Hello. I am currently a high school student that’s going to be in the 12th grade this year. I am having a bit of a problem on what to do with my extracurricular activity class, which is Water-polo. I’ve been doing water-polo ever since my freshman year. Since I will be a senior this year, I’ve decided to take as many AP courses as possible that has to do with my future career, which is AP Physics, AP Biology, and AP Calculus. I have already decided to do pre-med at a community college once I finish with high school. The problem is that I’ve been doing water polo ever since freshman year and knowing that I have to replace water polo with AP Physics this year bugs me. It’s my last year, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve heard that doing four years of the same sport is a good thing to see from Universities. So my question is, if I don’t take water polo this year, will UCLA, my dream school, still look at my high school transcripts, or they won’t mind at all when I’m transferring from a college? If you’re transferring from a college, do they pay attention to what you did in high school? If they do look at it, any suggestions on what I can do? Whether if I should take AP Physics, to gain experience and knowledge on what Physics is like, or continue doing water polo for senior year to show UC’s that I’ve done 4 years of the same sport. I would consider doing both at the same time, but I’m not going to have time at all because putting my AP courses aside, I will be volunteering at a hospital as well. And with water polo on the side, which takes up 2-3 hours a day at practice, or 3-5 hours during game days, I will not have enough time to finish my school work and do well in my classes. I am stuck in the middle, and I don’t know what to do. Any suggestions/advice from people who have experienced something like this, or your opinion on what I should do instead? Thank you.
They aren’t going to care at all if you drop water polo.
Re AP, you would mainly want it to fulfill some coursework at the university level, so you have less courses to take at the CCC and/or UC.
They don’t look at your high school transcript until after you are accepted, and hs transcripts have no bearing, unless you misrepresented something (like two years high school language to fulfill a language requirement).
Med schools don’t really like AP credits to replace required pre-med classes… I personally would take a lower level Phisics class & play water polo.
@intparent I’m mostly take AP Physics so it can benefit me by gaining knowledge on what it’s like when I take the course in a community college. I don’t want to be completely new to the subject, therefore I’m taking it now in high school just so I could know the basics.
@lindyk8 Thank you Lindy. And this still applies to medical schools as well right? I really want to attend UCLA Medical School, so I just want to make sure if they look at your extracurricular activities you did in high school, in this case, water polo.
If you’re listing ECs from HS on your med school app, you didn’t do enough in college.
I didn’t say don’t take Physics – I said you don’t have to take AP. Not sure what you want from this thread… I think most students, in a panic to impress colleges, overload on APs. No need… The coursework will still be there when you get to college. Don’t drop an EC you really like.
Good point @intparent .
@intparent Will the EC I do now in High School effect me positively for UC’s?
Water polo? Neutral, probably. Not negative. Four years of it shows commitment and follow through, though. But it’s not going to have huge impact.
Not a huge impact. But don’t live your life just for academics… colleges want genuine human beings, not AP machines.
@intparent @lindyk8 Oh I see. Thank you. I really want to enroll in UCLA’s Medical School and I’m going to start volunteering at a hospital soon and after my six months of commitment at a local Hospital, I’ll try to apply to UCLA’s Medical Hospital just so I can have a record of volunteering at their hospital and I will try to apply to their Medical Programs as well. I’m just trying to manage my plan for the future because UCLA Medical School is my desired school. I’m trying to get involved in all parts of extracurricular activities and manage my grades at the same time.
That sounds like a good plan.
Your post is confusing me. You are 5 years away from applying to med school. Anything you do as an EC in high school, even senior year, is not going on your med school application.
@intparent @lindyk8 Thank you Lindy! Oh I see. I thought they look through what you did in high school as well as college. Any advice/recommendations on what I can do as an extracurricular that will benefit me when I apply to UCLA’s medical school?
Volunteer at a hospital while in college. But by far the most important thing is a stellar GPA and MCAT scores.
@intparent Thank you.
All the previous stuff sounded good. Medical related…
Specific volunteering ideas: shadow a doctor; medical scribing;