<p>My eyes were opened last week when I checked in on our office's process of sorting through resumes so we could hire a kid out of college. We get a large stack of resumes; we favor non-science kids from LACs; our last two hires were an art history major from Williams and a poli sci major from Claremont. I was surprised by the practice of tossing the resumes that were light on college ECs - not just sports, but ECs generally. I advised they apply a bit of caution, but I agreed that they had a point - and they aren't the first ones to apply that filter.</p>
<p>I saw the same thing earlier in the week around a conference table at a bulge-bracket investment bank; the two lead guys are my age, but they brought half a dozen kids under 30. I didn't have to ask: I was sitting in a room full of jocks. If the newest kid in their crew didn't play basketball in college, I don't know why not. I went to that meeting after having lunch with a friend at a shop at the end of Sand Hill Road, which is the money center of the Silicon Valley. My friend introduced me to a guy who was passing by, and before he told me what this guy did for a living, he said: "Bob played guard at Cornell..." I said: "Hmmm. Do you know X - you know, he played nose guard at Dartmouth about the same time you did?" Of course he knew that ...</p>
<p>I, meanwhile, was among the dumb jocks in my LAC. My teammates had, on average, better grades than the college average. When I went to a top-tier graduate school, I do think my sport made me a bit more interesting to the admissions committee, but kids who do things like sports tend to do other interesting things as well, and the admissions committee probably was more impressed with those other things ...</p>
<p>Here's the bottom line: people who are happy tend to do better - and people who do what they love tend to be more happy. Sports teach discipline, work ethic and teamwork; they build confidence; they take kids off the streets. Other ECs do the same thing, and people who hire and who admit new graduates tend to get that.</p>
<p>andi: Why "ugh?" Sports teach so many wonderful things.... Cooperation. Resolve. Tenacity. Composure under pressure. Graciousness in victory and defeat. Discipline. Character (or its absence) is quickly revealed in sports competitions.</p>
<p>Plus the physical benefits. </p>
<p>Why don't you join the neighbors in a game of hoops? It's fun. And I don't know too many six and nine year old boys who don't love playing multiple sports. The three year old probably just wants to be like his older brothers.</p>
<p>Former Dartmouth football player new head of US Treasury.</p>
<p>" Paulson received his B.A. in English literature from Dartmouth College in 1968, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Paulson played football in college, and was named All Ivy, All East, and was an honorable mention All American."</p>
<p>Harvard MBA (straight through from UG), Nixon White House, IB. Pretty good resume except maybe that Nixon thing.</p>
<p>Conducted interviews at LAC's for mgt development program for a former employer (marketing services company) and EC's on resume were very important. Varsity sports were usually viewed very favorably.</p>
<p>One caution -- freshman and sophomore years with an EC or sport that wasn't continued into junior and senior years were always a "red flag". Sometimes students had very good reasons (injury, went abroad for Junior year, etc.) However, I often found, through probing (we were actually trained to do this kind of probing) that a student had quit a team due to disagreements with a coach, or problems with teamates. No longer looked upon so favorably. </p>
<p>There are few better places to demonstrate being a "team player" than on a sports team! Add good academic credentials (especially impressive given the commitment required for Varsity athletics at most schools) and you are now one of the most desirable candidates available. </p>
<p>(One other note of caution, due to recent events. I think being on a team like the current Duke LAX is likely to be a distraction in a job interview...for obvious reasons. But there are plenty of other posts on other threads devoted to that topic.)</p>
<p>Also worked in graduate school admissions a number of years ago. Although transcript and standardized test scores were most important, activities outside of the classroom were a tipping factor (lots of students from top schools with good grades and perfect..or near perfect...test scores..so we needed to somehow differentiate them.) Particularly for business and law schools.</p>