HFH or Debate activity?

Applying to College
1

<p>FYI: HFH is Habitat for Humanity. It focuses on building houses.</p>

<p>So yeah, I really like those two activities. Habitat because it gives you a sense of accomplishment in the end and Debate because I just really like debating. But since they're both on the same day, I can only pick one or the other. I need some advice here.</p>

2

<p>Are we talking a National Forensics League debate event (like CX) that would get you points toward a state tournament and/or nationals? If we’re talking potential for a serious award here, I’d pick the debate. But if it’s just a school-sponsored or community debate thing, it doesn’t matter what you pick.</p>

3

<p>well, I’m a debater (LD), so I’m biased, but I would definitely choose debate.</p>

<p>Let me quote a well-known debate (Minh A. Luong), himself quoting the Wall Street Journal:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nflonline.org/uploads/Rostrum/crnov00_luongcollegeadmissions.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nflonline.org/uploads/Rostrum/crnov00_luongcollegeadmissions.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>(I find particularly interesting that being captain of a sports team improves ones chances about 5% compared to captain of debate, which improves one’s chances 60%.)</p>

<p>Debate, of course, would also be helpful in the interview process (not only for college, but for jobs in general), as you’re much better able to respond to questions you hadn’t thought of.</p>

4

<p>basically, I’m just torn between what I like and prestige. Our debate “club” just started this year, but hopefully, we’re going to travel internationally to debate.</p>

5

<p>If you don’t truly have a passion for debating, don’t join the team. If your school’s team is new and there are other, more experienced teams in the area you will be competing against, your time will be zapped. I can’t speak for LD (though it seems we have an LDer on the board), but in CX, the best debaters learn to speak at least 300 words per minute and do hours of research every day of the week. Most any debate tournament is going to involve spending maybe 12 hours of your Saturday in some other school’s cafeteria and possibly your Friday evening as well. </p>

<p>At least, this has been my experience in Texas, where debate is extremely competitive.</p>

6

<p><a href=“I%20find%20particularly%20interesting%20that%20being%20captain%20of%20a%20sports%20team%20improves%20ones%20chances%20about%205%%20compared%20to%20captain%20of%20debate,%20which%20improves%20one’s%20chances%2060%.”>quote</a>

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<p>Correlation isn’t causation…</p>

<p>It would seem that if you’re captain of debate you tend to have better stats than a captain of sport (intellectual rigour and so forth) – but of course that’s my bias as an LD debater too.</p>