<p>Hello. My daughter plays 3 seasons of Varsity sports. This guarantees that 5 days a week for the entire school year she has no time for typical after-school clubs. Do the College Admission folks appreciate the sports time commitment? She isn't a college-level athelete but enjoys playing (including Travel soccer on weekends). She's a Junior now and we're debating whether adding a club or two and dropping a sport would help her college app to a high tier school. She has other things going for her: she works all summer, has a moderate amount of Volunteer time, has all the APs, plays an instrument. Thanks!</p>
<p>I think that is perfect. Colleges really respect the time commitment that goes into varsity athletics.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement. When you see the resume padding of some of the EC “machines” that post here (sorry to sound harsh), it can make you anxious about your child’s prospects for admission.</p>
<p>crawfe,
At our kids’s h.s., clubs are “fluff.” Both of my Ds considered them a resume-padding waste of time, and did sports instead. They are both at Ivy League schools. Bottom line: Let your D do what she loves. (And that would include clubs, if that is what she loves).</p>
<p>+1 on Bay’s remarks. Admission reps look for students who have a passion for … something. 10+ ECs with no real passion for any one of them will not help differentiate an applicant in a pool of over EC’d candidates. If your D can convey a true passion for one of her interests in a one-on-one interview with an Admission Rep, she’ll likely stand out from the pool of heavy EC’ers. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I say if your daughter truly loves sports and wants to spend her time doing that, by all means have her continue to do that. Like others said, a passion for something is most important. I faced the same problems, and dropped sports in favor of clubs. My clubs meet during school, and homework has gotten so intense that I don’t play Varsity anymore. Good luck to her!</p>
<p>Here’s what changed my priorities: I am a good athlete, even got some attention from NAIA teams after 1 game as a sophormore. However, I do want to go to Brown University very badly. I know that I am not going to get recruited, so I have shifted focus to academics. </p>
<p>This is why: since I wasn’t going to gain more national attention as a recruit, I figured that I would almost waste my time. </p>
<p>Who would you rather accept: A 3 sport varsity athlete who won’t get recruited OR the kid who raised $10K doing a unique community service project for 2 years. That is what made me switch to clubs instead of sports.</p>
<p>However, everybody’s paths differ, so I wish your daughter the best of luck! :)</p>
<p>I did a mix of sports (x-country and track throughout HS) and clubs, but my clubs were definitely more prominent, and I wrote a killer essay one of my out-of-school extracurricular activities. I believe that this essay and extracurricular activity are what got me into Columbia.</p>
<p>[This</a> guy](<a href=“http://www.getintocollegeblog.com/2009/06/ivy-league-guide-extracurriculars.html]This”>http://www.getintocollegeblog.com/2009/06/ivy-league-guide-extracurriculars.html) talks a lot about clubs but doesn’t talk too much about athletics - seems to confirm my suspicion that clubs are more important than athletics. However, if you’re outstanding at sports (think state-wide or better), then sports might be more important - but the training for that starts WAY before HS.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks Big Dreamer. You saw an opportunity to go for a “hook” and took it. That is never bad advice in this competitive environment. Maybe it depends on whether your committee played VarSports. 
