Athlete with 2400 SAT

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm an incoming junior and I'm wondering whether I should do xc. It's time consuming and I didn't enjoy it all that much the past two years due to never fully committing, always having some sort of pain, shortness of breath, etc. I'm much more of a track runner, but I'm not gonna get good enough to be recruitable in either. I ran 2 10 freshman year in the 800 off of light practice/ ditching many days. I got worse due to not stretching/ and injury sophomore year with a 2 12 (which was my first race without any practice and sick). </p>

<p>My main concern is that I wish to get into an elite college, but XC has affected my grades. 2 hrs everyday, in the summer and school year, in addition to the fatigue afterwards can really take a toll. I go to an intense private school, widely considered to be top 3 in Southern California, and my grades have been beneath my abilities. They weren't too bad. Sophomore year like 3.8/3.9 weighted and like 3.6/3.7 unweighted, and this with AP Calc, AP euro, AP Bio, English, and French 3 honors. Freshman year was around the same unweighted. These grades were primarily due to the fatigue and time consumption xc caused, my unstable home situation (divorced parents who still live together), my own anxiety and lack of feelings of well being, my competitive school, and my own laziness/ disorganization. </p>

<p>I plan on substantially improving my gpa next year by getting a headstart this summer. I'll be in AP Calc BC, AP US history, AP Chem, AP French, and honors Brit Lit (which we take the AP for as well). It won't be easy by I think I can do it. I took the PSAT like all sophomore at my school do. I ended up with a 218, not too good, but good considering I skipped 8 problems in Critical Reading because I ran out of time thinking about one q. I took some SAT practice tests and generally score in the 2250-2400 range, assuming I get a 12 on the essay. </p>

<p>I want to get pretty good at track and at least break 2 05 maybe even 2 in the 800 within the next year or two. Track is equally as time consuming as cross country, but the payoff will be more worth it.
My question is: Does Cross Country subsantially help with track, particularly the 800m?</p>

<p>Will being semi competitive in a track (with, say, a 1:58-2:00 800m time) but not quite recruitable help substantially in getting into Ivy League and other top schools? If I'm not planning on getting recruited, would it be wise to drop sports altogether?</p>

<p>I really do enjoy track races, the training not as much, but i find the sport in general exciting and fun, so...</p>

2

<p>anyone have any ideas</p>

3

<p>2250-2400 is a HUGE range. Don’t count on the 2400</p>

4

<p>Run XC in the fall. Work hard at managing your time. It can be done.</p>

5

<p>“my own laziness/ disorganization.”</p>

<p>Sit down with your guidance counselor and/or the school psychologist and talk about this. Ask about being screened for Executive Function Disorder and for inattentive-type ADD. You need to learn how to get and stay organized before you go off to college. The Resource staff at your school will have good ideas about this for you.</p>

<p>As for whether or not cross country is helpful for improving your overall track times, that would be something to discuss with your coach. He/she is the expert on that subject.</p>

6

<p>You are a shoo in !</p>

7

<p>you only need a 9 or 10 on the essay to get an 800 on writing.</p>

8

<p>You sound scarily like me both academically and athletically. I too ran a 2:10 freshman year and took 5 APs my junior year. I specialize in the 800 and finished my junior season with a 2:04 PR. My SAT score is also in the lower end of the tier you mentioned, but any score in that range should be sufficient. </p>

<p>I love running but I don’t know if you’re like me in that I slow down and pack pounds over the summer As a countermeasure, I do XC- which I’m not terrible at, but it really helps in regards to preparing your fitness prior to track season. But if you do it, don’t forget to keep your grades up-skip practices (my coach would kill me if she saw this) if it becomes an absolute necessity to do so as grades really outweigh everything. As for a sub-2 minute time, I’ve seen a now graduated senior drop his time from 2:05 junior year to 1:58 in his senior year so it’s definitely within your reach if you aim to run under 2:05 next season. I considered doing this and applying as a recruited athlete this coming fall but decided it was too much of a commitment as my passions still lay in academia.</p>

<p>Finally, there’s commitment. I frankly don’t have any other ECs besides XC and track that I’ve done all four years of high school (I blame it on my ignorance as a freshman D:). If you’ve done XC for the past two years, you might as well follow through. Come college applications, don’t forget to express some interest in doing maybe club or intermural through your app if you don’t plan on getting recruited (pretty obvious).</p>

<p>Hope this helps, PM me if you have any questions. :)</p>

9

<p>You should definitely do cross country and track if that’s what you want to do! Many colleges like to see applicants that are involved in more than academics, so I think it will work to your advantage. Either way though, you should do what you want to do. You shouldn’t make a decision like this based off of how it affects your chances with colleges. People these days give up on things just so that they have time to take rigorous classes and impress colleges, and they don’t spend enough time doing extracurriculars that make them happy, even though it’s very possible to do both at the same time. Btw, I also did the 800m and loved it, but the best I could do is a 2:45 (well, I am a girl)</p>