<p>I have two smalls kids and have been reading some of the articles posted on your website. My son is 9 and he plays sports, but not good in any one. It is still early to say, but I would appreciate if some one could tell me? Is it hard to play for a high school? At what age do we say that he has to be in clubs? How important is sport when applying to Colleges?</p>
<p>I would appreciate if some one could put my mind at rest.</p>
<p>Is Choir considered as a valuable sports? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I would suggest joining a club either freshman or sophomore year [either one works fine, I know personally I like to get used to a school before I explode onto the scene so I just did one EC my freshman year, and then did like seven my sophomore year] or at latest join a club junior year to get any value out of the club both personally and on an application. </p>
<p>As to sports, I did tennis my sophomore year, and I was terrible though nobody is really going to knock you down for not being talented. As to their value on an application, of course participating in sports for an extended period of your high school career is definitely a plus to any application [especially varsity], though I know personally you don't need it to get into college [ I actually never listed tennis on my application since it would have been pointless].</p>
<p>Choir is not a valuable ** sport ** but rather a valuable ** extracurricular activity **, though really the value of any extracurricular depends on the amount of interest, particpation, and talent in said activity.</p>
<p>Choir is seen as less valuable than a sport because virtually any sport will demand much more time involvement. </p>
<p>And don't say he HAS to be in clubs. At any age. Just make sure he stays in activities.</p>
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Choir is seen as less valuable than a sport because virtually any sport will demand much more time involvement.
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<p>But now you're assuming that choir does not require in itself a very large amount of time, because I have many friends who are in choir and can often divide into many subgroups of choir which can meet for four or five times a day, and also choir is not a seasonal activity thus meets reguraly throughout the year whereas sport seasons tend to last about four or five months.</p>
<p>This is a little off topic, but I do a lacrosse sports camp every summer instead of doing it at school because school consumes so much time. But can i put that on my app, or would that be pointless?</p>
<p>No you can definitely list summer activities as an EC.</p>
<p>Sports = good for body, mind, and apps
Sports Star = ticket anywhere</p>
<p>First part is easy, second part is rare / difficult.</p>
<p>I'm sure that some schools have very active and demanding choirs that perform at a very high level.</p>
<p>Most schools have choirs that meet hundreds of hours less than the sports programs, and much much less than field show marching band programs.</p>
<p>I am an alum interviewer for Harvard, and have served on corporate and other merit scholarship committees, including nationally.</p>
<p>The most important things that you can do for your kids is help them connect with clubs, peers, adult mentors and experiences that will help them develop their national interest and talents and grow into healthy adults of good character.</p>
<p>They don't need to be in sports, but should be in some kind of team or individual physical activity so as to stay healthy as much as possible throughout their life. Colleges don't require applicants to do sports.</p>
<p>The best thing that you can do now is to follow your kids' natural talents an interests and allow them to be in clubs, classes and to meet people connected wtih those things. They don't need to stick with the same things for years. If they get bored, let them finish their commitment (such as if you paid for a semester of after school art classes), and then move on to something else that interests them.</p>
<p>If you do this, probably by the time that they apply to college, they'll have a good sense of what they enjoy doing, what fields they may wish to pursue as adults, and what kind of college environment will make them happy and fulfilled. Then, you and they can select colleges for them to apply to that would be affordable and also would be good fits for your kids.</p>
<p>My thoughts are that one of the worst things that parents can do is to force their kids into extracurricular activities in order to try to please colleges. The better way iis to help your kids develop their natural talents and interests, and after that to go to a college that meets their needs. The U.S. has thousands of colleges, so any student who has at least average motivation and average or better intelligence can find a college to attend.</p>
<p>I completely agree with Northstarmom. The most important thing you can do for your kids is to give them opportunities to try all kinds of things. Have confidence in them and be patient. They DO figure it out. If given choice and freedom and support they can go through the process of finding what they love. It may surprise you. </p>
<p>When they do apply to college, the app process really showcases who they are as individuals If they have been able to figure that out and not been pushed into an identity by parents, the essay writing, tho painful, is also sort of exciting because they get to express their own uniqueness. </p>
<p>Have fun growing them and letting them discover. I know it sounds ever so corny but that's what a friend told me years ago and she was right.</p>
<p>Your kid is 9 years old. It really is okay that he is not good at his sport. He has plenty of time to learn the sport if it is his desire to do so or develop an interest in something else. I agree with NSM and glasses, don't force anything on him.</p>