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Why is she diving at all now? Because she is a goal oriented, stick to it, committed kind of kid. She really wants to make States this year and if not, at least improve upon her last year's placement at Regions. She won't quit, but she can't wait for it to be over.
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<p>Good for her - this shows her character: fortitude and tenacity. I hope these qualities shine during her interviews and essays.</p>
<p>I dropped my fall sport (Women's Golf) senior year as well..I enjoyed it, but I didn't LOVE it, and didn't want to continue in college.</p>
<p>As for being unable to practice at home...one of my good friends used to practice her diving form on a trampoline. Don't know if it would work for your D, but it might be worth a try.</p>
<p>It WILL get better...I too would recommend cutting back on community service until season is over.</p>
<p>Rank these in order of importance:</p>
<p>Diving, a sport that won't be continued in college
Grades
Apps (including Research and Preparation)
College Presentations (Does your D need more info? Presentations start to sound alike, but visits will be crucial)
Volunteer Hours</p>
<p>Grades and Apps would be at the top of my list. Fall sports are only a season. Grades and apps will affect the next 4 years of her life, if not longer. Look at the big picture.</p>
<p>Kids' resentment, attitude, happiness, health, etc. Where do they rank? There are kids who will agree with you, but if they do not, it can be a problem. Young adults are prone to mood disorders and rebellion as it is and the college process is very stressful to some of them. To isolate it even more, removing her from a team and friends that are continuing the tradition at school, going to regionals and states, uuuummm. Not a a good idea. Also dropping all of your ECs senior year is not going to look good to highschool or college.</p>
<p>You're not alone. My D is a cheerleader so fall is always busy. We're in the Houston area and had this pesky catastrophic hurricane we're recovering from. We're all safe and sound, but school was out for over a week and things are getting rescheduled now -- which is why our Saturday coming up is: 8am: ACT test (rescheduled) then her guitar (group) recital and then a rescheduled football game in the evening. I need a nap just thinking about it.</p>
<p>FWIW on the subject of club vs school sports, it's very common for kids to do both around here. Hey, Texas is a big sports state. I'm thankful that my D is only doing school cheerleading and that the school team doesn't compete. Some schools do and then compete with a club team as well. I can't see it, but it's not uncommon around here.</p>
<p>We went through this junior year. D1's sport was eating up all her time and she was not a star at it whereas other ECs were pretty impactful. There is a real psychological strain in disengaging from a sports team. No one supports you in this - certainly not the coach and often not your parents. It's fun to go to the games! Our daughter just scaled back, didn't go to every practice, played mostly jv junior and senior year - and withstood a lot of judgement from others. But it was the right thing for her, no question. Good luck!</p>
<p>D1 was in a fall sport and while she was a starter, and went back to team camp with good results, it just wasn't fun, she narrowed it down to dropping an AP class or dropping the sport. She dropped the sport and in her case probably should have dropped the class, too. She did pick up another sport at the rec level just for fun, but with college apps plus clubs plus student govt, I missed going to the sport, but I understood her reasons. It made no discernible difference in her college results.</p>
<p>A few years later D2 was a three sport athlete plus competing on outside teams. She would never have dropped her sports, she loved her sports, she got 2 of 3 captains and all three MVPs and played at the national and international level- so it was the right thing for her to stay in, it was her passion and her results were a big part of her apps.</p>
<p>I say tell her to go with her gut, she may feel guilty about giving up something, but she knows in her heart what it should be</p>
<p>This is the exact scenario that I foresee for my D in two years! She is a swimmer, trains 20 hours a week almost year round (not counting meets on weekends) and is regional level in UK - not good enough for D1, but might be recruitable for D3. It's a very big part of her life, and she also is very detrmined and committed. As OP, she will be in a full IB program, where workload is border line insane in the fall of senior year. She is managing now, in pre-Ib year, but I can just see what it's going to be like in 12 grade. I'm begging her to start college research now, so that at least she has a list by the start of senior year, but she won't listen to me. Says I'm obsessed, it's too early, I should leave her alone, etc. What else can I do? It will be a crazy super stressed time, but I can't force her now. </p>
<p>Also, it may not be possible to cut back on volunteering now, because CAS hours are required for IB, so if OP's D doesn't have enough, she will not get a Diploma, simple as that. The best thing to do is to get CAS hours out of the way in junior year and over the summer, but of course it's too late in this case. </p>
<p>I can only express my sympathy, knowing that we will likely be in the same situation in 2 years.</p>
<p>If your daughter is not going to dive in college then she probably will never dive again.<br>
Why would anyone suggest she through all this hard work away? Qualifying for states is a big deal - at least here it is and a fine goal.
Anyway - this has to be the students decision at this point - not the parent's decision.</p>
<p>BTW - Athletics ARE EC's. </p>
<p>My daughter crammed a lot into the fall of her senior year - She started in mid-August (two a days) and continued to Thanksgiving with her club team at a National tournament. She wasn't and didn't want to be recruited D1 (many D3 coaches called though)- her school of choice does not offer her sport. She had played for many years and knew it would the the last time, though.
