Hey,
I was wondering if colleges look at playing sports at a high level other the usual baseball, basketball, football, tennis etc. as a hook. I am very good at badminton and have won several awards and tournaments around the country. I have great potential in the sport and can get recs from national organizations and coaches. Does that count as a hook even though its not a “main-steam” sport.
<p>Yeah, it is a great EC, but a hook...I'm not too sure b/c unless you are recruited (you would have to call aqnd ask colleges if they have a team), then it isn't really a hook. But, it is a great EC in which you have won stuff</p>
<p>Most top tier colleges are in the NCAA. And I don't think NCAA has a league dedicated Badminton...yet</p>
<p>Stern, I'm in the same position as you, except for table tennis. Too bad neither sport is well recognized in this country...</p>
<p>thats actually really respectable, ya id have to agree that its not really recognized...lol idk im sorry i just am picturing a hardcore badminton tourny going down.</p>
<p>haha badminton. I love that sport. Very hardcore.</p>
<p>o yea, ive played a few hardcore gym badminton games in my day, lemme tell you</p>
<p>Sternplease, is your personal game olympic or USA Badminton caliber or close to it? Are you going to the IBF World Championships in Anaheim in August or to any of the other competitions in the US?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.05worlds.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.05worlds.com/</a>
<a href="http://www.usabadminton.org/page.asp?page=Events%5B/url%5D">http://www.usabadminton.org/page.asp?page=Events</a></p>
<p>Badminton does not need to be a "hook" for you. You just need to identify schools that recognize your skill as something special. (well, I guess that might be considered a hook for you...)</p>
<p>what about making it to the semis at the div. 1 state finals in tennis at 4 dubs?</p>
<p>Aww I wanna play badminton in college. But in order for sports to really help you in admissions, you have to be recruited for their team, and if the school doesn't have a badminton team, they can only admire your talent.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll be to your advantage if there's a team. ^^ For example, I know that princeton has a table tennis team, so I'm probably going to check that out.</p>
<p>yeah, badminton is awesome, fun, and unique. (i suck at it, but I always have fun) I would put it somewhere on your application, whether you are "recruited" or not. It is unique, may help you stand out. Just tell colleges all about yourself, don't worry about hooks. If your an interesting person, which you obviously are since you play such a unique sport, and well, your application will naturally be filled with "hooks". Table tennis, too, but I favor badminton. :D</p>
<p>I don't think Princeton has a varsity table tennis team though...if it's just a club sport you won't get recruited for it.</p>
<p>It's more of a club than a team, but it does compete in intercollegiate competitions.</p>
<p>Yea...that would be a club sport. They have a lot of them. Won't help you in college admissions, but fun to participate in.</p>
<p>No, a friend of mine got recruited for a club hockey team. It all depends on how seriously the school takes its club sports.</p>
<p>Badminton is very hook like, if you write an essay about it well. Very few activities are such strong hooks that the college wants you no matter what- however, the fact that you're an award winning player means something. I wrote one of my essays about badminton, another about ceramics, and i am still not quite sure what the third one i used most was about . . .</p>