hey CC-
I’m a junior and a dedicated student athlete who trains 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. Hence, I don’t have the collection of ECs, volunteer hours, and awards that other students might. I have, though, taken quite a few APs, and have 99th percentile SAT and ACT scores.
So my question is, will colleges (dream schools: Stanford and Brown) understand the time and energy commitment that my sport takes, and forgive me for my lack of ECs?
@theskittlebug Are you a recruited athlete? Are you a team captain? Those to factors, especially the first, really help to bolster athletic achievement, but obviously, schools understand that playing a HS varsity sport is a huge time commitment. Have you done things over the summer or during the times you are not playing sports?
Adding on to this, what if you’re an athlete much in the same position as skitlebug above, and you’re getting recruited by a lot of DI programs, including some major conference teams (SEC), but you don’t want to play? Would, say, Stanford and Brown understand this sentiment?
@manspeak2u Thanks for your input. I haven’t yet decided whether to compete in college, but I’m at Ivy League standards. I’m not a team captain, but I hold a school record, have medaled at State, etc. My sport is year-round (we actually train twice a day on break 
) but when I can I do pursue other interests, like music, and I have some work experience.
@fortmorgan yeah that’s something that I’m wondering about too, since it’ll be hard to balance rigorous academics with training.
If you’re at ivy league athletic standards, you should contact coaches and try to get recruited. That’s the most sure way into an Ivy.
If you’re not a recruited athlete, IMO you’re kind of wasting your time with the sport. Or at least putting too much time into it. A sport as a nonrecruited athlete isn’t going to carry much weight, its just a garden variety, mediocre EC that does almost nothing to distinguish you.
Also if you’re “only” ivy standard at your sport, you have very little chance at Stanford.
@theskittlebug Sports are the best ECs by far and they will understand the time required. You don’t have to be recruited for it to be of value.
Sports show real dedication, time management skills, the ability to work with others and the ability to deal with physical and mental stress.
The ECs that most students do are probably worthless in reality.