So I’m on an academic scholarship at a private highschool, and we received an email that said my family would have to apply for financial aid if I wanted to play a varsity sport that’s in our state’s athletic conference (basically all sports except dance, rowing and lacrosse), which is something that my family can’t do. I tried rowing last year (freshman year) but sadly had to quit because I would have to quit all other extracurriculars to pursue rowing on varsity. I wish I could either run or play tennis but I’m barred because of that rule with the scholarship. Anyway, I’m deciding between three main activities next year: theater (which I pursued seriously in middle school), our school’s outdoor leadership program (kayaking, bouldering, backpacking, which is something I’m passionate about but not sure it’ll hurt admission chances because it’s less traditional) and community service (a really strong program at my school where alumni have gone to Ivy Leagues). I can choose up to two of these programs, all of which could have leadership positions. I’m pretty passionate about all of these so sucks to have to choose. Any advice for which would be better to pursue as a sophomore (want to go to Duke, Georgetown, Dartmouth, or Brown)?
The best choice is the activity that you really want to do.
I understand that sports have a fee and you could either pay it or ask for aid, but what is the reason you can’t apply for the assistance to pay the fee?
It’s not because of a fee with sports, but since I’m on academic scholarship and they aren’t allowed to give out sports scholarships they told me I can’t pursue a sport that is entered into the state athletic conference. Basically if I did I would lose my academic scholarship and have to apply for financial aid to cover the tuition of the next three years of private school, and my family can’t apply for that because my step-mom recently married into the family and makes more money, so we would end up losing aid. Not sure how valid it is for private high schools to do this but this is what they told my family.
It seems like you enjoy theatre, so that should definitely be one of your choices if you still have passion for it. I would personally choose the community service over the outdoor program, I think of it as putting helping others over a “hobby”. But, since you do enjoy the outdoors, do you find yourself hiking, gardening, etc in your free time? If so, you could probably somehow incorporate that into an application later on if it’s something significant to you.
Don’t worry about what colleges want…pursue what you want. Colleges don’t really care what you do…they like to see that you engage with others, the community, show leadership, and can balance ECs and school.
So lets say you did the Outdoor Leadership program…you get to do stuff you like as well as learn leadership skills…win win!
What works with your family’s schedule? Can you get transportation to these things? Do you like it? This is how you shoudl choose.