<p>Sorry if this is a stupid question but does the amount of years you play sports matter to colleges? Like would colleges care if you did one or two years of a sport rather than all 4 years. Does only taking 1 or 2 years of a sport show a lack of commitment?</p>
<p>It definitely matters. 4+ years and 1 year are completely different.</p>
<p>Doing a sport for 2 years might not show a lack of commitment but if all of your activities are only done for 1 or 2 years that would be a problem.</p>
<p>oh thats not good for me</p>
<p>"oh thats not good for me"</p>
<p>Not necessarily. When you walk onto a campus anywhere usually in the first 15 minutes of the welcoming speech (if your lucky that's halfway through, not just 10% of the speech.) they will tell you to try different activities on campus, look around, kick the tires and so on...</p>
<p>Let's see mine ended up in choir, the radio station, a couple different clubs and intermural teams. Things pretty much they hadn't done before but tried in college.</p>
<p>So I guess if you explain different stints in activities, start with I wanted to explore different activities to try them on to see if they were for me. I wanted to gain an idea of different things so I tried several as my schedule allowed. </p>
<p>It's only a negative to others if YOU look at it that way. Change your perspective and you'll find others will too. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>^^good point. thanks for your input.</p>
<p>Is two years okay? </p>
<p>My school is a middle/high school, and I was on the varsity tennis team in 8th grade (3rd seed) and 9th grade (2nd seed). I'm not doing it this year because my course load is holding me back.</p>
<p>yea im planning on playing lacrosse for my junior and senior year its only 2 years.</p>
<p>As I said look upon these activities as periods of discovery. Perspective is everything, I'm glad I tried xyz and then tried abc to compare. I found out that ...... about myself. </p>
<p>College should be about fullfilling things your curious about as well as the pursuit of a major.</p>
<p>Um, no college will hold it against you unless you make lax the big thing on your app.</p>
<p>but isnt playing lacrosse for 2 years better than not playing at all?</p>
<p>2 years of a varsity sport isn't enough?</p>
<p>yea because i have to decide whether i should take 2 or 3 years of lacrosse. Because of my course load i dont want to take it this year but would look bad upon universities? Plus like i said before, isn't 2 years of sports better than none?</p>
<p>"Um, no college will hold it against you unless you make lax the big thing on your app."</p>
<p>Not true. It's a matter of perspective. If you try different things, don't apologize for it. Not everyone is rigid, it is not a cookie cutter. You know you enjoy a hand tossed pizza more than a frozen one. </p>
<p>Do you have a desire to learn new things? Express yourself that way. Not many colleges are looking at apps that show an absolute direction. If they are, why would you want to go where you are locked in?</p>
<p>Early in my job career, the company that paid for my education (almost all) sat me down in my last semester and told me what my life would be until I retire 40 years later. All I had to do was what they said. My question was a simple one "Do I have a say in any of this?" ..."Not if you want to work for us." For some people knowing what the next 40 years hold is comforting,,, i guess. </p>
<p>Don't worry about what anyone here posts, if you want to try something, try it. No regrets.</p>
<p>If that doesn't work for a certain school, well too bad for them.</p>
<p>I hate this concept about varsity sports.</p>
<p>I played for my school's junior varsity soccer team for one year.</p>
<p>I got cut in 9th grade. In 10th grade, I made the team. However, I really struggled with my course load. Spending two hours everyday for pratice and going to home and away games left me exhausted by the time I was home to do homework. Even if I studied on my way to away games or during the varsity game in which we had to stay and watch, I still didn't have enough time. Because I had only played soccer as a little kid in the street, I was inexperienced and rarely got to play. I warmed the bench while others with experience from childhood got to start all games. Although I put in my best effort to improve myself, I just couldn't get into the starting eleven.</p>
<p>The worst part was my teammates. They were arrogant, rich bastards who always partied and got drunk. They drank and played poker every night while neglecting academics. There were only one or two students who aced both soccer and school work though. Of course, it was impossible to fit into this group.</p>
<p>I didn't get along with my teammates well since they were all in the popular clique with expensive cars and clothes and ridiculous ego. </p>
<p>I love soccer. I only do it to enjoy the game. However, that season was hell.
Playing on the school's team made me so miserable that I hated soccer. I've quit soccer since then and play for fun now.</p>
<p>It's just so unfortunate that my one year on the team will be seen as "lack of commitment."</p>
<p>Everyone says that you should do what you love in high school, but it really doesn't apply to certain areas like sports because you're forced to shift your motif toward what colleges want.</p>
<p>It's great for athletes who've put in years of pratice and effort to become excellent. I truly believe they deserve it. They'll get into great colleges and continue to enjoy those sports.</p>
<p>For ordinary athletes who just can't get to that level, however, it really is regretful.</p>
<p>Opiefrommayberry said it best--
[quote]
If you try different things, don't apologize for it. Not everyone is rigid, it is not a cookie cutter. You know you enjoy a hand tossed pizza more than a frozen one.</p>
<p>Do you have a desire to learn new things? Express yourself that way. Not many colleges are looking at apps that show an absolute direction. If they are, why would you want to go where you are locked in?...</p>
<p>Don't worry about what anyone here posts, if you want to try something, try it. No regrets.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Bittersweetie, if you want to play lacrosse, play lacrosse. Not playing this year might make it harder for you to make the team next year (you won't be familiar with the coaches and other players), so I would say try it this year.</p>
<p>I played soccer freshman year, got cut sophomore year and didn't do any real sport that year. Even though I knew I could have made the team junior year, I decided against soccer (didn't like the coach, and I wasn't friends with the players) and took up running. Ended up making varsity track that spring. Track took ahold of me and I ended up using it for a couple essays when application time came around, even though I had only been on the team one season (including my Stanford short essay, and it was my favorite essay that I wrote on that entire app)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Everyone says that you should do what you love in high school, but it really doesn't apply to certain areas like sports because you're forced to shift your motif toward what colleges want.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You're never forced to shift your perspective to what colleges want. When application time runs around, it's about finding the college that fits you, not making yourself a fit for the college. Your priority should be HIGH SCHOOL in high school, not college. At least that's how I saw it, and I can guarantee it makes high school a lot more enjoyable.</p>
<p>Let's see: In high school, I joined photography, fencing (joined junior year quit senior year to focus on track), the movie making club, the movie watching club, the chess club (well, I didn't quit, just stopped putting time into it), physics club...and I was never in any of those clubs more than a year and a half either because I didn't join it until senior year, or it didn't hold my interest, or it conflicted with something else I wanted to try. But I had a great time--and I mentioned every single one of these clubs on my applications. Lack of commitment or just trying to find my niche? I knew how I saw it, but I let the colleges decide how they would see it. I went 6/6 with applications and got merit scholarships to 4 of them.</p>
<p>Your viewpoint is the exact point of this thread ^.</p>
<p>The way students see sports as something that can aid their effort to get into prestigious colleges instead of leisure activities is what's exactly wrong.</p>
<p>I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who was ousted from his favorite sport by outside factors.</p>