<p>Although the prompt for this thread occurred two years ago, I am curious to see what parents think. DD is now a h.s. freshman, and when she was in elem. and middle school, she played basketball and was pretty good at it but not outstanding. Then, last year, she decided that she would not try out for the m/s girls basketball team because she wanted to participate in the school musical, and their schedules overlapped. She has not picked up a basketball since, but she is not only in her h.s. chorus and orchestra (violin) but was chosen for a regional chorus. She loves to sing and sings in choir at church. When she dropped basketball, DH was very unhappy. He was convinced that if she continued to play b/b and played on the h/s basketball team, that activity would count for more on a college application than her music. Basketball was the only sport she liked; now she does no athletics. Also, she does not want to major in music. My attitude is DD should do what she likes. On the issue of which is better on a college application, do you think DH right?</p>
<p>Probably not. Sports are only better if you’re good enough to be a recruited athlete.</p>
<p>You said that she was chosen for a regional chorus. I don’t know what that really means, but you do…so, is it probable that she would have reached the same level of recognition as a basketball player? If not, I think she made a wise choice.</p>
<p>I think she should do what she enjoys. Doing an activity that she doesn’t enjoy for the purpose of putting it on a college application is silly.</p>
<p>Also, many colleges are non-competitive which means that anybody who meets the minimum requirements gets in, in which case sports would add no value to an application.</p>
<p>Many, many high schools will not let a student participate in both a sport and theater at the same time. I agree with the above posts that SHE should decide what she loves. The whole concept of “what looks better on an application” is what has driven admissions to be the game it is now.</p>
<p>Our school doesn’t preclude kids from playing sports and being involved with theater, art or music. I also think it is also silly to play the what will an individual admissions reader A or B or C “like better.” What is “better” is for kids to get involved in what they enjoy. Kid tend to do “better” in things they like “better.”</p>
<p>The short answer to your question is that she sings better than she played basketball. She had the potential to become a good player, but in the last couple of years her heart wasn’t really in it. DH pushed her to become a better player, but I think he just pushed her out of the sport, instead.</p>
<p>My son played no sports after the 9th grade, and he wasn’t particularly good at those he did before then. He might have continued with tennis, at which he was not terrible, but he had many other activities and he preferred them.</p>
<p>Did it hurt him? Well, he was rejected by one top school. He was admitted to many others, and received large merit scholarship offers from several of them. He attends a so-called Top 20 private on a merit scholarship that comes to 40K per year. Believe me, he was not good enough at sports to get that kind of scholarship on the basis of athleticism.</p>
<p>But…I want to emphasize that he did several other activities that required working as a team, and he was the organizer and/or leader of several of them. Lot of hours, lots of responsibility. I assume his role in these other activities were seen as essentially equivalent to a role on a sports team by most of the colleges he applied to.</p>
<p>I say let kids do what they like to do. My son was not thinking about scholarships when he made his choices, it just worked out well.</p>
<p>I think commitment is the key not necessarily the activity.</p>
<p>My daughter is a 4 year starting varsity player on 3 different sports (volleyball, basketball, softball) - all of which she plays very well and receives awards for playing. She was not interested whatsoever in continuing on a competetive level in college and we respected her decision.</p>
<p>However, playing these sports and excelling showed teamwork, fortitude, commitment, and leadership on her college applications. It showed she could get great grades while giving up to 6 extra hours per day 6 days a week to an outside activity (game days, 3 hours on practice days). </p>
<p>She is still awaiting 2 decisions - but has been accepted at the other 9 schools to which she has applied. Her involvement in sports has been a topic in every interview she has had for merit scholarships. So, I have to believe that her dedication here was a plus in her applications.</p>
<p>If your daughter has found her ‘calling’, music and theater, as far as ECs are concerned and she intends to follow through with it until graduation - then that is what she should do, not basketball.</p>
<p>I think it is better to focus on an activity (or a few activities), than bounce in and out of many.</p>
<p>She should do what she loves. Colleges won’t care if she played a sport or sang or played an instrument or was in debate. What matters is that she shows she has interests outside of the classroom that she can contribute to the school, and that she’s learned discipline, motivation, and she has interests and maybe passions that show a sense of self. Nothing is worse than interviewing a kid who is clearly not excited about their ECs. It’s a big turnoff. On the other hand, a kid who likes what they do outside of class and likes talking about it and is knowledgable about it makes a great interview and a happier student. </p>
<p>If she had the potential to get a big athletic scholarship I would say maybe at least think it over, but it sounds like she’s a decent but not awesome player (like most student athletes) and even if she stuck with bball she probably wouldn’t play it in college. Better that she spend time doing something she really loves. Colleges won’t care as long as it’s an authentic passion that comes from HER.</p>
<p>I agree, she should be pursuing what she loves. I think much of the time trying to do ECs for the college resume doesn’t benefit anyone (if you aren’t enjoying it, you probably aren’t excelling at it; it often means kids having to give up the things they really are more passionated and talented with; and it’s a source of unnecessary tension between kids and parents). </p>
<p>In our house, we really encourage our kids to do SOME sport as an activity throughout the year, because we think exercise, physical skill development of some kind, and being active is important. But it’s entirely up to them, and they can switch around as much as they like (and it’s unrelated to college).</p>
<p>If she doesn’t like basketball, she should not do basketball. If she likes choir, she should do choir.
It’s as simple as that.</p>
<p>I do not agree that sports involvement only matters if you are recruited athlete. Passion is passion. My son was a three sport athlete and was captain of two teams his senior year. He won all kinds of awards, played on elite travel teams and went to camps to improve over the summer. He was also an outstanding student and a really good leader of his peers. Coming into his senior year and the college application thing, my concern, quite honestly, was that he didn’t have enough volunteer time put in. His counselor said, when the heck would he have had time? He was looking for a school, not a team to play for when it came to college. Long story short… it’s passion and commitment schools are looking for in EC’s. Don’t ever do anything because it merely looks good. Most success is found by doing what you love. Didn’t someone say that or was that just me? :)</p>
<p>PS… he got into some really great schools and was not recruited. And yes, he does miss it, but there are other passions to explore. Gotta love college!</p>