I still believe that the dedication, drive to achieve, etc. from varsity sports demonstrates as much or more about you than being presidents of the ABC and XYZ Clubs. Having “the Hook” is best though once you take care of The Grades and The Tests.</p>
<p>My son didn’t join any clubs in high school, although he did play one sport for two years. I was concerned because he didn’t have very many ECs, but my son refused to do anything just for college admissions.</p>
<p>He did a terrific job in presenting his uniqueness and strengths in his college app and is now a sophomore at Stanford. </p>
<p>So, I agree with Bay…encourage your daughter to do what she loves.</p>
<p>@crawfe: Haha, soooo true! If adcoms played Varsity sports, they would no how had students have to work, dedicate, study, learn, drill, and prepare for every game/contest/match. Sports are overlooked, but most top schools favor the “club scene” over sports as an EC (obviously sports are great if you get recruited). Thank you for your kind words! :)</p>
<p>Yeah, this club I’m trying to jumpstart with my friends from different areas of the country is a bit difficult. I want people to be DEDICATED, not show up for 1 meeting. That is why I’m keeping the title of President for myself lol, to keep lazy people out of the way haha :D</p>
<p>Best wishes to yor daughter to accomplish whatever she wants and play/do/join anything she loves! :)</p>
<p>@big dreamer:</p>
<p>A national club? That’s a great idea! What kind of club are you going to start?</p>
<p>big dreamer…our local public hs is fairly weak academically. They might send one kid to an Ivy each year (usually the valedictorian). Last year, my son’s friend was the valedictorian. He was also a three-season varsity athlete. No other hook. Community service, but no other clubs (except National Honor Society). He was admitted to Dartmouth. His mom said the adcom was impressed by his ability to play the three varsity sports (along with club level in one of them) and maintain the grades he had. She said they really understood and valued the work it takes to do that.</p>
<p>Year before that, there were no Ivy Leaguers.</p>
<p>Year before that…one to Columbia for track. </p>
<p>Year before that…another three season V athlete to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>That’s really impressive. The trick, of course, is conveying passion about activities so adcoms don’t think you’re doing it JUST to get into college.</p>
<p>Well…you can’t really do that w/varsity sports, because you have to make the team. You can’t just sign up (in most sports).</p>
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<p>Yeah keylyme, that’s great and all, but Ivy-spec schools do admit kids who are academic focused who do great things in fields they truly love. Sure, Ivies take athletic people. The odds are to be better at something unique in comparison to 20 hours a week devoted to sports, if you won’t be recruited. But, as JimmyH555 mentioned, whatever you are truly passionate about and convey this to adcoms will work for various people.</p>
<p>Last year, we had an All-State XC runner who was president, great community service, flawless academic record, like 20 self-studied APs, 2390 SAT, 1st place in state on Nat’l French Exam. So, the ebst recipe is to best at everything ! </p>
<p>You have helped me out a lot when it came to recruiting in last several months, but I disagree with you here. I would say most adcoms want the kid who did something groundbreaking and time-consuming instead of somebody who pours all of their time into varsity sports. The thing is: most adcoms don’t know the dedication required for varsity sports, so they don’t understand.</p>
<p>@JimmyH555: Yeah, it’s still a work in progress as of right now. I am trying to spread it to old friends in California, North Carolina, N. Virginia/DC, and Massachusetts. It is a science/medical/engineering focused club where we have monthly topics in said fields. It’s really exciting, trying to get others interested! We want to have charity concerts, volunteer work for free clinics, and school supplies & clothes collection for orphanages. We also are seeking donations from large drug companies to sponsor a scholarship fund. If you’re intersted in anythign like this, send me a PM! We are trying to get a grant for an invention right now! :)</p>
<p>^^I do agree with you, bigdreamer, that you have to excel at what you do and put forth a lot of time and effort. Varsity sports fit this description well. If it is your passion and what you excel at, then you shouldn’t replace it with a club, just to say you did a club. By “clubs”, I am referring to the generic, dime-a-dozen clubs that really don’t require much other than the participant to show up once a week. Obviously, if you are the founding member of something that really makes a difference on a large scale and you are pouring 20 hours/week, year-round into it, then of course it is as good as a sport. Two girls at my son’s schoos founded the “Dollars for Darfur” movement several years ago; I am certain that looked great on their resume. However, I still won’t underestimate sport. The Ivies love to be seen as athletically competitive, too. We recently visited a non-Ivy (Patriot League) school that boasted of an 85% involvement rate of students in athletics at the school (not all Varsity, of course). They went on to say how highly athletics involvement was valued at the school.</p>
<p>Well, working in a private HS with a D who has participated on various clubs, started a couple of her own, been in theatre productions and will letter 4 years in a varisty sport - I can tell you that the commitment to athletics far exceeds the others. Most clubs are fluff and most Adcom’s know it. Showing up for meetings once a week does not compare to the commitment involved in playing a sport. Even starting a strong club I do not believe can be compared to the commitment involved in being a varisty athlete</p>
<p>hey big_dreamer, that sounds really exciting! feel free to let me know if I can help at all. I’d be glad to help re: advice and brainstorming.</p>