Hey! Ok so I feel like I kind of screwed myself over in that I didn’t do ANY (Literally zero) clubs these last 3 years of high school and close to no volunteering as I didn’t realize how important this was in an application. It’s not as though I haven’t done anything - I have swum competitively since I was 7 and train about 20 hours a week in both the summer and the winter, so I never really have time for anything else. I know this is not enough though as other people are doing like 5 sports and 20 clubs and 100s of hours of community service haha. I’m just sooo stressed about this
other than my abysmal ECs, my other stats are:
33 ACT (I just retook it so hopefully that goes up)
2170 SAT (i need to bring this up lol im gonna retake it)
3.9 uw/ 4.6 w gpa
So basically, what are my chances of getting into any even remotely competitive colleges? how much have my lackluster ECs ruined my application?
@JustOneDad oops I also did what will be 4 years (when I finish my senior year) of varsity swim team but that kinda ties in with the competitive club swimming. I feel like it’s lacking variety.
@vmt I’m still unsure about that - I am thinking that I would like to, but I am not sure at what level (such as D1, D2, D3, or club). It would likely be my second priority behind academics in choosing a school, but the problem is that good schools academically tend to have extremely competitive/ hard to walk on let alone be recruited for sports teams.
@JustOneDad that’s what I’m concerned about. I honestly didn’t do anything else worthwhile. After school I have swim practice until either 6 or 7 pm, and then I would come home and do homework and go to bed as I had swim practice the next morning from 5 to 7 am. I really regret not utilizing my time on the weekends to participate in other things. I’m very interested in things like chemistry and astrophysics, but don’t have anything I have done relating to that (besides watching youtube videos about it because it’s so freakinghfivj cool lol i wish that counted for something haha). But sadly I did not and now I feel like I have done nothing with my life… ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh :’(
Maybe you can do an independent study in astrophysics this year. It’s something you would enjoy and shows an interest. Take an online class. And you have this summer. Do some volunteer work at a hospital, food bank, animal shelter, day care center, camp, etc. Give swim lessons.
My daughter was very similar. She mostly swam and did homework. She fit in some volunteer work through her 4 years of high school but not as much as other kids. She also gave swim lessons the summer before her senior year. Between a heavy course load and swimming, she didn’t have time for other things. She chose to swim in college and will be at a good D3 school. There are very good schools at all swim levels. I believe the fact that she would be a strong contributor to the swim team helped. But, without the academic side, she would not have had as much success. She got into every school she applied to (a few were D1 schools where she would not have swum). You didn’t go home and watch TV or walk the mall. You did a single focused EC. It isn’t 100 clubs, but that’s ok.
It is hard with swimming because it is more time consuming than almost every other sport, given you did doubles. I think admissions folks will know this and won’t discount this EC as ‘just swimming’. If you have some big accomplishments related to swimming, that would help.
I would try to make the most of this summer through volunteering, working, online courses, etc.
@caty122333 You have done plenty, you have done very well in school and you have shown a high level of dedication to your sport which takes a lot of self discipline and is time consuming. You will be able to get into college. Whether or not you get into a reach school, well they are called reaches for a reason.
@JustOneDad well there isn’t really exactly any awards to win per se, but I did qualify for states for high school all of my years and have qualified and swam at faster out of state swim meets for club.
I know a state qualifier (NY State) who walked onto Dartmouth. So, I would say it really depends on which school. She was academically stellar, so got into Dartmouth on her stats alone, nothing to do with swimming. There are some really outstanding D3 schools (both academically and athletically) so I think if you could be a strong contributor to a team, that would help. State Qualifier is a nice thing to put on your swim resume.Have you contacted swim coaches yet?
I would still recommend using this summer to branch out a little. It will help you, not just with admissions, but as part of your personal growth. MIT has a lot of free online courses. Maybe there is something available locally, like a museum, where you can connect more with your scientific aspirations. I think you will be fine, especially if you can be a little strategic, applying to some schools where you would score points at League finals.
If you will be recruited for swimming you should be fine. If not, it is fine to have a major activity. If you can get some community service over the summer it wouldn’t hurt. In general colleges look to get a well rounded class, but that does not mean that every person in the class has to be well-rounded.
