Hey CC community! I was wondering if taking Tennis would be a good idea or not for top universities like Stanford. I want Stanford to see me as a student who likes to challenge himself as well as a student who is not overly obsessive with grades. So My freshman year i took APWH, soph: AP Physics 1, AP BC Calc, AP Human, AP Chemistry, junior year I took APUSH, AP Stat, AP Bio, and AP English. Will taking Tennis senior year be looked down upon?
… tennis is a class?
Take it if you want to and it will be fun. If it takes the place of another class you want to take more or is more rigorous in your major area, then don’t take it. Bottom line, you need some fun classes once in a while, and you shouldn’t have to worry about whether Stanford “will look down upon” tennis.
Yeah lmao tennis is a class at my school. It is quite rigorous, 2.5 hrs of practice a day. But it is a fun and competitive class. However, the class is a 4.0 class and my school grades on a 5.0 scale. Do Colleges see ur rank or GPA after junior year before they send decisions.
Not relevant but Stanford almost always has a great tennis team. Some players headed for pros.
Yeah I know, I don’t want to be a part of their tennis team trust me im not THAT good. I just want to get outta the classroom you know? I just hope it doesn’t hurt my grades for senior year and stanford sees it as bad
I don’t think it’s considered Varsity if everyone who takes the class gets that designation. Varsity implies a certain rigor- usually someone has to try out for varsity, and it would be difficult to pick up a sport and be competitive in varsity as a senior if you are new to it.
Nah I am sure I will be on Varsity, I was in Varsity my freshman year, when we didnt have to take the class to be on the team. I have played tennis competitively since middle school. I am positive i will be on the varsity team if I tryout
Why didn’t you do it sophomore and junior year?
I don’t think taking a challenging athletic class at a fairly hight level would be looked down up, so long as you have enough solid academic courses as well. I think if handled in the right spirit it could be seen as a positive - schools want students who challenge themselves and take things that genuinely interest them, regardless of concern for whether it will impress adcoms.
I don’t think one class plus or minus will be a deciding factor.
It is an interesting question though, because at high schools that count varsity sports as a class and count an A as 4.0 since it’s not an AP or honors class, it can end up being impossible for varsity athletes (especially those in multiple sports) to be at the very top of the class in terms of GPA. Students not in sports can take more APs and get a higher GPA if they do well in those classes. The same applies to other classes like performing arts where there’s no AP or honors version.
I’m not saying high school athletes are at a disadvantage overall in college admissions - and clearly the opposite is the case for those good enough to be recruited for college sports - but it can be hard for athletes to be #1 in the class just because of how GPA is calculated.
If you want to play tennis (it sounds as though you do), then take the class. I don’t think it’s going to be looked down upon. Stanford wants well-rounded students and values extracurricular activities.
If you are still concerned about appearances on your transcripts, would there be any way the GC could perhaps weave the fact that the class is a condition to being on the team when she addresses course rigor in your recommendation letter? This may not be possible if you are in a very large school where GC letters are more or less rubber-stamped. However, if you know your GC, you might talk to him/her about your concerns and ask if it could possibly be quickly addressed in his/her letter.
@hilariousbanana Selective colleges weigh heavily on class ranking and GPA, especially if you are not URM…
Stanford is having to read through 42,000 apps which means there is only minutes to look through course schedules before getting to the test scores, essays, recs and ECs. Do you really think they are taking the time to look through your transcript with a fine tooth comb and saying “I wonder why Johnny took this class instead of that one which I would have done if I were him?” Just take the hardest schedule you can that also makes you happy and do the best you can.
What makes you special?
Even at my school, where the valedictorian takes 16-18 AP classes, you can still have a very high class rank while taking 4 years of non-AP music if you earn straight As and take like 4-6 AP classes per year. You can’t be #1, but you can certainly be top 2-4%.
I marked tennis down on my schedule. I would much rather enjoy my senior year than take classes that look good on paper but make my senior year miserable for a crapshoot like Stanford.