<p>I see a lot of you posting an extremely long and extensive list of extracurriculars with the question if you have a chance of getting admitted. Let me give you some advice, your comprehensive list with EC's is NOT going to help you get in to highly selective universities. </p>
<p>Colleges with a low admission rate like Ivies or other top notch institutes, don't give a damn about someone who is captain of 3 sport teams, leader of a debate club, does voluntary work at 5 different charity organisations and so on. They are looking for people who EXCEL at ONE particular thing. They aren't looking for someone who is average at 15 things. If you have so many EC's, it becomes impossible to excel at one. </p>
<p>Let me give you an simple and clear example. Who is going to be more successful, a person who does 10 different sports and is average at all of them, or someone who put's all his time in one sport but becomes extremely good at it and excels in this sport? </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I have admiration for the people who are actually doing all these things they put on their application, and I know you work hard to get into these colleges. And when the Ivies don't have any people left with good SAT's and an EC they excel in, they will definitely fill up the still empty spots with people like this. But take this advice from me and don't take your list of EC's too far, and try to excel at one particular thing. I will guarantee that your chance of admission will become bigger. </p>
<p>That’s a pretty sweeping generalization, OP. It might even be correct. If you have any evidence to support the claim, I’m sure CC’ers would appreciate being linked to it.</p>
<p>Conventional wisdom does say quality over quantity: agreed. but @college123452, your example of a person who captains 3 varsity sports is a bad example. To captain 3 Varsity sports, this is an extremely talented and disciplined individual.</p>
<p>I agree with you that someone who captains 3 varsity sports is an extremely talented and disciplined individual, but this is still not what colleges are looking for. Think about it, if a person were to do a certain sport, and he/she puts her hart and sole in this sport and truly pursues his or her goals, it will take at least one training a day. If a training takes three hours of your day and you also need to go to school, it will become impossible to do two or more of these sport with such dedication. If you claim on your application you captain three varsity sports, you just point out that all three teams are probably not very good and train only two, maybe three times a week. Besides this, you show that you don’t truly love one of the sports, and therefore feel the need to practice more than one sport.</p>
<p>This is all a crapshoot nowadays… with all the top tier schools - common app has changed the way admissions works from what i can tell. Kid got rejections from schools that looked like match schools on naviance based on test scores, gpa, etc… Just hope for the best and LOVE your safety school</p>
<p>While I also agree that depth rather than breadth makes sense, in our school we have 3 separate varsity sports seasons. So you could conceivably be captain of three different varsity sports without sacrificing one for the other. And sometimes sports are related - say cross-country and track. Track kids often run cross-country to stay in shape when it’s not track season, and vice versa. In that case the two sports complement each other. I know one kid who received state championship rings in cross-country (fall) and wrestling (winter), and was close in track (spring). You don’t have to give up all other sports to excel in one. Many college athletes are talented in more than one sport - say both football and baseball for example. I think better examples are the kids who sign up for nearly every club their school offers. There’s no way they are doing justice to each of those clubs, and there’s not a compelling “story” if there is no common thread to your clubs.</p>
<p>college123452: I question if you know what it takes to be a varsity athlete – much less to be the captain. 2/3s of the year, my DD is in practice 15 hours a week not including actual competitions. She averages 3-4 hrs homework each night too. If she played a third sport, she’d be doing that the entire school year. Her team has consistently been among the five top GPA Division 1 (top most level) Varsity teams in our state for each of her three years. </p>
<p>We may just need to agree to disagree. I think you devalue the commitment needed to be on a HS varsity squad. I agree with most of your points but again, I assert that a 3-team sports captain is truly unique and would really stand out. It’s not what competive colleges are solely looking for – but it’s notable, IMHO.</p>
<p>As for the people who were asking if I had any particular evidence to support my statement. I myself have been accepted to three ivy league institutions while asking for full financial aid as an international. The fact that I was an international asking for full aid, and the fact that I am an white male which is not an URM, puts me in an disadvantage. Besides that, I had an extremely low SAT score when compared to the averages of the colleges. SAT reasoning: 1840, SAT II (Biology E): 620, SAT II (Physics): 660</p>
