<p>Obviously, I am a senior in high school. I haven't done a lot of ECs but one that I've been doing is varsity swimming for all four years. This year she named a kid captain and it was a pretty big surprise considering we're a swim and diving team and the one and only diver gets picked as our captain. My coach however, for the past three seasons, (probably even more before I went to high school) has made another senior co-captain of the team. however, she does not really announce that until late october mid november. i need to have all my early action applications due to my high school by october 11th which is before i would find out if i am co captain. my chances of being co captain are relatively high because she has only two choices including me and the other kid has only been on the team for 1 year. I don't want to email her and say like am I co captain because what if she says no and it just gets awkward. So i don't know what to do. Should i just put it down that i am co captain of the swim team even though theres a possibility i may not be?</p>
<p>Uh, no. You can send in your apps and send an E-Mail update. But, I don’t think being Captain or not will make a difference.</p>
<p>This is not a case in which you “have to lie.” I understand that you’d like it to be, but it isn’t.</p>
<p>And no, it is not OK. Again, I understand that you’d like it to be, but it isn’t.</p>
<p>If you are named a co-captain later, that will be significant, and you can email the college(s) to which you’ve applied ED or EA and update them.</p>
<p>You should delay sending your Regular Decision applications until after you find out about being named a co-captain. As long as your RD applications are in by the deadline, the delay won’t do you any harm in the application process.</p>
<p>(x-post with Erin’s Dad)</p>
<p>yeah, you can. why not? there’s no LAW that says you can’t is there? heck, you could even say you were CAPTAIN and its unlikely anyone would notice the mistake (verification is uncommon and i doubt you saying that would arouse suspicion, but in the unlikely event that they did try to confirm it you can just say you were one of the captains, a co-captain, which will probably turn out to be true, or something like that).</p>
<p>if you’re a competitive applicant im not sure that being disingenuous about a small detail like that - even if they suspected it was deliberate on your part - would get your application rejected. but then why lie about it in the first place if your chances are already good? it’s probably best to make little white lies up when your chances aren’t so great because then you have nothing to lose, so if they reject you for finding out you lied it’s not like you would have been likely to be admitted anyway.</p>
<p>Don’t email her. Go see her in person. Sit down with her, and talk with her about this. The worst she can tell you is No. </p>
<p>And do check the priority dates for those RD applications, especially if you are competitive for any scholarship money.</p>
<p>If there is anything on your application does not match up your student profile, that would hurt you even after you are accepted (or even enrolled). You may at this point claim to be a candidate for co-captain though. And that is the truth and it carries some value too.</p>
<p>Being in varsity swimming almost precludes being in too many other activities. Colleges understand the commitment sports require. So don’t sweat the little things, although I know right now to you they seem big. That is understandable, but with a bit more perspective, we can tell you that it really isn’t going to affect your acceptances if you are co-captain or not.</p>
<p>But don’t lie, ever, at least for something like this. Even though unlikely, it can come back to bite you in ways that can be hard to imagine. Even in the likely event it was never discovered, it can lead to you taking similar risks later and losing even more. enfield is giving you terrible advice, just don’t do it.</p>
<p>sure, its ok, after all the main point in life is to get what you want when you want it. So say whatever you think helps get you into college. Why stop at claiming captain? Go for broke! Claim you set some state records!! When you apply for jobs out of college claim internships you never held. When you buy a house list whatever income you think will get you the loan!</p>
<p>Not…</p>
<p>^^^ Really? Er, alrighty then. </p>
<p>I’m with happymom. Just bite the bullet and ask your coach. After 3+ years on the team I’m sure you’ve developed a prettty decent relationship. It’s not going to be a shock to her that you’re getting your apps together. And honestly, if she doesn’t pick you and goes with an underclassman that’s only been on the team for a year then it’s going to be awkward regardless, whether you find out now or a couple of months from now.</p>
<p>Not every student has leadership on their EC’s. Think about it, a high school class of 500 or 1000 and how many club president opportunities are there? 50?
You are totally overestimating the value of that title. What matters is that you have an EC that you have devoted significant time to for 4 years.
Do you think your application will come off the “deny” pile because you add that one title?
Um, no.
