Is it better to do sports and no instrument or instruments and no sport for college admission or does it not really matter which one I do.
Do the one you prefer and/or at which you are better. For college admissions, assuming that you are not an athletic recruit, they won’t care.
The conventional wisdom as well as professional advice is that with ECs, depth is more important than breadth, and showing passion is far more important than building a resume. Four years in photography club, coupled with an essay on your love of outdoor photography, would look better than being a member of three or four random great-sounding clubs for which you showed no interest in other than membership.
Between athletics and music, athletics would possibly be better if you had ability that rose to the level of being a prized athletic recruit, though being an outstanding musician would be a respectable second place. If you are trying to decide between sitting on the bench for four years with Track versus being eighth-chair tuba for four years (just being on a team versus just being in band), it won’t really matter–do the one you find more enjoyable. Either way, you are trying to demonstrate two things: (1) that you have interests and passions that would make you an asset to the college community above and beyond being just a good student in the classroom; and/or (2) that TO YOU, schooling and life is more than just getting good grades.
Most colleges will take a 3.8/32 ACT with interesting hobbies, interests, and accomplishments over a 3.9/34 ACT who is nothing more than a member of robotics club. There are certainly limits to how much ECs matter, but JUST having a good GPA and test score is not enough for most highly selective schools–they want to see more than that. Think about this aspect of the decision–which is more impressive, a 3.9-4.0 GPA by someone who does little other than study, or a close 3.8-3.9 by someone who commits 20 hours a week to a passion? Who is likely to contribute more to the college and be able to handle and blossom in college?
Agree, unless you are going to be stellar at one or the other (ex. near conservatory level for music or an athletic recruit) it really won’t matter which you choose. Go with your preference. Note that some people can manage to do both and not have it disrupt their academics but that would depend on you and your situation.
If there is a need to choose for, say, next school year, choose the one that interests you most. One isn’t preferable to another. You might also consider if one is more likely to be something you will continue to do while in college.
Do you have to choose? My son was a conservatory level musician, captain of the soccer team and a traveling ski racer. If you’re organized, you can do it all. Don’t do any of them for admissions. Do them because you’re passionate about them.
^ It depends on the school. For my D’s school with strength in music, it is almost impossible to do both unless you just want to be in the entry level band or orchestra. With music, there may be more chances to show leadership (many more section leaders than captains) and receive external awards. Being athlete recruit, it is like auditing for instrument performance. Only students dedicated to sport or musics would make a difference. Other than that, sport and music participation just show how you use your time and your passion. One do not need both in that sense.
I don’t think it truly matters, but I would go with whichever one you’re better at and/or enjoy more. Both my brother and I used to do both sports and music, but quit sports when we got to high school (my brother was actually quite accomplished at his sport) in favor of being able to further devote time to our passion for music. My brother ended up going the conservatory route for music and I, while only a music minor, got full-tuition music scholarships at two different universities, so I think I definitely made the right choice (so did he). He would have never been able to maintain his elite level as a musician if he were still devoting time to sports (he got into all the top studios/schools for his instrument that he applied to). And I would not have been able to spend as much time on music and develop the resumé of awards and achievements in music that enabled me to be competitive for scholarships (I still continued dance, however, and have continued with both performing arts in college). The other thing we both had to consider when we quit sports was the risk for injury that could end your ability to play music, especially as wind instrument musicians (we know someone who was a professional brass player that lost the ability to play after being injured by a baseball hitting their face and had to change careers).
I wonder which is more likely - the odds of that happening in a game/practice or the odds of a similar injury from a car accident on the way to/from school every day?
@eyemgh wrote: “Don’t do any of them for admissions. Do them because you’re passionate about them.”
That’s really all that matters.
While all of this “passion” stuff is theoretically true, you have to be doing stuff outside of the classroom, even if you don’t want to. I will concede that you should do the extracurricular that you would enjoy the most, though.
Yes. Depending on your school and the particular sport you may have to choose. My kid was in marching band in middle school and wanted to do xc in high school. No way to do both. Practice and events are at pretty much the exact same time.
Getting involved in things just for college admissions is never a good idea. If you’re passionate about sports and music, then by all means pursue both if you can handle the time management. My son is also a conservatory-level musician who also captained the varsity tennis, competed in state and national Taekwondo competitions, participated in all NHS activities, volunteered in several community services all throughout HS, went to three proms and never missed high school parties and other events while completing his most rigorous IB courses. He often went with only 4 hours of sleep and stressed out but that lifestyle was entirely his choice. I warned him, tried many times to dissuade him from taking too many things on, but that’s just the way he wanted. Being involved in sports and music is definitely doable, but both should be pursued out of genuine passion as opposed to just wanting to look good on college applications. If you’re not excellent at time management AND stress management, then forget it and just choose one or the other that you like participating in more.
So I have played badminton and tennis for about 6 years but I do not play any instruments. Is it ok if I play 2 sports and no instrument?
Remember there are “school” activities and activities. My older son plays two varsity sports at a high level plus has a garage band they have kept up for years (he has played guitar since age 9 and also plays bass). He could never fit in “school band” because the organized schedule of practices as well as the course slot commitment would conflict with sports, but he is able to play music by doing so outside of school. Likewise, I know of kids who are in music at school but are high-level Taekwondo or snowboarding (one kid at a VERY high level) outside of school, because traditional school sports either did not interest them or would not fit. There are other examples–Scouting, for instance, which is completely outside of school in most places.
Wait a minute…you don’t currently play any instruments??? Why out of curiosity did this question then come up in the first place? Play your sports, enjoy high school and by all means do not pick up an instrument now simply because you feel it might boost your college chances. It’ll be a time suck from things you already enjoy. Good luck.
@capitalrate either option 1) Do both, and be amazing at both 2.) Do both and be average at both 3.) Do one an be speactacular crazy good at it and try to get into the school with that 4.) do both and do spectacular w both and try to get into the school with them… good luck!