Is having one really significant extracurricular ok for top schools?

Applying to College
1

I’m a competitive swimmer who is looking at some of the Ivys for a school. Obviously they are all extremely competitive and require students to have incredible resumes to be accepted. My question is how acceptable my extracurriculars are. Swimming is my main activity, and can take 17 hours during a typical week of pure practicing. However, including driving to and from the pool ups that number to 28 hours per week. During some of the meets, that number goes to 40+ hours per week. Since my swimming is so time consuming it is very difficult to fit in other extracurriculars. I was a member of FBLA and NBHS but due to scheduling conflicts I wasn’t able to continue my participation. As of right now, my only official extracurriculars are stock market club, NHS, and Spanish honor society. I also work as a lifeguard. I then spend most of my free time investing my personal money in a variety of securities, and doing the research for those investments. How accepting of my situation would the admissions office be of my situation, and what would the best way to present my situation to them be? I’ll also note that my swimming hasn’t been a waste, I have had success. I could be a walk on for some of these schools, just not a recruit. Also, the school that I am most interested in is Dartmouth.

Thanks in advance for any responses

2

If you were recruit level I would say it’s not even remotely an issue. If you’re only walk-on level I’m not as sure.

3

If you are a recruited athlete, that is the only EC you need. As a potential walk-on, you still have several other EC’s. This is not something I would worry about; it’s not like you can change the past.

List your EC’s under activities. If your EC’s lend themselves organically to an essay prompt (i.e. don’t force it), you can write about them there. Otherwise, don’t try to explain.

4

I assume you want an honest answer. I don’t think your ECs are likely to be the strongest part of your application. As others have said, it would be a different story if you were recruitable. This doesn’t mean that it would help you to quit swimming (especially if you are a rising senior). It is what it is, though.