<p>My daughter, who is starting senior year in a couple of weeks, has participated in fall sport since freshman year of high school. Started with the freshman team, then two years of JV. The sport is about to start its practices this week, and she is thinking about not doing the sport this year, as a senior. The reasons are: 1) she doesn't really enjoy it; 2) she is taking a very rigorous course load; 3) along with her school work, she will be busy with college applications; and 4) we still need to visit about three more colleges, which would entail missing some practices and games.</p>
<p>She is not a star on the team. In fact, she predicts that she would not get a lot of play time this year.</p>
<p>However, she is very concerned that not continuing on the team her senior year will be a big negative on college applications. She does not plan to play competitive sports in college. </p>
<p>Her GPA is 4.3 from a competitive HS in a NYC suburb. 8 APs. SAT 2040 (670, 680, 690).</p>
<p>What is the collective wisdom of this group? Will quitting the team (not really quitting -- just not rejoining) senior year be a negative mark on applications?</p>
<p>Probably not. She can always find something else to do. (Such as getting involved in volunteering somewhere she likes.) Perhaps she could find another way to be involved with the sport though. For example, be a manager and take stats.</p>
<p>Not playing won’t hurt her profile as much as getting off to a strong start academically this year and writing good applications will help. But only she (and you) know how that balance would work. </p>
<p>Neither of my kids playing sports at all and they got into very selective colleges. It all depends on what else you can bring to the table. For my younger son who was a pretty middling violin player I always wondered how much of a plus or minus it was for his application. He loved the conductor, he liked the other players in the orchestra, and he never practiced much. He enjoyed it, so he didn’t quit, but if he hadn’t I’d certainly have let him.</p>
<p>I don’t see how this could hurt. And she shouldn’t do something she doesn’t enjoy, based on some idea that colleges will care. With the time freed up, maybe she will find some new interests. Why did she do the sport for so long in the first place? Just curious.</p>
<p>She did it the first three years because she likes to keep fit, it was very social, and she likes to keep busy. But now she is stressed by college apps and wants to be able to spend time to do them justice.</p>
<p>No one really knows if it will hurt or not. For the less-selective colleges, it won’t matter, because they admit mostly or only on stats. For the highly selective ones, really, who knows? They are looking for applicants who stand out. If she was a mediocre athlete, then athletics is not going to be her ace in the hole, so it probably won’t matter, but she needs something else that shows excellence. I suppose if she writes an essay about “never giving up” or something like that, it might hurt that she gave up. Its all conjecture for the top colleges, though.</p>
<p>Let her quit the sport. She could put more time into her other activities, and her academics. Maybe she’d want to get a part-time job. A little work experience is something that could benefit most students, and I think especially those with high stats and no prior employment. Maybe she could tie it into her current interest or potential major.</p>
<p>Quit the sport. If it does affect where she goes, that’s not a school you want her to go to anyway. You want a school that encourages her passions and activities, not one that makes you do things because they look good on paper </p>
<p>My daughter quit her fall sport as a senior. She she was coming off an injury and the coach told her she wouldn’t get much play time. She was supposed to be one of the captains senior year, but the time commitment was not worth it if she wouldn’t get play time. She dances and teaches dance also so it freed up more time for the studio. It did not hurt her college admissions in the least.</p>
<p>Since the focus of application review is academic performance, I would be surprised if it even registered at all in the admissions review that she dropped the sport.</p>
<p>If she is not enjoying it, she should not do it. The “collective wisdom” that emphasizes sports as an EC, isn’t always right. Each kid should be who they want to be, not some caricature of the “right student”.</p>
<p>I agree that she should drop the sport. She isn’t enjoying it and senior year is stressful enough with college app, why add to it? The only way I see that it might hurt in admissions is a case where she was a standout in the sport or possibly recruited. That doesn’t seem to be the case here.</p>
<p>My S dropped football his Sr year. A sport he had played since he was 7yo. I wasn’t thrilled when he did it, but in hindsite it allowed him to more fully enjoy his sr. year. He got into most of the colleges he applied to, got great merit scholarships and all worked out well wrt to college admissions. Don’t worry about it, your D dounds like she is on a good track. </p>
<p>Interesting to read the responses. Does she have other activities that she has been active in for all four years (or at least since sophomore year)? Will the replacement be something new? I agree that it likely will not have any impact on admissions, as long as she has shown an ongoing commitment to some other activities. The fact that it is a sport doesn’t matter, except (as you point out) that schools know sports require a very large commitment of time. Does she play the sport outside of school?</p>
<p>I think people vastly overestimate how much involvement in a sport helps an applicant, when the applicant is not talented enough at the sport to play in college. Continuing to play shows commitment, but not too much else (in my opinion). Another activity will be just as good, and possibly better if she can excel in it.</p>
<p>Both my DDs played sports in high school but neither was a standout. DD1 was a swimmer and then played rugby and DD2 was a swimmer. Both were in it more for the social and the exercise than much of anything else. It was great fun and that’s all. Enjoy a year without the fall sport. There will be plenty to do getting the college apps and visits completed.</p>
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