<p>Hi. I've been on the wrestling team for 2 years now (sophomore and junior year). This year, I was struggling to balance wrestling and my studies. My grades came out alright, but I was sleeping on average 3-5 hours a day per weekday. My earliest bedtime was 1 and sometimes I would have to pull all nighters. </p>
<p>Practice was 2-3 hours a day and it would take another 1 hour to get home. I've never been a good wrestler either. I tried extremely hard during practice, but it seems like I never really had the talent. Now, I just no longer want to wrestle, but I'm still in the sport because I'm afraid that it will affect my chances of going to a good college. I don't even know if I can make varsity next year. I heard colleges prefer commitment more than anything. Is this true?</p>
<p>Next year, I have to take an art class to fill the UC requirement. Therefore, I was wondering how much dropping a sport affects my college apps.</p>
<p>Changing ECs will not have a huge impact on your college applications, especially if you can find something else that you actually enjoy. If you really don’t like to wrestle, it is okay to quit. There are other sports that are less time consuming, and other ECs that don’t have such a heavy time commitment. </p>
<p>Why not look for an EC that makes you stand out a bit. There are a lot of wrestlers, but not as many people help organize a 5K run to fund a homeless shelter. A couple of years of martial arts might make a nice transition-your interest would seem like a natural evolution from wrestling.</p>
<p>The UCs are formula based in their admissions process so dropping wrestling isn’t going to make a difference. And even if they were doing a ‘holistic’ review and your ECs mattered, wrestling isn’t going to make you stand out. It’s just a way for them to see that you are an active participant in your school community - and likely to be one in theirs. That’s no reason not to drop an EC you aren’t enjoying. Like MizzBee says, find something else you’d enjoy more and that is less time-consuming. Maintaining your grades (and getting enough sleep) are the most important things you can do for yourself, college-wise.</p>
<p>If I dropped wrestling for an art class (to fill the UC requirement), would it look bad? </p>
<p>Thank you for the advice. I’ll try to find something that I’m passionate about. I enjoy doing community service, and I’ve always wanted to help out at homeless shelters and such, so the 5k run seems like a great idea. </p>
<p>M’s Mom, if taking a sport doesn’t really make me stand out, what kind of EC’s will? Do you have any suggestions?</p>
<p>Schools are not going to see you as having “dropped wrestling for an art class”. They also don’t expect you to show commitment to everything you ever try. If you have 4 years of the same language, or several years with boy scouts, etc. then you show that you can pursue an interest and not just flit from thing to thing. I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>