<p>Hi everyone, I'm curious to how the Ivy HYPMS-standard schools look at athletics.</p>
<p>I am a dedicated swimmer. I have been swimming for 11 years since I was 3 (I'm currently a freshman). I'm on the high school swimming varsity team (the 2nd fastest on the entire team) and also swim club. I swim high school every morning before school (5:30-7) and everyday after school (3:30-6), and Saturdays from 6-9. That doesn't even include the summer, where I swim up to 5-6 hours a day. Last summer alone, I swam a total of 1,000,000 yards (about 570 miles).</p>
<p>I'm telling you this not to impress you, but to show you how dedicated and passionate I am to that one sport. I've worked hard for each practice I have attended, and love doing it.</p>
<p>However, trying to maintain a lot of EC's outside of swimming is near impossible. Conflicts in not being able to attend the majority of the clubs because of my atheletic training is commonplace. I'm sure many other athletes out there feel my pain.</p>
<p>But my question is this, is very dedicated athletics and just 2 or 3 other EC's that I am very passionate in regarded just as equally as someone else who can have 8 EC's just because he has the time? I look on this site and I see people who can fill pages with EC activities, and I can only list 3 or 4.</p>
<p>I would like honest opinions, please. What you truly think. Am I just as much a canidate as any other applicant who applies to the Ivy Leagues, or is athletics not much of a selection criteria?</p>
<p>your candidacy for ivy league schools will fall much more upon your academic strengths.</p>
<p>if you are able to keep up a very strong GPA, and are at the top of your class with SAT scores to match, you are in very good shoes.</p>
<p>Furthermore, if you are recruited as an athlete, even better situation.</p>
<p>It's probably better to be involved in passionate in one, and on the surface of a couple others, rather than on the surface of 15, or a little more involved in 5 or 6.</p>
<p>They aren't that bad for a freshmen. The 1,650 and 1,000 times were fast enough for our Sectionals cut in the Texas region, and my 500 time I got at Houston regionals.</p>
<p>"if you are able to keep up a very strong GPA, and are at the top of your class with SAT scores to match, you are in very good shoes."</p>
<p>I'm sure I will be good at that. My GPA right now is a solid 4.0; no grades below 95. Next year I will be taking 2 AP courses, my Junior year I will be taking 5, and 1 independent study, and my senior year I will be taking 6.</p>
<p>I have already taken the PSAT and SAT as practise. I got a 218 on the PSAT (78 M, 72 V, 68 W) and a 2,200 on the SAT. (800 M, 700 V, 700 W)</p>
<p>My tests scores won't be a problem I hope, just the EC's =(</p>
[quote]
I have already taken the PSAT and SAT as practise. I got a 218 on the PSAT (78 M, 72 V, 68 W) and a 2,200 on the SAT. (800 M, 700 V, 700 W)
[/quote]
Man, I am proud of you. Prove to everybody that swimmers are the smartest people! There is one girl in our school that got full-ride to University of Indiana (her 100back is 55), but her SAT1 is like 1500
P.S.: my best 500 is like 7:00, lol, started to swim when I turned 17, have been swimming only 1 year</p>
<p>Swimming is your EC and a major one. The colleges and the coaches don't expect more from you in that area. They know the time involved. Yor academics seem fine. Do some research on the swim times at the colleges through their athletic websites and see how you measure up. Then start contacting the coaches with an academic and sports resume and a letter of interest.</p>
<p>If you will be recruitable, a lot of other ECs are not necessary. If you are not recruitable and spend all that time on the one activity, schools will be less impressed.</p>
<p>In my opinion the laundry list of a zillion ECs is NOT impressive because nobody can devote significant time & energy to 25 ECs. It just makes the person look like a dilletante or a resume padder. For the rare dynamo kids with many genuine ECs, I would recommend grouping them into catagories so the list won't seem overwhelming and phony... For example, instead of listing Musical, Play & Choir, or French Club Latin Club, Italian Club, listing "Performing Arts" and "Romance Languages" with the specifics in parentheses might be more effective.</p>
<p>One major EC (swimming) plus a strong academic record is great. If you have some other keen interests-- things that you care about and would like to continue in college-- find a way to talk about them, too; even if you were not 'president of the X club' you can put the info in your essay.</p>
<p>My D was recruited for a sport but wrote her "EC" essay about music, which was another passion.</p>
<p>With those times as a freshman in high school, trust me, the Ivies will be falling all over themselves to recruit you (or at the very least, Dartmouth will, because that's the only Ivy I ever checked times on, and already you're well below their swimmers in the mile).</p>
<p>Although if you have any aspirations to go further with your swimming, I'd suggest you think about Stanford/UMich/other schools with renowned swim teams.</p>