Help with choosing extracurriculars.

Applying to College
1

<p>So i'm going into my junior year and i've participated in two sports so far throughout high school. Cross Country and Crew/Rowing. I've done crew during 9th and 10th grade so far and i've done cross country only for 10th.I like cross country, but i'm questionable about whether or not i want to continue doing crew. 10th grade year i had a really bad experience with crew. The team was overpopulated we literally had 100+ people.</p>

<p>There wasn't enough boats for everyone, we would get out of practice late on a regular basis which resulted in me coming home in a bad mood. Plus I still had loads of homework to do after that. Coaches...There were maybe two coaches i liked at the end of the season and actually had my respect. Now about the sport crew itself it's tough and i've questioned about whether or not I wanted to continue it. I've questioned about cross country too but not as much. </p>

<p>Crew is a lot more expensive then cross country $600- almost $1,000. a year. Crew takes up more free time. I'm thinking about applying to top schools and ivies. I think if i stick with crew for all four years of high school it would look better on my application and i could say how i preserved through all the bad stuff that went down and the hard times etc. However if i don't do crew anymore i would do spring track for the rest of high school. The question is i don't know if i should do outdoor track or crew. I can't do indoor track because i have to work in the winter. I feel like if i just have cross country for 3 years and outdoor track for 2 i won't look good to colleges and my dreams of getting into those top schools won't happen. </p>

<p>I like the people in cross country more and i felt like during cross country i had better grades than crew. The people at my school who do crew aren't...as smart as the runners in XC to put that nicely. I love my cross country coach I look at him as an expert on the sport and he's been trained by really good coaches when he ran for George Mason. I myself think i'm okay at running. I have a shot at varsity but i have a lot of work to still put in. What do you guys think I should choose Crew or Outdoor track?</p>

<p>BTW the schools i'm applying to are:</p>

<p>HYP, Stanford, UVA , william and mary, Boston college, VA Tech. Plus i'm an african american male. I think an african american male who rowed crew for 4 years will really set me apart..Sorry for this post being so long.</p>

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<p>You want to do cross country, so you should do cross country. Doing something you enjoy will end up working out a lot better than doing something just because you’ll be able to put 4 years on an app instead of 3.</p>

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<p>I want to have that burning passion for crew like I did my freshman year, but I just have the feeling like halfway through the season I’ll be thinking. Geez I should have done track.</p>

4

<p>OP, do what you actually like rather than what you dislike for ECs. ALWAYS. Do not forget this advice under any circumstances.</p>

<p>You have to be truthful with adcoms. If you tell them that you persevered through crew no matter what, because you loved the sport so much that the cons paled in comparison, they’ll know that you’re not telling the truth. because it’s not the truth. the real reason isn’t because you like crew, but because you want to impress colleges.</p>

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<p>I thought you might find this interesting. Now I know why our local expensive private schools are all pushing sports like crew, fencing, lacrosse, etc…and then urging the kids to apply to Princeton and other top LACs that don’t have big sports programs. [Getting</a> in: Athletes? road to admission - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/12/01/27054/]Getting”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/12/01/27054/)</p>

<p>That said, do what you love. I’ll also put in a plug for running. It’s is something you can do for many years to come, not just college, anywhere in the world, with just a good pair of running shoes. Crew…well, it’s hard to pack a boat and oars, let alone find a handy river and a team to row with you once you’re out of college.</p>