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Extra-curricular activities

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Is D of E really that important?

30 replies

FiveHoursSleep · 12/01/2017 09:54

DD is 15 ( Y10) and doing her bronze and she's not feeling the love. She's quite academic, has a good range of other EC activities ( 2 instruments, dog agility/training, netball, Guides Senior Section, horses) and does quite a lot of babysitting and music tuition for paid work.
So she's busy and D of E is stressing her out. She wants to give it up, but is it worth persevering with?
She's not 100% sure what she wants to do, but has been keen on paramedical type stuff lately so is unlikely to be looking at getting competitive re uni.
DH went to Cambridge and he'd like her to have the opportunity to go there, but I really can't see her being that interested.

OP posts:
Manumission · 12/01/2017 19:28

Have you checked what paramedic courses look for?

raspberryrippleicecream · 12/01/2017 19:28

Oh, and DD was told at a recent talk by Cambridge (DS1 heard similar) thatCambridge (and Oxford) is all about super-curricular, not extra- curricular, ie they want to see more about your passion for the subject you've applied to study!

Manumission · 12/01/2017 19:27

The D of E mania is completely out of hand.

It sounds like she has a LOT of extra curriculars keeping her busy already.

None of the young people I know who have been lucky with Oxbridge places in the last few years are stereotypical DoE, Grade 8 instrument, polyglots anyway so presenting as that particular "type" clearly isn't key.

raspberryrippleicecream · 12/01/2017 19:22

Agree. DS1 did complete his Bronze, by basically doing stuff he was doing anyway, except for the expedition. I'm not sure if he even mentioned it on his uni application and had no problem with offers.

2014newme · 12/01/2017 09:57

Ditch it. Unis don't care unless it's somehow relevant e g if you were doing volunteer work relevant to your degree

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