<p>T26E4: I understand what you are saying, an I agree with you that it is possible to do more than one varsity sports. I think I should have been a little bit more exact in my last post. When colleges take a look at athletes, they are looking for the best of the best. They want athletes that participated on international level. I agree that someone who is in two varsity squats is an impressive and unique individual, but unfortunately that is just not how colleges work. They recruit athletes that, like said before, participated on international level. As long as you are not getting recruited, sports as EC’s will have a lot smaller value when in the admission process. Therefore I have to come back on my original statement. Put all your effort in one sport instead of two or more, and you might just reach the level you need to get recruited, which would mean instant admission. </p>
<p>And InigoMontoya: I was not recruited as an athlete, but they still are a good example of what I think about the admission process. Most of them only do one sport and a lot less EC’s than other applicants, and they have a way bigger chance of getting admitted</p>
<p>As a parent who has watched this process for several years, and knows a coach at a top 20 school who recruits and has to have their eye on who can get it and who cannot – the depth vs. breadth thing varies significantly across different schools. Some schools are interested in the well-balanced, all-rounder, while others want to the depth kid who is extraordinary at one single thing. Cannot generalize across a range of top schools as to what they are all looking for. </p>
<p>I do agree with the OP that the scatter shot EC – a long list without focus – does not make a strong case for top schools. Demonstrating commitment, focus and talent is important. OP’s example of 10 sports is a “straw man” – no one does that or if they do, they are indeed foolish because they are not committing to any single or even cluster of activities. But playing sports at a high level, and being chosen as a student leader and role model for others – the captain – is a strong endorsement of that student. Athletes can do quite well in college admissions, even unrecruited ones, because committing 20 hours a week to a sport, plus excelling in school, shows schools that student can balance demanding work loads and responsibilities. I always find it amusing (until I get frustrated) at my athlete kids who do great academically in season and then when they hit the off season, think there is endless time to slack off a bit. Their grades drop a bit before they realize they have to get organized and efficient once again. </p>
<p>@colllege123452: you seem to be missing my point. I NEVER spoke about recruited collegiate athletes. They have special paths to admissions very few people do. </p>
<p>All I disagreed with you about was your statement about a 3-team varsity captain being not special. And to be frank, I’ve been recruiting and interviewing kids for a pretty long while so I know some of what very selective colleges look for. </p>
<p>No, they don’t (at least not exclusively). There are very few high school students, relatively speaking, that participate on the “international level.” Colleges want good, solid athletes who can be competitive in whatever NCAA division the college competes in, who have also shown strong leadership qualities, who can be good teammates, and who can handle the academics.</p>
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<p>As an international student, I don’t know how much personal exposure you have had to secondary education in the United States, or how much knowledge you have about the admissions practices of U.S. colleges and universities other than your own experience, but based on some of your opinions, it appears that the answer is “not much.” As T26E4 has pointed out, being named a varsity captain is viewed favorably (as it should be, if the selection process was done right), and being a 3 sport varsity captain is rather extraordinary. It’s all part of the holistic review process. Will being a varsity captain, even a 3 sport varsity captain, rescue an otherwise substandard applicant? Not likely, but as with most things, it depends on the college and the individual circumstances. However, being a varsity captain is a plus, and being a 3 sport varsity captain will absolutely make an applicant stand out.</p>
<p>A person who captains 3 varsity sports will definitely have an advantage, ignoring all academic and other achievements. Captaining 3 varsity sports is entirely possible due to the seasons, and it does show leadership and general skill in sports. </p>
<p>Being a participant in 100 different things obviously won’t fare well. However, if you can be both a well-rounded (participating in many) student and a skillful leader (being the best at a few), then you would fare the best.</p>
<p>college123452, when I ask if you have any evidence, I am asking if you can link us to articles or some other source that indicates that your claims will be true for a large number of people. Your personal experience is interesting, but in no way does it justify your larger claim that other students will have the same experience. Learning the difference between what “makes sense” and what actually happens is one of the first, most important skill you will learn in college.</p>