, I'm just having a moment of cynical attitude. Ok, it's gone. Back to reality. I'm just trying to figure out this getting into college game.:tongue_smilie: Thank you again for your help. Denise :001_huh: Chess is not a fluff extracurricular. It is probably one of the oldest forms of in depth logic and strategy study. I would keep the course as a course. It is an actual course from OM, so you have a source and materials listing to use to support your course description. If he is in chess club or does tourneys, I'd note participation in those and any awards and his ranking under extracurricular. Normally I wouldn't suggest one could list in both areas of electives and extracurricular, but there are times when it is okay. For example, if my student were in Math Counts competitions, an extracurricular, I certainly wouldn't take algebra off the course list. Or if my student were taking an electronics/mechanics course, I would still also put that they are on a robotics team for extracurricular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 It is a one time class through OM. While he reads chess books on his own, I really had not considered developing my own class. I'll have to think about that one. Expounding on the college application is a great idea. There was a thread on that topic once and I think I saved it. Nan - yes, you are right that he is interested in chess and I do want to support him. The reason I need to decide soon is that we have him in an umbrella school that produces the transcript and diploma. My dh really wants a transcript from a school rather than mommy. I've been through all the arguments with him but, well, it's a long story. Anyway, I've always loved reading your posts and follow a lot of your suggestions. I apologize about my cynical comment. I really try to keep those types of thoughts out of my head but failed this time to even keep it contained.:blush: You all made good points and have great ideas. Thank-you! Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest milby Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 what does OM stand for. I wish everyone would quit abreviating so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 ahhhhh. okay. No, I wouldnt put a one time class down as an elective bc it isn't a full course. I'd lump that in with all the other extracurriculiar chess activities. OM = Oak Meadow:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 one class. There is no chess II, chess III and so on. I'll have to look again to see if it's one semester or two, but it's a regular class. I need to correct this in case anyone else is interested in OM's chess class. Sorry for the error. Thanks again for all the great responses! Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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