I am currently in a high school with an extremely good tennis team. This means, however, that it is extremely tough to make the team.(there is no freshman team either) Is there a way for me to present tennis as an extracurricular even if I do not make the team? (I do participate in USTA tournaments and plan to do so even more frequently(about 1 per month)
Note: I am not looking to be a recruited athlete or something along those lines, rather I just want to keep tennis as an extracurricular.
Just list is an out of school extracurricular. To be honest, if you’re not being recruited, it’s not a make or break thing even if you were on the school team.
You can list this although it sounds like a pretty low level of involvement that is unlikely to make a difference at any selective college.
you can play club
Why do you care about presenting tennis as an extracurricular? There is nothing magical about tennis in college admissions. The important thing is the whole package – how do your extracurricular activities support the major you intend to pursue, and reflect the activities you intend to get involved with at the university? How well do they demonstrate your leadership abilities? The admissions committee will try to envision you as a student on campus, and how you will add to the university. They will consider how well-prepared you are for your intended major, and whether you have shown passion or promise for that major through your activities.
If tennis means a lot to you, you might use it as the basis for an essay, and you can certainly list it as an extracurricular activity. However, don’t go out of your way to increase your tennis involvement just to put it on the application. That just seems pointless, unless you’re planning to major in PE or Kinesiology or sports therapy or sports psychology, etc.
You list ECs to let colleges know how you are spending your time. If you are spending your time playing tennis, then it should be listed. It’s okay to have hobbies and interests that you spend time on because you like them. Not everything in life should be built around how it will look on a college resume.
My DD took dance lessons. She didn’t dance on her school’s dance team, she didn’t dance on her studio’s team, and she certainly wasn’t intending to pursue it in college. She took dance because she loved it and it helped her reduce stress. It went on her app as an EC. Your playing tennis sounds similar.
@mikemac Participating in one USTA tournament is actually quite a bit. Our S19 played tennis in middle school and practiced about 15 hours per week and we hit about one tournament per month. Tennis outside high school can be a giant commitment. All of our high school team’s tennis players play USTA year round except for when they are in season for the high school team.
OP, if you take lessons and travel to tournaments, tennis is definitely a major EC. And our high school is the same. Almost always wins state which means the only kids on the team are the kids ranked pretty high on the USTA charts.
Also, our D21 is a ballerina who rehearses and/or performs upwards of 30 hours per week. It’s her main EC (obviously) and it’s outside of school. Her best friend rides horses competitively, also outside school. An EC is anything outside academics.