I’m a rising junior wondering how my fencing career will be viewed during the admission process. I really like fencing and it has been a big part of my life for the past 5 years. I spend a lot of time fencing (30 hrs/wk during season, 15 rest of year) and am on track to being 4-year varsity and team captain. I fence for a club outside of school competitively, and I am also planning on getting my referee certification because that’s something I’ve wanted to try for a while (and getting paid doesn’t hurt).
However, I realize that I am really not that great of a fencer in the grand scheme of things and I am definitely not recruitable. I am not even sure I am good enough to find a place as a walk-on at schools that I am looking at. I helped our squad (3 people) shoot up from top 20 to top 3 at a state tournament last year and this year in a fairly competitive northeastern state, so I am a solid high school fencer, but I haven’t achieved much success in national tournaments.
Hence, I am wondering how fencing as an EC will be considered when I apply for college. I’ve never been that interested in student organizations or clubs and with fencing on my schedule, I didn’t really have time, but now that I started thinking about college, I’m worried that I don’t have enough breadth in my EC activities. I only really do two other things: math and research. I spend about 10 hrs/wk combined on math between tutoring, volunteering, and general math team stuff, and I’m pretty good - I have a very good shot at making USAMO next year - but I probably won’t be team captain. I’ve been with the high school team for 9 years, though. I’m doing research too (~50 hrs/wk during summer and ~5 hrs/wk during school year) with a professor at a local university and I am pretty sure I actually have a decent chance to be published soon in a respectable journal, so there’s that, but other than these two activities, I don’t actually do much else.
So I rambled for a bit to give some background but my question really is, will admissions committees value the time I spent on my few activities, particularly my mediocre fencing career, or do I need to get involved in some other activities to show some more breadth? I am looking at top selective schools (HYPSM) and am just trying to see if my ECs at least put me in consideration for a spot.
Sounds to me like you are already pretty busy. It is fine to have your ECs in a few areas. You can break out things separately on your application to provide more details as space allows. (ex. HS fencing team, Club fencing team etc. Math Team, Volunteer work related to math etc.).
What is your preferred weapon? Do you have a USA Fencing ranking? Do you want to fence competitively in college if given the chance? Fencing at HYPS is very competitive, but there are other top schools where the competition is not so fierce.
@sherpa is the guru of all things fencing on CC, and can probably offer you the best advice. In general, however, if you are not being recruited for your fencing then it becomes simply another EC, and a very good one, similar to if you had devoted comparable time and effort in other sports such as soccer or track and field. The amount of time and the commitment that you put into fencing, and any leadership you have demonstrated, will all be positives in the eyes of adcoms.
I fence sabre only and currently hold a D16. I believe I will be able to get a C by the time I’m a senior, but I’m not sure how much further beyond that I can get. I would love to fence competitively to whatever school I go to and am planning on trying to see if I can walk on, but I want to be realistic.
I think my main focus is academics though, so although fencing at the schools I mentioned may be out of my league, they will still be my first choice. I will continue to fence at USFA tournaments even if I don’t make a team in college.
Some schools have fencing clubs so that may be an option for you as well. Club sports generally take up less time as compared to varsity sports.
With a D16 rating, you are definitely recruitable at Div III STEM schools like MIT and Caltech. I know this from personal experience. (By “recruitable”, I mean that the coaches might provide a letter of support for your admission file, not that you’ll get any financial assistance because of fencing.)
Visit the MIT and Caltech campuses, and meet with the coaches while you are there. Bring a one-page resume of your academic and fencing accomplishments. They’ll want to know your GPA, test scores, research experience, etc. not just your competitive fencing results.
@whatisyourquest That’s great to hear! I have no idea about what college fencing is like and I don’t think my coaches are too familiar with the process either. I took a look at the MIT form for recruiting and I’ll definitely send one in, but I have to take the SAT first because the form asks for scores and the last time I took it was in 7th grade. If I send in an online form, should I also contact them through email as well as meet with them on-site?
@happy1 Yeah if I don’t make a varsity team I will seriously consider fencing in a school club or an independent club that’s in the area. I’ve got a friend at Rice who fences there (I don’t think they compete in NCAA) and he says it’s a lot of fun
^ Yes, as a rising junior, it’s too early to submit the on-line recruitment form. Wait until you have test scores under your belt.
Just a caution that being recruited at MIT and Caltech may help your admission chances a bit, but you still have to be very competitive academically. Look at the CDS for these schools to get an idea about the stats of admitted students. If you are “in range,” then a letter of support could help.
Totally as an aside my daughter high school class of '20 is already a faster swimmer than any girl currently on the Cal tech team and was told by alumni we know that it will likely matter not a whit.
I’d post your questions at the end of this relatively new “greatest hits” thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/1902048-the-only-college-fencing-recruiting-thread-you-need-to-read.html#latest
And, of course, read it through if you haven’t already.
@SevenDad Oh crap I haven’t seen that thread before, I’m pretty new to this community. I’ll take a look, it looks very comprehensive. Thanks for linking me! Probably shouldn’t have started a new thread lol
@VickiSoCal RIP sports
LOL my DD20 is very, very in to STEM but is also very athletic. She does want to swim and run in college, and is actually thrilled she would be a standout at her top schools. A teeny bummer that it doesn’t help with admissions.
^ I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. Your alumni friends could be wrong. The Caltech coach’s support likely helped my son; she went all out for his application, and he was admitted.
Caltech, of course, needs athletes to field its teams. The caveat is that your daughter must be as academically accomplished as the pool of admitted students. At Caltech and MIT, athletics doesn’t put a “thumb on the scale”, like it does at HYPS, but it can be a compelling EC and make you an attractive applicant.
It’s been quoted elsewhere that recruited athletes have an admit rate of about 30% at MIT; compare that with 8% for the entire applicant pool. I don’t have analogous stats for Caltech.