True. One can never know. But I wouldn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. One of the big things T10s look for is “Intellectual Vitality.” Applicants get rated on that, among other very specific categories, which are hard to relate to swimming.
All depends on what your goals are, but I would worry that swimming as the sole EC is limiting.
Then it’s a good thing for OP that competitive swimming isn’t their only EC, as they work/have worked as a lifeguard and a swimming instructor.
I continue to believe that highly focused ECs where an applicant has achieved some measure of success such as varsity sports, ballet, etc are desirable to many selective schools.
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This reminds me of one student several years back, definitely before COVID. He was a competitive swimmer, NMF, SAT 1580, etc. I remember hearing him talking about essay with friends. I believe he wrote about swimming and how he used chemistry biology and physics in training. I don’t remember exactly what he said but do remember feeling “wow that’s a fresh perspective”. He was also part of other clubs. I think he was accepted by several Ivies and attended one, not sure which one though, but not as swimming recruit.
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I don’t disagree with you. Depth is waaaay better than superficial breadth.
But I also think it’s important to define what schools the applicant is looking at. By “elite” do they just mean “competitive” or “very competitive”? I agree that swimming, teaching, lifeguarding, team captain… are great EC’s for a good many very competitive schools.
BUT there is a small subset of kids who really really really want the Ivies or T10s. Whether that is a good goal or not is certainly debatable. But for that small set of schools, I think you need more.
This year, our swim team had a phenomenal swimmer and student (valedictorian and 1570 SAT). Same EC’s as the OP. She was fast enough to swim at almost any D3 but…not fast enough for the Ivies or other academically “elite” D1s. She felt she’d rather go to an Ivy than swim in college and then got rejected from all 8. Not a single waitlist. She was CRUSHED. She ended up committing to an academically elite LAC, and swimming there, so you could say she had a great result! But FOR HER, it was devastating. She will be fine and have a great experience. But I know her and if she could go back in time, she would have diversified more.
Maybe it would have made no difference. But here is a tiny bit of data. This year, our club team had 5 kids go to Ivies or T10s. One was recruited. The other 4 were not even in the highest level group of the team (meaning they were not fast enough to be recruited and/or missed practices for other EC’s).
I wonder what other teams’ data is like? Anyone want to share?
I think the OP’s EC’s are amazing for nearly any school in the country….but are unlikely to be competitive for like 10-15 schools.
Do you disagree?
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Nvm. It’s just not worth it.
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I disagree based on my own anecdotal experience with the 100+ kids I have interviewed for my Ivy alma mater.
I encouraged my own kids to try lots of different ECs when they were younger. When they got to high school, I told them to do things that genuinely interested them. They have gone all-in on their sport, and I am thrilled. They have developed so much personally from the experience, are in great shape, and have made great friends. They do some other ECs, but not in a distinguished way. I am not concerned at all that their choice of ECs will hurt their chances of getting into elite schools as non-recruited applicants. Do what you love, love what you do. Just my two cents,
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1.Yes, going all-in is rewarding in a very special way with swimming! The team travel, the friendships, the close mentoring by coaches. My daughter is not ALL-all-in, but very close to it and she wouldn’t change anything. Happiness over everything.
2. Interesting about your anecdotal interview experience. My husband interviews for his Ivy alma mater, as do 6-7 of my closest friends. They truly have no meaningful opinion on this subject because no one they interview ever gets in! It’s sort of a joke in our house that my husband is a curse. No matter how impressive the kids he interviews, they never ever get in.
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The OP has gotten quite a bit of feedback and we are now going back and forth so closing thread.
OP is welcome to message the mods if they would like it reopened.
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