Don’t get into the habit of lying to get what you want…</p>
<p>In 5 words:</p>
<p>Honesty is the best policy.</p>
<p>Being captain or not being captain is not going to make any difference at all in how your application is perceived by admissions–after all, what important function does a swim team captain do?</p>
<p>So you are not going to get any brownie points for lying about it on your application.</p>
<p>But there is a potentially great downside to lying.</p>
<p>What if the school calls your GC with some questions on yours and/or other’s applications, and mentions your being swim captain, and the GC says, “oh, no, Steve isn’t swim captain, Bob is…”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>the admissions people google your school just for general info–and notice your name is not listed as swim captain? Not good.</p>
<p>Relax. Four years of pursuing a time intensive activity like swimming is brownie points. Being captain is no big deal. Lying, and getting caught, would be a very big negative deal.</p>
<p>one other thing…maybe the coach chose the diver because the divers never are chosen by the swimmers? or because this way the coach did not have to choose among equally deserving swimmers?</p>
<p>And, other than the fact that you are a senior, have you done anything to stand out from the other seniors who have also been on the team for four years, which would make you especially deserving of being named a captain? if so, then gently remind the coach if it makes that big a difference to you, unless you think the coach would take this grubbing poorly.</p>
<p>Hey, so I’m in a pretty similar situation as you right now.</p>
<p>My coach won’t be officially announcing captains for my sport until well after EA/ED apps are in. But being a senior who’s worked really hard and contributed a lot to the team, I feel like I have a good shot of getting named too. However, since he hasn’t actually SAID anything…I won’t be putting it on my ED college app, and I recommend that you don’t either. 
I know it kills. But there’s not really an alternative short of, well, lying. And claiming you’re captain when you’re technically not is a pretty major lie!</p>
<p>Unless you want to ask your coach in person! Like someone mentioned earlier, if she does end up naming an underclassman captain, it’ll be super awkward anyway so you might as well just get it out of the way. I’ll talk to my coach if you talk to yours? Haha. Good luck :)</p>
<p>Unless you want to ask your coach in person!</p>
<p>Really, that is the best strategy. If you go about it the right way, and unless your coach is a complete dolt (not unheard of), this shouldn’t be that big a deal.</p>
<p>“Coach, I’m putting the finishing touches on my college applications, and I want to make them as strong as possible. It would help if you could give me advance notice about whether or not I will be selected as a captain for this year’s team.”</p>
<p>I honestly advise against asking a coach if you’ll be a captain or not. It’s something that you shouldn’t assume and it’s a great surprise and honor if it does come.</p>
<p>^^^
I disagree. Asking who will be named a captain does not necessarily equate to making the assumption that it will be you. It all depends on how the question is asked. A smart coach, who has been around for a while, should perfectly understand why the question is being asked, if it is asked correctly. Adult mentors should want to help kids. Whatever the answer is, if the coach answers truthfully, it will be helping the applicant, because he/she will know one way or the other (unless the coach refuses to answer, which is a possibility but not at all helpful).</p>
<p>Do not lie about this. One of my kids was in a similar spot last year, and did not get the captain’s spot when it was finally announced late in the fall. If she had gotten it, she would have just hopped on email to the admissions office and asked them to add that info to her application. She ended up with no real leadership on her application, and was still accepted everyplace she applied, including U of Chicago and Swarthmore. Take it as an opportunity to touch base with admissions again if you get good news later this fall. Don’t lie on your app.</p>
<p>why dont you ask your coach about it. Talk with him and see if he can tell you early on.</p>
<p>There is one other option. You can put “Captain - anticipate” but ONLY DO THIS if you truly have a strong indication from your coach that this would be acceptable. Our child is in the same boat and simply talked to the coach to get an “indication” (since actual announcements don’t occur until after ED/EA are due) and she was told to use “anticipate” since it is a winter sport.</p>
<p>You’re getting excellent advice here (well, except from enfieldacademy, who should be thoroughly disregarded), but still I am concerned about you.</p>
<p>If you have to ask the question, then you are one of the students who is at risk of ending up in front of a Student Honor Council or Academic Integrity Board before your 4 years are up.</p>
<p>A day will come, at least once and probably many times in your undergraduate career, when you have the opportunity to be complicit in some incident of cheating, or plagiarism. And making the wrong call in such a situation can cost you your degree, as it has done in several recent cheating scandals in the news.</p>
<p>So now is the time to reflect and ask yourself: why am I asking this question?</p>
<p>Ask yourself: what is the answer my own conscience gives me about this question?</p>
<p>Ask yourself: what would the consequences be if <em>everyone</em> who applied to college lied on their application? Even if they were all “just little white lies”…what is the actual effect of 50,000 little white lies in a pile of 5,000 applications?</p>
<p>I’m not calling this out to make you feel bad, but to remind you that you have within you the capability to choose wisely in a situation like this without consulting anyone. You have a reliable moral compass, and you have a capacity for empathy and reason that will enable you behave responsibly toward others.</p>
<p>Recognize those capabilities, and honor them by doing the right thing - not just because we told you so, but because you told yourself what is the best thing to do.</p>