One of my biggest frustrations in this process as the parent of a swimmer is that swimming achievement is calculated differently than the more popular sports of football, basketball, soccer, track, etc. For example, every form that DS has filled out for every school asks about local, state, national, which are divisions for those sports but not for swimming.
Obviously, college swim coaches know this.
Club swimming has the LSCs, zones, then nationals. Zones are multi-state. LSCs can be within a state, comprise a whole state, or make up a multi-state region. They are divided up by population. DS has put approximations on his forms of his achievements within the football framework. Leading up to when DS became ranked for zones and LSC, that is when his time commitment went far beyond other sports and ECs. The only athletes he knows that have similar time commitments are the Team USA ice skaters that he is friends with. Even the nationally ranked ice hockey players he knows don’t practice that much. I don’t expect AOs to know this. DS will have to explain it on the app somewhere. Hopefully there is a place.
There are, of course, several more levels within Nationals, but most people have no idea what it takes and what small % of swimmers get to Futures and above. Even at Sectionals you may find yourself going against a National Team members.
Regardless, there is an additional info question that you can use to your benefit and to (briefly) give some context. DD, for example, added that she had chosen to pursue a more complex Honors thesis (vs the obligatory standard one), and that she was also in the process of completing an optional capstone project.
We found that our CC also gave context to things in their comments. I fully expect that she will mention how much school was missed due to National meets - we have Sat classes so it really hurts - while keeping up with a rigorous schedule.
The other thing is that there is definitely a “best way” to describe awards and activities. While I found Who Gets in and Why to be absolutely fascinating and enlightening, I thought Valedictorians at the Gates was just fine (sort of obvious?) but she had some great nuggets of advice on how to make the most out of each section of your app.
OP should be able to compare his times to the times posted by swim teams at the colleges he likes. Either he will qualify for the team ( and thus the EC matters a lot) or he doesn’t.
I think colleges will recognize and appreciate the depth of your commitment to swimming. If you are really worried about this, is there anything you can do during the school day or on your own time? Maybe organize a service activity at your school or write something for the school newspaper? But, I would not run yourself ragged trying to create a list of ECs for the common app.
FWIW, I have been an alumni interviewer for many years at a highly selective college, and applicants usually bring a resume to the interview. It’s very obvious when students participate in lots of ECs in an effort to “check all the boxes.” Depth of commitment and passion for one EC is much more impressive than a laundry list, and that includes a sport that you will not be playing in college. Although I acknowledge that the plural of anecdote is not data, the admissions outcomes of students I have interviewed support my opinion. Good luck.
Lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons are jobs. While they are related to swimming, they are separate from your participation on your club and high school swim teams. Make sure that you do not minimize these activities by lumping them in with your swim team activities. Also make sure that your guidance counselor fully understands the depth of your swimming commitments because I think it will be important context when they fill out your school report for college applications. Don’t assume your counselor understands how demanding club swimming is.
He has not said that he will be a recruited athlete. And that is the point. Since he is not an olympic swimmer, he is either a recruited athlete, in which case he gets in anywhere, with his good academics, or he is just a kid who participated heavily in a sport, in which case he probably will not get into highly selective schools, no matter how many hours he put into it.
There are ways - interviews, essays, extra info section on the app, resumes for those who allow.
I have no doubt any student partaking in one major activity, no matter how popular or well known it is or isn’t, has the opportunity to make the point known.
For my son it was planespottimg - yes going to the airport and taking pics of planes taking off and landing and putting them on his instagram.
He got in at all but one - WUSTL where he was WL and I’m guessing would have gotten in if he ED - because they pushed it incessantly.
The kids should follow their hearts. They may need to be strategic but there’s a way to make their impression.
This is not a shortcoming like you think …at least in my opinion.
The OP can get into an elite colleges IF he/she has the grades, course rigor, LORs, essays etc. IMO heavy involvement in a sport will not preclude one from admissions to a top college.
Then perhaps a more explicit answer is that yes, selective colleges will understand the time required for club swim and no, they do not really care much about it ( unless it gives the college something it needs, like a swim team member).
That’s absurd and reductive. Being a non-recruited athlete is not an automatic disqualification. Maybe this is a great student, charismatic member of their class, passionate about a certain subject, well loved by their teachers… maybe they are a great teammate and leader who can put together a compelling essay.
Nothing short of being recruited guarantees admissions but being a top level athlete isn’t somehow less than a committed theater kid or a dedicated musician.
Absolutely agree. But OP limited his inquiry to elite colleges. Those have very low admit rates, and being a middling musician, athlete, artist, etc, generally isnt enough of an EC to boost chances of admission.
They will certainly understand the time commitment of being a competitive swimmer. Impact however will be determined by times, results and “recruitability”.
The time spent won’t however offset any other shortcomings and a lack of impact will likely not bolster the applicant’s chances. I can come up with a variety of analogies using other ECs but don’t want to go off subject.
Perhaps I misunderstood op’s question, but it seemed to be whether he would get more credit for club swimming as it is more hours intensive than other extracurriculars. The answer does seem to be that it doesn’t count more than another extracurricular, but does count the same.