At the top tier of any endeavor, there are certain characteristics that are almost universal. Since you selected a Rhodes scholarship as a goal, everyone that has a chance of being recommended will probably have at least an A- average. I am not talking about people who have a serious chance of being selected but people who might be considered as supportable by their schools. Unless the GPA is high enough, it is very unlikely that the rest of your activities will matter to the selection committee.
To put it into perspective, you stated that you are in the top 5% of video gamers out of millions. If there are three million (?) players and you are in the top 5%, you are one of about 150,000. Although there probably are less people who excel in multiple games, the total number is still quite large. Being in the top 5% in something is something that you should be proud of, but it is not the same as being one of 32 U.S. Rhodes scholars.
The difference in talent and dedication at each level of achievement can be dramatic. It could easily take someone twice as much work at a top tier school to graduate with a 3.9 GPA as it took to get a 3.7. The closer that one gets to a 4.0 at top schools, the more apparent it becomes that superior intelligence alone or hard work not accompanied by sufficient mental acuity isn’t sufficient. Even with the right combination of intellect and dedication, occasionally a little good or back luck is the difference between being a valedictorian and being a few spots back in the class.
Adding in athletics makes getting very top grades much harder, since you lose 20 to 30 hours a week of potential study time to practice and competition at the strongest programs. Unless you love a sport, it is unlikely that it would be to your benefit to pursue it in college.
I find this thread, and the original poster interesting for so many reasons…so I will add my thoughts.
To address your original question, you have two different issues with your plan. Once you get past the rules and regulations for starting a new varsity team, there is no guarantee that you will be on it. Assuming you will not be the coach, it is unlikely you will be good enough in one or two seasons to hold your own, regardless of your size and natural physical abilities. If you were talking about hs, possibly, but at the college level, no. You are vastly under calling the amount of dedicated and experienced student athletes out there. Unless you intend to “buy” your place on the team by being a financial backer (which I think is illegal) you have a big unknown in that you don’t know what it will take to remain on the team beyond the first few days.
If you want a challenge, pick a team that already exists and see if you can make the cut or pick a sport that is not competed at the university level – e.g. ironman, open water swimming etc. and see if you can excel. You can apply your motivation to training vs. team formation.
Another suggestion is to put your time and passion into helping others that found themselves in your situation. As the sole income provider for siblings, you dealt with a terrible situation and overcame it for both you and your family. Helping others in the same situation will make you more of a Rhodes Scholar than your plan to become an elite athlete in 3 years on a team that currently doesn’t exist. Past Rhodes scholars seems to all have one great passion and while you can certainly participate in sports to round out an application, maybe you could make a social cause your main strength. You briefly mention volunteering somewhere in one of the posts and that may be a better place to make an impact quicker. Even if you don’t get the scholarship, no one is going to be able to find fault with trying to guide others through a bad situation in life.
No way! I am currently a freshman at UCSC and I was also wondering if I could start up a competitive rowing team. I
@Mtchell3
Do you already row competitively?
Or, like the OP, are you pulling this random sport out your wazoo just to pad your resume?