What kind of activities look good on a transcript?

[HeyThereDelilah]

Things to keep in mind:

-We live in a small town so opportunities may be somewhat limited, though I'm sure ya'll can help me think outside the box.
-I have one child who is not academically strong. I would especially like ideas for him.
-We are a one-income family with no money tree in the backyard.


So I'm looking for extracurricular activities that would look good on a transcript. My son takes guitar lessons. There is a conservative Christian civil/gov. club that he can take part in and they learn all about how our gov. works and even help out with elections, campaigning, lobbying and such. That might be hard on me since they do travel sometimes. I'm thinking of having both my my teens volunteer at the library and, when they are old enough, maybe volunteer at the Humane Society (thought that kinda makes me nervous.)

Any ideas for me?

[MAC]

Something to look for is leadership opportunities--not just be a part of the civic group, but the mayor/president (or whatever they call it). If they can't travel to campaign, what about manning phone lines or helping with snacks for the election judges? Your ds takes guitar--does he use that talent for church or playing at nursing homes? Does he teach? If your teens volunteer at the library, can they help run the book club or read aloud time? Could they help tutor? Help at the Humane Society--what about organizing a group that goes once a week to be dog walkers. So, instead of the child being just the dog walker, mobilize others to help. Scouts is an area where a child does not have to have a money tree--most troops will be sure that all boys can go to camp, etc. The leadership is built-in and required for advancement! If your child is in 4-H, encourage Council participation. Is your non-academic one good at robotics perhaps? Start an after-school group. Does your rec center offer after-school care? Volunteer once a week to lead soccer practice or whatever floats his boat.

Here are examples of how my children took interests and found leadership:
not just raising sheep, but giving showmanship clinics
not just taking piano and violin, but teaching, also playing for church and weddings. One of my children was the church organist for years.
Tim's not just a Scout, but is currently the OA Rep, OA Chapter Chief and OA Vice-Lodge Chief (and bugler)
Bekah loves to kayak, so she became a certified Swift Water Rescue Tech
Four of my children (so far) are certified lifeguards and all five of them teach/have taught swim lessons. Clara made $10 an hour this summer and she's 12!
Hannah's not just a 4-H member, but Council rep, Livestock Committee rep and Horse Council rep. She's also VP of our club
Clara's on 4-H Council and on the General Projects committee
The older girls didn't just volunteer at the library; they were paid library pages for years
The girls weren't just members of the high school swim team--they were captains
Bekah was interested in gardening--instead of just helping out at the Extension Office, she became a Master Gardener and THEN helped out at the office--and it was all free training!
Hannah is a state certified First Responder and is about to be certified as Firefighter I--just one more Haz-Mat class to take
the older girls weren't just in orchestra, but auditioned and were accepted into several All-State honor orchestras

We've never chased stuff to look good on a resume, but we have taken activities that were already doing and found leadership within them.

[JOY]

do you have Awana? Check out the LIT* possibilities.

*Leader In Training

[TheKara]

The things that look really good on a college app/resume don't require very much money at all...meaning VOLUNTEER VOLUNTEER VOLUNTEER. Look for opportunities through your church, if there's something that your child is specifically interested in, find some place where they can use those interest to help others
I think you've mentioned your son likes playing guitar? Does he know enough to play during service at church? Could he give beginner lessons (like, maybe for free, since he himself is a student...). Is there a local kid's club, or after-school program that he could volunteer at?
The humane society and library are good possibilities, but they may have a waiting list for volunteers, so plan ahead

[mom2g2b]

My kids sing in a high school choir. This is a small town so the students are grade 8 - 12 from public, private, and home schools. It cost only $20 because a church agreed to underwrite the cost. Both of my older kids are LIT"S at AWANA, and one has volunteered at the library.

mom2g2b

[vicki]

We have a program in Duluth called The Incredible Exchange. Kids volunteer and then earn golf passes, music lessons, etc. Vinnie volunteered as a day camp counselor (Vinnie???). That looked good. He coached (well, he helped coach), he ref'ed (referee), church stuff, hmmmm. Trying to think what else. I'm sure there was more.

[Katharos]

A variety of activities look good on the transcript!

I took a very different route than my siblings. I took ballet 6 days/week well into high school. I also played three instruments, was part of my music school's tuition-free conservatory, and was part of the Composer's Forum (we did a lot of composing music and got our pieces played by professional musicians). I also did a lot of volunteering: altar server and lector at my church for nine years, playing music at the retirement center, preparing food/cleaning up at a soup kitchen (REALLY interesting experience; I highly recommend this; since I live on the south side of Chicago, I got to meet a lot of interesting folks), preparing bags/organizing canned goods/checking people in at a food pantry, helping with fundraising at Chicago classical music radio station, etc. I also had a job at a research library.

My siblings took the sports route. They are all national fencers, and schools both officially and unofficially recruit for the sport if you are nationally-ranked. Obviously not feasible for everyone to do this, though, because, even with scholarships, a lot depends on your location and which coaches are in the area--as well as how much one can travel for competitions. In addition to this, my siblings did/are doing a variety of other things: volunteering at the aquarium, volunteering at a children's hospital for kids with chronic illnesses/disabilities/dealing with neglect/etc., tutoring a variety of subjects (math, writing, Latin, Greek, fencing), babysitting, getting certified with CPR and some other things (clearly I was in college when that happened, so I didn't know what was going on at home!), playing instruments (cello, flute) and singing, participating in the same music program I did, participating with permission in a UChicago choir, participating in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (top level and level under that one), etc.

So, as you can see, we did a variety of things. I know that there were a lot of factors besides extracurriculars that were important, though. Two of my siblings are at Princeton. (The third is applying to colleges now.) I went to the University of Chicago. Something worked!

[Cyndy]

We live in a small town in a very rural area. I did a lot of traveling until they got their driver's licenses. That's part of the price we pay for living where we do (and I love it here!) My advice to you is to let them develop their interests and talents and God will direct their paths. As teens, neither of my boys really showed any leadership potential. One developed leadership qualities in college and the other is more of a "loner" type ~ if there is something he wants to do then he does it whether anyone else comes along or not is up to them. Not every kid has the personality to be a leader. They can still be a hard and trustworthy worker.

My kids didn't really have an extracurricular section on their transcripts. I counted their activities like guitar lessons, playing in a band, playing on the worship team, and 4H lamb club as part of their course work and listed them on the college application extracurricular activities section.

A good extracurricular activity that impresses college admissions officers is a part-time job. Both of which my kids had since they were 12. First they mowed lawns and when they turned 16 worked at a local convenience store.

[HeyThereDelilah]

My kids didn't really have an extracurricular section on their transcripts. I counted their activities like guitar lessons, playing in a band, playing on the worship team, and 4H lamb club as part of their course work and listed them on the college application extracurricular activities section.

I plan on doing this as well. Ds takes guitar and it will be counted as a class, not extracurricular.

Thanks for the suggestions!