birdwatcher4125
5-Year Member
- Joined
- May 28, 2018
- Messages
- 108
@bookreader - I agree on thinking out of the box and I actually thought DS's extra-curriculars would look better than they did. However, checking the boxes doesn't give room for creative thinking: it's either a yes or a no, and unless it's a yes, it's a no. Easiest examples: Boy Scouts? Yes or No. Eagle Scout? Yes or No. Not "Did you participate in something you consider similar to Boys Scouts? Did you achieve something you'd consider equivalent to Eagle Scout?" High School Varsity? Yes or No. Team Captain? Yes or No. Team captain of travel league wasn't an option (he listed in "other activities," "resume," and in essays!) Everything that wasn't an officially checked box, was at the discretion to admissions on if they give him the magical WCS points for it. Maybe we took too black & white of a view, but DS didn't want to check something he considered equivalent, and have them disagree and accuse him of lying. He did discuss equivalents on a few items during his interview. In addition, anything that went above and beyond in the officially checked box also must be annotated in the resume or other activities (Chairman of a non-school club? Not a checkbox; written in other activities & resume.) During his overnight visit, DS was told his ECs looked "light" compared to another candidate in our district. However, if you read his resume, he has ECs and leadership coming out his ears. Even if we knew the magical point values for the check boxes, we have no idea what was counted and what wasn't.
A long-time academy liaison once told me that there are special groups within Service Academy admissions teams that are tasked with evaluating non-traditional candidates (i.e. “homeschoolers”), and that part of their efforts are dedicated to evaluating and verifying non-traditional extra-curricular activities. It’s certainly better to be able to check as many boxes as you can, rather than having to present all of your ECs in the “Other” section of the application, but if your ECs are essentially equivalent to the check/box experiences, then they should count for something toward your WCS. How much will they count? I dunno.
That all being said, I do believe that there’s a way to influence the academies into taking a closer (friendlier) look at your non-traditional ECs, and that would be to blow your standardized-test-scores out of the water! High ACT & SAT scores are already extra-important to homeschoolers as a way of impartially demonstrating the validity of their non-traditional education in a way that directly competes with traditionally educated candidates.
The academies definitely want “well rounded” youngsters, and that means being more than just a bookworm. But, if there’s one thing about your application that is truly outstanding, even by lofty SA standards, then it should warrant extra attention to the rest of your application. Remember, academics represents 60% of your WCS, while ECs (i.e. “leadership”) represents 30%. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR700/RR723/RAND_RR723.pdf (I know, this is from 2015 and could be different now)
However, you absolutely must find ways of demonstrating both leadership and the ability to function effectively in a team setting. If you can do this athletically, then you’ve got the added benefit of demonstrating your physical prowess as well. But, there are plenty of non-athletic ECs that are available to homeschoolers and have boxes you can check. All seven of my children have been homeschooled their whole lives, and all four of my sons have earned the Eagle Scout rank, my youngest son did it in three years. My DS attended Boys State through our local public high school even though he’s never been a student there. DS was also a member of that same school’s Robotics Club for four years, and was the Mechanical Team Captain for three of those years. Their team went to the World Competition in his last year. My two youngest sons are now members of that same team with the youngest being the current Mechanical Team Captain.
All of that bloviating is to make this point: You have to be willing to bend-over-backwards to give the academies what they need to determine that you’re not only worth the risk, but that your application stats make their school look better! There are youth leadership opportunities in places you may not expect, but will find if you look around. You can do this, and this forum will help you immensely…….