@tutumom2001@dixiechicktx Knowinig my daughter, once she makes a decision she moves on. I don’t think she will miss her sport much as she has slowly been moving away from it. Freshman year she quit travel ball, and the last year she has not had the desire to practice as much on her game as she normally would. I really think it has been more social than anything else for her but with her closest friends (seniors) graduating this year and the fact that the varsity team has not gone to the playoffs in 15 years, I really see the writing on the wall.
With that said, I had a blast playing varsity soccer my senior year in HS as we went undefeated and won the North Coast sectionals.
I think a decision like this is often harder on the parents than the student. The parents have invested a lot of time and money in training and enjoy watching their child play a sport.
I see nothing gained by continuing if she’s said she’s done. She knows the team and what’s going on - it may not be a good environment for your daughter.
@skieurope “I think the strategy of taking AP courses for the sake of taking AP courses is a flawed one. It’s not an arms race where the one with the most APs wins.”
So what do you do with a kid who has always got a 4,0 throughout MS and HS taking the most advanced course load, do you now put them in the regular math and literature classes? If a kid can handle the most challenging classes and still maintain A’s, then those are the students the classes were meant for. Agree?
In my situation is was my wife that had a hard time with our son quitting a long time sport but it didn’t have to do with “what will it look like to colleges” it was she felt the loss. She still, several years later laments the hours of practice, driving around the country for tournaments, endless games, and money spent all “for nothing” because he did not play 4 years in high school.
I think often times it is harder on the parents to lose that “identity” after that many years. My son got into college, high school ended fine, and I think if you asked him he would not regret quitting his long time sport. Granted another sport (different season) was much of the reason he quit, as opposed to a class, but he was and is happy with his decision which I think is all we can ask.
Agree, but that’s not what you said though. You said nothing about the schedule was devised to challenge herself. You said nothing about preparing for the future. Instead you said, “wants to make sure she takes as many APs as possible.”
But I don’t know your daughter, nor do I know her school or its offerings. But make no mistake, despite the label AP stats is not by any stretch of the imagination a “most challenging class.”
Regardless, my point was that she could still have a rigorous schedule without doing “regular math and literature classes” and without doing all APs, and she could still do her sport or alternative ECs.
If she quits, I think she is throwing away a great opportunity to show and develop leadership.
Instead of quitting because the team is not good and her best friend is no longer playing, stick it out. Show the younger players how to practice the right way and to always strive to win, even when the odds are stacked against you. Be a positive vocal influence and help the other players improve their skills as well as their understanding of the game. Have fun team activities and enjoy practices, perhaps even develop closer relationships with the younger players on the team. As a pitcher, she can compete each at-bat to see if she can win the one on one battle with each batter that comes to the plate.
Challenge her. Ask her what she thinks a good leader would do in this situation, quit or rally the troops?
@socaldad2002 I think you misinterpreted my post. Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that sticking with a sport when times are tough presents a leadership quality that may not be found in taking one more AP course - and that willingness to step up, show interest, and attempt to lead may be desirable to top colleges.
So here’s the deal if she drops her sport: (1) She might be labeled as a quitter if she keeps the sport in her application materials or (2) she might be labeled as a kid who didn’t do enough with her time if she doesn’t keep the sport in her application materials. No one can predict the future as to what will sway the decision. BUT, the kids from our school who go to those colleges are participating in - and demonstrating leadership in - more than one extracurricular activity, and they keep at it even though most of the sports in our school have losing seasons.
Now, if there is an unavoidable issue in the sport, that’s another issue. Many kids have to quit an activity because of financial reasons, time constraints, loss of coach, death in the family, etc. But if she is thinking about quitting to take another AP class just to impress, I think she may be missing the mark, and it may not come across well in her applications. Our school sends A LOT of kids to top colleges every year (graduating classes run about 650-700), and every year there is one “academic drone” kid who didn’t get accepted anywhere. One year, it was the valedictorian who was quite embarrassed that lower-ranked kids got into schools he didn’t. Listen to what @skieurope and the others are trying to tell you - the kid with the most AP classes doesn’t always win.
