I'm from Scandinavia, and I always find it both fascinating and alien how much focus the US system puts on extracurriculars - and more specifically competitive extracurricular activities.
On one side, it is probably good to motivate pupils to aim for something, and get good at it - but on the other side, you obviously end up with a bunch of kids that are just really good at grinding away - even if their heart is not there. And must become some obligatory thing, because everyone else is doing it.
FWIW, over here academics is the only thing that maters. There are no entrance exams, no personal letter, no letter of recommendation, no extracurricular activities. Your GPA is the only thing that maters.
(Of course, that also has its downsides. People end up re-taking HS exams year after year, because someone beat their GPA with a decimal point.)
I was in the British system (3 subjects, interview, effectively CV/Resume for top University, but mostly school exams, I academically stuck rigidly to the syllabus plus minor extracurricular).
My 17 year old son is in the Irish system. Top 6 subjects count for points, nothing else. Plus some minor need to pass requirements on other subjects. i.e. you cannot just specialise in science and maths at the end. (His 6th best subject will be Irish, English or French, all hard to get very top marks in.)
With dumbing down/grade inflation the skill to get ahead into a good degree is be pretty good at everything. Rather than absolutely brilliant at a couple of things.
He did a tiny bit of computers and maths extra classes, but we could not keep the maths classes going when it went back to in person after COVID, as we are on the poorer side of Dublin. Small chance he goes to Britain for undergraduate, which will be weird as he would suddenly have interviews/CV/Resume, whereas no interview/CV/Resume in Ireland.
> I always find out both fascinating and alien how much focus the US system puts on extracurriculars
One factor could be that, AFAIU, schools in US have many more electives than in Europe. As a student you have the choice to take more advanced classes for one subject, and only basic in other subjects, whereas in Europe, the curriculum is standard for all. So Universities in US need to compare performance on different axes.
> Of course, that also has its downsides. People end up re-taking HS exams year after year, because someone beat their GPA with a decimal point.
Another downside to the one-size-fits-all standard curriculum, is that it forces you to care about classes that you don't really care about, while not being able to focus on the subjects that you're really interested in. I think in US, if you're really good at something, universities may ignore average-to-poor performance in other areas.
Not everyone else is doing it. OP article is about the top 1% of high school students with elite ambitions. In your country, this might be like highlighting an Olympian's training vs. your average recreationist. The vast, vast majority of US students go to university with acceptance rates of 50% or higher where your GPA is the determinant.
I mean, the elite students here end up doing pretty much the same thing as elite students in US: They become medical doctors, investment bankers, management consultants for MBB, hedge fund and private equity, and what have you. But I guess we don't have to jump through the same amount of hoops to get accepted.
With that said, we have around 20 universities and colleges in Norway, versus the thousands you have in the US - so I would imagine that elite employers in the US rely more on colleges/universities for the filtering part, which in turn filter HS students. A whole lotta filtering going on, it would seem.
On one side, it is probably good to motivate pupils to aim for something, and get good at it - but on the other side, you obviously end up with a bunch of kids that are just really good at grinding away - even if their heart is not there. And must become some obligatory thing, because everyone else is doing it.
FWIW, over here academics is the only thing that maters. There are no entrance exams, no personal letter, no letter of recommendation, no extracurricular activities. Your GPA is the only thing that maters.
(Of course, that also has its downsides. People end up re-taking HS exams year after year, because someone beat their GPA with a decimal point.)