Which looks more impressive? I am a competitive gymnast who took 4 APs from freshman-junior year and ended up with a gpa of 3.35/3.8UW by the end of junior year. obviously, thats on the lower side of the scale. But what would colleges rather see, people with gpas of 3.7UW and above or a lower GPA with interesting extracurriculars?
Oh and by the way, I am taking 5 ap classes this year and I went from a 2.9/3.3W GPA (sophomore year) to 3.7/4.2W (junior year) 
thanks for all responses!(:
If youâre recruited it will make a difference in the answer.
If you are looking to be recruited, youâll be fine. If you are using gymnastics as an EC, the schools would rather see the higher gpa.
not recruited @twoinanddone @âErinâs Dadâ
If you are recruited for the sport by the college, it makes a big difference. If not, that big a difference in GPA is likely to be seen as much bigger than your sport as an EC is likely to be seen.
im going to try not to sound snobby or brag (how can you not though! i mean its college admissions haha) but I would say that my EC is more serious than even varsity, since I train about 20 hours a week and take 2 online classes to get more time to train and compete regularly
What is keeping you from trying to be recruited? You are spending lots of time at gymnastics
You are not bragging, but you made a choice to focus on one EC, and thatâs all it is if you arenât wanting to continue with gymnastics. Some people ride horses for 30 hours per week, or spend that amount of time working at a part time job, or volunteering. Schools arenât going to rate one activity over another as âbetterâ or more important than another, or give you a few points because you are better at your EC than the girl next to you who puts in 30 hours a week yet you can beat her at a meet. Itâs a good EC, it shows commitment and discipline, but itâs not going to be a hook.
The real hook with sports is if you are using them to help you get in and compete for the school. Otherwise, the school would prefer you to spend more time on your gpa than gymnastics. Not fair but how it is.
Quality of ECs is a differentiator between candidates with high stats. Quality ECs are not a substitute for high stats
When asked directly if theyâd prefer a more rigorous course and a B or a less rigorous course and an A, college reps say what theyâd really prefer is the more rigorous course and an A. Itâs not necessarily an either/or situation for them.
I donât think athletics make up for lower GPAs unless the student is a recruited athlete. But if youâre recruited, I think youâre competing with the other athletes not the general student body, so your stats would have to be better than the other gymnasts vying for a spot on the team. I think there are plenty of athletes who also have great stats, so youâd have to shop around for a good placement.
If youâre not being recruited, I think your app goes into the general population pool. Interesting ECs are great, but I think academics come first. And for all you know, the kid with the 3.7 GPA also has interesting ECs. The best you can do is apply to a range of colleges and see what happens.
Academics first. ECs donât make up for average academics.
Colleges would prefer applicants with high GPAs and (not or) interesting ECs.
A huge number of hours spent on ECs + middling grades screams:
applicant prioritizes play over work
^Well thatâs a bit harsh.
I think if you use the SuperMatch online search tool on the left panel, it can give you some suggestions. But note this: many of those schools will grant little to no advantage due to a personâs ECs. Remember, colleges are educational institutions first and foremost (except for when they go nuts over athletic recruits â but thatâs another story). At this point, your GPA is the most important thing. Iâd even recommend you decrease your gymnastics hours if your GPA or test scores can increase.
@junejiehuang I understand your situation. My D19 has been doing gymnastics since she was 3, tho her routine is âonlyâ 16 hours a week, year-round. Another daughter I had did horseback shows. (Why didnât they do rowing? Field hockey? We were too small-town!) But the sad truth is that colleges only will give you a break on GPA/SAT if you are recruited. A lot of kids do travel baseball or volleyball or something else, but are not proficient enough to be recruited and bring glory to the college.
At least other athletes sometimes have the option of D1 schools. There are only about 14 D3 colleges with womenâs gymnastics. But you have not wasted your time. Iâd say an EC like gymnastics that you have spent hundreds of hours on sounds better on an app than a dozen clubs, some of which are really bogus and adcoms know it.
I agree with @PetulaClark when she (he?) says
âIâd say an EC like gymnastics that you have spent hundreds of hours on sounds better on an app than a dozen clubs, some of which are really bogus and adcoms know it.â
However, each part of your application stands as a piece of information and one does not âmake upâ for another part. There will be athletes with many hours of their sport in addition to high grades. I would advise you to try to become recruited. In the case where you are recruited it will give your entire application a boost. In the event that you are not recruited you would be best served by targeting schools where you are likely to be accepted. You can get a good education at many different schools.
Like the poster above I think that many hours spent at an EC that you love is a positive thing. However, it wonât make up for other holes in your application.
@Proudpatriot I am a he! LOL. Maybe I coulda picked PetulaClarkFan, but that is equally ambiguous. But what do 1960s divas have to do with college choice? Maybe something original like dadwith3girls?
But the problem with womenâs gymnastics is there are millions of gymnasts in America, but only hundreds of scholarships. In NC where we live, there are thousands of girls going to practice 4 times a week. Yet we have just 2 colleges who even have varsity gymnastics, UNC and NCSU. Both division 1, and the majority of their gymnasts are from out of state.
Something about your writing told me you were a man!
I understand the problem with gymnastics. My son plays lacrosse, where there are D1 scholarships but there isnât a ton of money available even in D1. A fully funded D1 program has 12.6 scholarships and an average roster size of 45. Many programs are not fully funded so there is even less money available.
However, I agree with your original comment that it is not a waste of time for the OP to pursue one EC that she loves. Her GPA will limit her choice of schools but being a recruited athlete limits your choices in different ways.
@Proudpatriot Regarding gymnastics, and I assume other sports, the sad thing is so many parents are actually depending on athletic scholarships to fund their kidsâ higher education. And for gymnastics this will virtually never happen.
But contra some earlier posts, isnât being a high school athlete, even if you are not going to continue as a varsity athlete in college, a great EC?
Yes, but it is going to be compared to other ECâs, not the gpa. Making Eagle Scout is also a great EC. Being class president is a great EC. Being an athlete is probably not a better âgreat ECâ than the other choices.
Participating in sports should always be done for the present, not the future. Iâm not saying they shouldnât have goals to play at a higher level, but there should be a benefit (and joy) in the present play. There were 11 graduating seniors on my daughterâs high school team, and only two continued to play in college. It was self selecting, as I think only 5 went on to college, and the other 3 chose schools that did not have varsity teams. I think all 11 still benefited from playing in high school, but donât think having a sport as an EC helped on a college application any more than if they had played in the marching band or were in theater. For the two who were recruited, sure, it helped.