So she muddled through - took SAT's, wrote essays, 3 AP's, went to inverviews and visited school. Somethings were done the day before the deadline but she always met the deadline.</p>
<p>My athelete DD did not visit a single school unless admitted or receiving a likely letter, and fitting that in Feb-Apr, knowing her #1 sport was a spring sport and she was attending camps to make a junior national team and had AP exams was no small thing. She did decide not to take at least one of her AP exams, she simply could not miss certain weeks of that class for a travel team and make it up in time. It was a good choice as she would not have skipped first year chem and jumped into orgo even with a 5</p>
<p>Check to see how many CAS volunteer hours she already has from her junior year. Since participating in a sport also counts, maybe she has more then you think and can back off of some the volunteer hours she is putting in for that IB requirement.</p>
<p>"Each IB Diploma candidate completes 150 hours of CAS related activities over the period of the IB course, where 50 hours each are contributed towards Creativity, Service and Action. Students may increase the number of hours in each category as there is no limit, as long as they complete at least 50 hours in each of Creativity, Action and Service to make the minimum 150 hours."</p>
<p>the quote is from WIkipedia, I couldn't find the info on the IB website.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^
Oh I don't think sports count for CAS hours. (At least not at her school.) That would be too easy. But I wish they did.</p>
<p>Now DD wants to pick a totally new topic for her 4000 word extended essay of which the draft is due in 3 weeks! ARGH! Like she has time for that!</p>
<p>everytime I see this thread pop up I am dying to ask this question ... so I'm finally going to ask it ... why is the fall season any worse than the winter (when applications are due) or the spring (when trips and decisions must be made)? It seems to me busy kids are in time juggling mode all the time ... why is the fall different?</p>
<p>It can be different as this is the time those apps must be done for the 12/31 deadlines, the last tests have to be taken often with stressful test prep to get those scores up, difficult courses, for some kids BC Calc and AP course are really tough, leadership positions in ECs, last minute college visits, interviews.</p>
<p>In my opinion, if a kid has a leadership position in an EC, there is a responsibility to take the time in it, and dropping other ECs for that is certainly a responsible thing to do. But to just focus on the academics, and drop everything else is not pragmatic. Remember you are dealing with a senior who wants to enjoy his senior year too, and part of the hustle and bustle is just part of it.</p>
<p>For my son, once the apps were out, he was done. From experience with the other two, I knew to get them out early. He was late with visits, so that had to be done, and yes, it did interfere with his sport. He missed some practices and sat out some games, but he had to do that in the spring and winter, for visits as well. But he participated and would not have missed out. It was his social outlet and all of his friends were there. </p>
<p>For my others, the spring of junior year was the worst. The SAT prep, the SATs, the AP exams, spring concert, states. We were good on the college list by fall for those guys, so once the apps were out, that was it.</p>
<p>My daughter found last year that getting lots of exercise through her sport was a big help in dealing with the stress of writing essays and all the rest. She would come home from practice feeling much better than when she set out, even though she had lots to do.</p>
<p>I also have a senior D that is does Cross Country (fall sport) and is an IB student. They have to have 50 hours of action, 50 hours of creativity and 50 hours of service over the course of about 18 months and you can't get all of your hours in one activity. That's the IB way. My D is also stressed. IB is a strenuous program and in the fall they are starting to work on their IB essay also -- one more stressor. That being saidn my D has gotten to the point if her homework isn't done and she's tired she goes to bed. She will get up early and finish it if necessary. She does find that the time on the sport with her friends relaxes her -- even with the competition. I understand your pain. I'm approaching it as she is learning a ton of time management skills and setting priorities. Definitely not a coast year. </p>
<p>She also doesn't have her essays done and she is apply ED to one school. We have about 1 melt down a week. They do seem to be getting shorter and easier to deal with though!! She is adding to her stress because she's afraid that she won't get into her top choice college.</p>
<p>She had to take summer school so that she could have a lunch period every other day. Most IB students at our HS spend at least one summer in summer school.</p>
<p>I can really relate to you and your daughters year!! This is my second doing IB. Parents and students really do survive it. My D plays 3 Varsity sports and my S did one that started in the fall and went through to late spring.</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Interesting. At our school being on a sports team counts for CAS... </p>
<p>I thought IB was all about using the same criteria and standards for every student, no matter which IB school they attend.</p>
<p>What courses are your IB students taking in summer school? Are they IB courses?</p>
<p>D2 is also a senior diver, not planning to dive in college, hopes to make States, no apps remotely done, no time for school visits. But she started this as a freshman and is committed to finishing it. </p>
<p>D1's fall sport was her favorite, had a horrible coach and a terrible experience, stuck out the whole season anyway, made few school visits, half of her apps went out Dec 29. And she did not do so great, compared to what I expected/hoped (although she is successful and incredibly happy where she ended up). I doubt the fall thrash made any significant difference but we'll never know. </p>
<p>But in both cases it is part of the kids' assuming responsibility for how they will spend their time, working very hard to manage all of their responsibilities, and accepting the consequences of their choices. That is, growing up. November and December were a pain with D1 and will be again with D2, and I am very proud of them both.</p>
<p>3togo, this is my first (and only) time going thru the senior year business, but for us the fall is two things: football season (my D is a cheerleader and they cheer for football and volleyball in the fall and some basketball in the winter) and applications. I figure if she doesn't throw herself into the application part, there won't be much to do decision-wise in the spring if she doesn't get the acceptances she's looking for. But we'll see how it all plays out.</p>
<p>My D ( younger) has had two sports teams in the fall since middle school. ( usually a school soccer team & rec soccer team- in high school she switched to swimming).
Senior year however, she was only tangentially on the swim team, as she had too much homework-& meets were often in neighboring towns, and she rarely made it to practice for her soccer team.
Which really was a shame, because I think sports are very important for health and to relieve stress.</p>
<p>( Sports don't count for volunteer time , but a school team did count for PE no IB but she was taking AP)</p>