<p>but passion to the point of an obsession with an extracurricular such as chess would still be favorably viewed by college admissions right?</p>
<p>Of course. It's not obsession, but passion. Obsession has such a bad connotation. I used to play chess competitively, but unfortunately, I quit. Now I play it recreationally and teach it at Chinese school.</p>
<p>Sai, how good are you?</p>
<p>lol, im just stating chess as an example, i play something else, but equivalently (really roughly) in chess rating, i'd probably be like around 2000 or so.</p>
<p>2000? That's very impressive. If you're not already one, play in some big tournaments and go for master. That, I'm sure, looks very good to colleges.</p>
<p>how do you know these ratings? Whats the scale? I only know a rating from yahoo games, which I'm certainly sure thats not what you guys are talking about.</p>
<p>there is an official ranking system i believe. yahoo ratings are... not very accurate.</p>
<p>Yes, yahoo rankings are not very accurate.</p>
<p>Sai mind a few games? I was around 1700 at 10 so I played a few tournaments in Malaysia and lost my pants. And thus i realized I got no talent at all and gave up. I certainly would like to see how i stand up to a 2000+ person now. Eep!</p>