I know being recruited helps a lot. What if you are not that good? Seeing how most top colleges are division 1, you have to be very good in order to be recruited.
If you’re not recruited, does the sport just count as a regular EC? What if you are on Varsity?
And I’m talking about individual sports like track or tennis-singles, not team sports.
Short of recruitment interest, it’s just another EC. Although, if you are really good like a State medalist, it can show commitment and can be a unique thing for them to remember you by.
Actually many top academic schools are D3. There are a few D1 academic conferences where D1 is a technicality.
You might have opportunities in D3 and some D1. Lehigh, Holy Cross, Colgate, Bucknell and Lafayette are D1.
My son was recruited by both for track.
Recruitable for D3 is still recruitable. If you’re not that good then it’s an EC. For the average varsity player it’s an EC.
I’ve been recruited by small division 3 colleges. But I’m not interested in them at all since all of them are like 85%+ acceptance rate and I could get into them easily without being recruited anyways.
Sorry if I sound ungrateful lol, but I want to go to a top academic school, not elite, but like USC or UCI.
Do the Patriot League and NESCAC school recruiting questionnaires and see if any coaches are interested. The schools in those two conferences are top schools.
For schools like USC, you need to be top in the state. Varsity doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you had no loses and were able to compete in your city against the top schools without defeats. It’s an EC. UCI isn’t really known for its sports program but they do require decent grades and SATs.
Good enough to be recruited is an obvious advantage at the recruiting colleges.
Otherwise, very high level achievement, like winning a state or national championship in a reasonably competitive sport would make it a very good extracurricular, versus an ordinary extracurricular that playing the sport at the school or local level would be.
If you have to ask, then for top level programs or schools, you’re not on their radar. Ply it into some nice scholarship money at a D3 school if you’re so inclined. At others, unless you get the coaches’ attention, like others have said, it’s simply a great EC which you’ve been dedicated to. No more, no less.
Most of the replies are missing the point. He’s not looking to be recruited by these schools, he knows he is not the caliber.
He is asking whether playing varsity sports is a plus on applications, or whether it is just another EC. To answer your question, its another EC, but shows time management and commitment etc.
It’s always the same users that comment on these sports related just to mention his or her child was recruited or to tell him to be recruited, my god.
@ucbalumnus said it best.
Yep that is what exactly I was asking this entire time lol.
I may be one of the best at my school but I know I’m not good enough to be recruited by a top college. Just wanted to know if something like that will help more or if it’s just another EC. I’m guessing it’s just another EC since i haven’t had any major accomplishments unless you count winning some varsity track meet events 
@UCBAlumnus answered the OP in his second paragraph.
@JustOneDad answered it in the first reply. Also I don’t see a single person mentioning their kid…
As @hsalem32 notes, it’s a great EC for a number of reasons:
I’ve heard anecdotal reports that colleges love some sports such as swimming, simply because athletes who have the commitment to train rigorously and who still do well academically generally have a lot of self discipline and commitment, which carries over to success in college.
Agree with RD. What’s an “ordinary EC?” The bell rings and you go down the hall to sit with friends? You do a walkathon once/year? Sports can represent commitment over time, some improvement, and adhering to coach (adult) and team expectations. And the rest of it. You can show that in other ways, too. You don’t have to be a medal winner. You do have to put in the time and effort.
Athletic recruiting is an odd thing. The regular admissions process is complex enough when you have the following three factors;
When you add in the athletic ability of the applicant and the competition level of the school, it gets really crazy. That’s why I would caution any parents or students not to automatically accept any examples they see here as gospel truth. Each case is really quite different.
It is great that you want the best education, even if you “skip” recruitment for it! It shows maturity and your priority! It is still a good EC, no worries! Not everyone goes to the olympics!
Good call. You’re right that one poster mentioned their son but the other point still stands that everyone did in fact answer the OPs question, starting with the first reply.
@Aq23XD Your question was posed with a factually incorrect statement that many top colleges are Division 1. That is simply not true and it may not mean anything anyway. Many Division 1 track teams are not competitive.
If you are being recruited by less selective D3 schools it stands to reason that highly selective D3 schools might want you as well. Even D1 schools that are not strong in track.
There is no way of knowing unless you are proactive. NESCAC for example relies on students being proactive and reaching out to coaches.
I realize it is easier to ask on forums but really only a coach can tell you for sure.
If there are some highly selective schools that have caught your eye and you are curious whether your talent is recruitable, the only way you will ever know is to ask the coach.
There were 1,146 college track teams in 2014. Just look at the math. 50 states and 1,146 teams. No, you don’t have to be a state champion to be recruited. You need to be ranked if you want a scholarship, but all of these teams are looking to fill the roster. If every college has 3 high jumpers, than close to 1,000 high jumpers need to come out of every HS graduating class(some will drop the sport). Some colleges choose to focus on one sport or one event. To get a bump at that college, you need to be very good at that event. Being a good but not great high jumper won’t get a 1,000 SAT scorer into Princeton, but it may help someone at the 25th percentile at a particular school get in.
If you are good, but not great, than you need to be in the range of who that admissions departments views as someone who will succeed at their college AND be someone the coach can envision will help his team.