I would say wait and see how Junior year goes. It’s not going to hurt her that much to drop if she’s not going to continue playing. She will still show it on her applications, just as a participant for the 3 years instead of 4. If she really wants to address it in her essay, should could talk about the process of making the decision. She wants to try something new and interesting in the form of Art History, and she knows she can’t successfully do that while completing her other classes and continuing her sport. She could do the same if she chooses to stay - discuss being close to the older teammates, but now wanting to let the younger teammates down; staying to provide them some leadership. Set herself apart from those who play through sophomore year only - staying when everyone else abandons the teach because the PE credit is no longer required is another form of leadership.
Not sure what schools she is planning to apply to and if it will matter, but in our experience with LAC’s, they liked students’ deep involvement in HS sports/activities as an indication that they would also be an involved student in college. I think both my kids HS sports helped them - one is continuing in college (D3), the other dropped the sport entirely after HS (not even the college club team!).
One of our kids had the choice of taking AP Euro and dropping honors wind symphony…or taking another class and staying in the honors wind symphony.
She chose the wind symphony (which is a band). Part of the band thing was a small amount of marching done for a couple of holiday and festival events. My kid played an instrument that didn’t play when marching…and she was sick and tired of carrying the banner. She wrote a proposal for a drill/flag team and presented it to her band director. He accepted it and gave her the money to do it.
She wrote her college essays about this whole process. She would not have been able to do this…at all if she had taken AP Euro.
If your daughter plans to write about her dedication to this sport in her essays…then I would strongly suggest she NOT quit. Quitting anything does not show commitment and dedication, and leadership to the thing you quit.
You USED to be dedicated and committed…but if you quit…you no longer are.
If your daughter has had enough of her sport, then she should move on from it with no regrets. Life is too short to do things when our heart’s not in it.
That being said, I would not recommend that she use it as an essay topic. Her lack of passion would undoubtedly come through, not to mention the obvious disconnect between her words and actions.
While her high school AP Art History class may pale in comparison to what she would find in college, it seems like a great opportunity to explore another potential area of interest - while continuing to challenge herself academically.
Is she going to play in college? If not, then… it is fine to drop…as long as… she has other extra curricular, community, and/or service activities.
She has to do something besides do school work and pad her GPA… because they will care if she doesn’t have anything but grades to report her senior year…
If she’s applying to the highly selectives, in my experience, they are looking for students with talent and passion. I’m not sure if dropping varsity without replacing it with something she is more talented/passionate about makes sense. But with that said, GPA is so important so if she takes APs and gets A’s or other top grades, it may be worth it, but if she’s takes APs and gets lots of Bs it’s probably a moot point and she should just do what would make her happiest.
Good point! Both my daughters did varsity sports but didn’t write about them at all. They wrote about experiences they had in their communities and how this shaped them as people.
@socaldad2002: It is fine to drop a sport senior year in your daughter’s case because she is not applying to LACs who need/require well rounded individuals. Plus, as a business major, GPA & math courses are most important.
One of her essays can use her sport to illustrate her maturation & changing priorities.
P.S. Without knowing the information shared in the second paragraph in your post #12, my advice would be different.
she does not have a lot of extracurriculars other than student government (lots of time away from normal school hours), volunteering at a school for special needs kids, likely volunteer for a non-profit and/or for-profit business the next two summers for the experience, and babysitting.
I don't know if the senior year grades matter that much for admissions unless she is wait-listed so the extra AP bump isn't an issue.
To the point about being a “quitter”. I’m not sure not playing her senior year makes her a “quitter”, she is playing through junior year and wants to do some different things her senior year. I actually give her some credit for playing the sport this long when she knows that she won’t play in college. In fact because of her sport she was not able to take a higher level math class this year which is really annoying.
Good for you, @socaldad2002 for supporting your daughter! She will not be viewed as a quitter at all. She sounds like a well-rounded young lady. Good luck to her!
I would drop AP Stats (unless she needs it for her major) because she is already taking AP Calc…and keep the sport for exercise and camraderie. You don’t need to take AP classes just because they are there.