<p>I am a junior this year and have already decided where I want to go to college. I am dead set on being a Duke Blue Devil, I have visited the campus several times and am in love with the idea of going there. As of right now, I am first in my class, taking 3 AP's (Chemistry, US History and Language and Composition), I also am in band (Drum Captain), HOSA (Vice President, Ill be President next year), play Tennis, and I'm dual enrolled at my local school and a prestigious application admission online high school program. I volunteer on the regular and do everything I can to make myself seem more attractive colleges, Duke in particular. I am also planning on taking a college course this summer at Wake Forest because it is near where I live. On top of all of this, I also race. I am a championship winning race car driver, and the youngest driver in the fastest cars under the NASCAR sanctioning body, the Modified series. It is very time consuming and I LOVE doing it, but I am wary of putting this on college applications. Do you think admissions officers would view this as "redneck" and deny me admission? My SAT scores are low for Duke (though, very high for my high school) and I need something to set me apart from the crowd, I just think they make mistake me for a "dumb redneck" for being interested in racing.</p>
<p>Oh, and I accidentally posted this same question in the admissions hindsight section so if anybody can tell me how to delete it I would be very grateful!</p>
<p>Admissions officers are human and have human biases. On any given committee, you’re likely to have fans of your interests and those that are not so impressed. That said, most on admissions committees will admire any skill you took to the highest heights.</p>
<p>WHAT? You’re a race car champion and don’t want to put it on your app!? Your dedication is exactly what colleges are looking for! Why do you think your accomplishments are worse than others? This is definitely unique, and you should use it.</p>
<p>Thanks meep1234! I’ll probably end up using it as it does take a lot of time, but I just don’t want them to get the wrong impression of me. I don’t necessarily think my accomplishments are worse than others, but they could be viewed as slightly less sophisticated. In retrospect though, if a college is going to view me negatively for my hobbies then I probably would not enjoy my four years there anyway!</p>
<p>Waverly - You seem to have lots of “inside” knowledge on the process, so I’ll pose this related question to you. I asked on a similar thread about the difference between a hook, tip, bump and just interesting EC but answers were opinion similar to what I could guess but with no real knowledge. If kid does a sport which is not a recruited sport, but is on an official USA national team, does it rise above just being an interesting EC. I realize that it’s not a hook because it doesn’t confer any direct advantage to school like star QB or lacrosse player but balanced with academics in the top range and strong essays could it help put the application over the top or give it that extra look to differentiate?</p>