So I have some concerns about my extra curriculars and the essay…
My number one extra curricular activity is a sport called freerunning (similar to parkour). I am the highest ranking freerunner in the greater LA region (train 15-20 hrs a week), and I just recently got a job at the academy where I train. I also was my highschool’s student body president. Currently, I am the photo club president, a key club member, an astronomy club member, an NHS member, the improv team captain, and an avid piano player (also in jazz band).
My main concern is that the admissions board will not understand my sport due to their unfamiliarity with it; thus, they will view it no more than a hobby. Also, I was planning to write my essay on it, but I was told to stay away from topics regarding one’s sport.
In short, my question is this:
Will the admissions board view my sport seriously? If not, what should I do differently? Also, is it a bad idea to write my essay about my sport?
This is something unique and interesting that you obviously care a lot about. If schools can take my admissions essay about eating a twelve-egg omelet seriously, they can take yours about freerunning seriously as well. I also wrote an essay about my relation to running (long-distance) and it got me accepted to an honors program at a good school, so sports aren’t at least entirely a no-go.
If you don’t think admissions officers will understand your sport, you can try explaining it in the essay, BUT not just by explaining what “people” do when they do it, rather what you do while doing it, and much more importantly connecting it to some aspect of who you are as a person. And get creative in your representation of things, maybe. Only my opinion of course, take it with salt-grains.
Start on this essay early, and if it just ain’t working, switch to another theme. Just give yourself the time to be able to comfortably do so.
^^good advice. Who told you that anyway? The problem with sports essays is that they can be cliche. They are either bragging or talking about the underdog who kept chugging on. Also if the sport is all over your resume, they already see it, they already know all about it. You are missing an opportunity to talk about another facet of yourself that they don’t see listed on your EC.
You have a good reason to wrote about it, but you have to understand that sports are an EC like any EC. The more you put into it and the more facets you have to talk about the better…And it sounds like you do. High accomplishment in something you put a lot of time into are worthwhile to talk about. I don’t think it is necessary to impress how serious a ‘sport’ this is–meaning don’t spend too much time lecturing or educating the reader. It really is about your relation and involvement, not what it is itself… Since it is unusual, it will probably be interesting and something different to hear about. What you always have to do is write at least a draft and see how it is coming together. It doesn’t even have to be the main focus of your essay, it is possible to bring it up and flesh it out as part of a larger topic.
The essay can be about anything that helps the admission officer understand you better. If that is your sport, then go for it. Just be sure not to write the essay as a discourse on freerunning – write the essay about you – what you learned from the sport, how it changed you etc… There was a recent article about a person who got into a ton of elite schools with an essay about Costco so any topic is fair game!
I agree with the advice given so far, especially from BrownParent. The primary purpose of the essay is to give the Adcoms an insight into you, what you care about, what motivates you, etc. As someone said said above, sports essays are discouraged because they’re usually cliche. Best advice is to try writing about forerunning and then see how it comes out. My D tried several approaches to her CA essay before being satisfied. It might be better to just explain it further in the Additional Info section. It’s hard to know until you try. My kid’s CA essay was about how she tried engineering camp and decided engineering wasn’t for her, but she used the essay to explain how it helped her figure out and focus on what she really did care about.
I don’t know if it even matters if they understand your sport…they do understand rankings, hours spent per week and the leadership shown by being asked to become a trainer.
Since I had no clue what you were talking about until I googled, and since the your essay will be one of 1000 read that day, you may want to give a definition such as acrobatics involving structures so the person is not distracted wondering what you are talking about. I assumed when I first started reading it was some form of cross country or related to a video game (call me ignorant). Also in your post you sound apologetic about it, be proud, you are a top person in your sport.
I think saying it’s like parcours explains a bit. But you can put a few words in the activities description.
It’s not a hard rule you can’t write about a sport. It’s the cliché of how you’re a sports hero. And remember, it’s not a hs essay. Show the sttributes they want to see for college.