Hello all, I am in the class of 2018 for high school with a dream of attending Harvard. I ask for all your guidance and wisdom. My main question is this: I’ve been playing basketball basically my whole life and throughout high school. However, I feel it is getting in the way of other academic activities I wish to do. I also run track. I was thinking of quitting basketball my junior year to open up more space for clubs I always wanted to do. I got elected to a couple officer positions for clubs and I wish to do more. However If I continue basketball, I would not have time to do the clubs. I recently lettered in basketball my sophomore year.
The thing is, I got admitted to the City Council of Cleveland, VP of African American Culture Club, VP of Youth For Christ, and I have the potential to be President of Diversity Acceptance Program. I feel I would not be able to commit to any of these if I played basketball, which is a year round sport basically. As of now, basketball is my life. I enjoy playing it, but I don’t like it being my whole high school career. Since my main goal is Harvard or a school of that caliber, I must excel academically and do amazing things inside and outside of school. Outside school, my ECs are great: Research at Case western reserve, volunteering at hospital, student committee at a non-profit, Finance Intern for a tech company. Pretty cool stuff. However, my inside school activities are pretty weak: no leadership as of now but I have the chance to do leadership. What are your thoughts?
Thank you so much
My thoughts are that you should create the high school experience that you want, and not worry about what Harvard will think. It’s not hard to find students complaining that they “wasted” time on ECs they did to get into a college and then didn’t get in. If you are tired of basketball dominating your high school life, then quit and do something else. But don’t do it for Harvard.
Well, if you are really serving on the city council of large city, that is a huge EC. That and basketball would be pretty impressive. Maybe you don’t need some of the other club activities. This is assuming you really like basketball.
Is it possible to scale back the basketball? My son also plays so I know how it can be year round and take over your life. Could you maybe quit AAU and just play on the high school team? Then it would only be a major time commitment for a few months. If you were good enough to play varsity as a sophomore, you will probably keep your spot even without the year round play. This may diminish your chances of getting recruited for basketball but it sounds like you weren’t really interested in that path anyway.
Thanks for feedback everyone @mathyone that is very true, it wouldnt be specifically for harvard.
@CheddarcheeseMN Thank you. I like playing basketball, but I don’t like it being my whole life. I also don’t want to play basketball in college unless at Harvard or something but I don’t think I’m good enough.
@me29034 No not really. School basketball is basically year round, we have workouts in fall, spring, winter, and summer. I mean playing basketball at a school like Harvard would be nice, but I don’t think I’m good enough to do that.
I have another question. Don’t schools like commitment to ECs? If I were to stay with basketball, it would be for all 4 years. If I were to quit and do other ECs, they would be only for my junior and senior year, which is 2 years. Would this be looked down upon? They could see that I quit.
It is a mistake to add/drop activities in an attempt to better your chances for Harvard --a school with such low admission rates that it is a crapshoot for pretty much everyone. Create the HS experience you want…one that you feel passionate about…and good things should happen for you (be it at Harvard or elsewhere)
@happy1 Good advice. Honestly, the HS experience I want is NOT to make it all about basketball. Even though I like playing basketball, it is WAY too time consuming and gets in the way of everything else I wish to do. Would dropping it and starting new things junior year look bad?
For purposes of college admissions, basketball is only useful if you are good enough at basketball to be recruited to play basketball for the college. Are you that good? Very, very few people are.
I agree with @ThankYouforHelp; if you aren’t truly passionate about basketball, it won’t have much of an impact unless you are at the level to be recruited. Colleges see thousands of varsity athletes a year; however, city council and research aren’t as common.
I personally am slowly phasing out cross country and track, but that’s for purposes to pursue what I really enjoy (science, research, service)…and I don’t regret it all.
If you are going to quit basketball, make sure to substitute it for something you enjoy more !!
It would be fine to drop basketball if you add in other things you care about. And perhaps there is a way to continue basketball in a less time-consuming environment (ex. some kind of recreational league).
Yeah I agree with you all. I just think it would be hard to join a new club my junior year when people have been in it since freshmen year, thats all. Like I would be out of place
well, it doesn’t really matter what clubs you replace your sport with, as long as you enjoy the club more
I personally quit winter track to do Science Olympiad; amazing decision as I met one of my best friends there and also discovered my interest in public health and epidemiology! I also used the extra time to focus on my classes and boost my grades. I would also recommend volunteering or getting a job! And using some of that time to enjoy yourself haha it’s equally important!
Also, since I didn’t have to participate in preseason, I can focus on research…and go on CC more, but obviously isn’t that beneficial haha
@LushLillies Haha true. What year did you quit track? If I were to quick basketball, I would join Science Olympiad my junior year. Is that too late? I play basketball and I run track and I lettered in both so I would still play a sport after quitting basketball. I volunteer at hospitals and work as a lifeguard rn in the summer! Yeah discovering yourself is awesome lol
You should be able to explain your choice in an authentic way. because it reflects what you want. It is not at all uncommon for people to whittle down their activities and tweak them as they mature and figure out what really makes them tick. Realistically, your parents probably picked basketball for you when you were in elementary school. You’re old enough now to figure out what you want it to be in your life.
I know one kid who was a soccer prodigy type (all league as a freshman) who switched to a new sport his junior year. (And is going to play the new sport in college!) I know kids who took a year off from an activity and then returned to it. They could explain their choices. Do not focus on what this looks like to a school that may or may not admit you – do what matters to you. If you feel that you could bring more “cred” to one of the ECs as a result of being involved in basketball (or not), that’s a different decision. But don’t take on too much – I’d venture that one of the reasons you’re a good basketball player is that you’ve devoted a lot of time and effort to it. Put your all into whatever you choose.
Intramural basketball sounds like a great idea – and since you are not a recruited athlete, it is perfectly reasonable to choose to cut back on a sport so you have time to focus more on some other things. Again, if you make the change, do it because you want to, not because it might increase your chance at any particular school.
If you really are good enough to be recruited to Division III, maybe you should consider sticking with it. Division III schools like Amherst, Williams, UChicago, MIT and Johns Hopkins will give you an incredible education and great opportunities in life. But remember, each of those schools is only recruiting a few students each year.
@gardenstategal wow great feedback. So the main theme is to do things for MYSELF and not HARVARD, interesting. Did that one guy quit soccer completely? What made him want to quit? I like playing basketball, however I feel I have other interests rather than solely basketball.
@happy1 I mean honestly my main goal in life is to get into a great schoo like Harvard. So technically if I were to do things for MYSELF, wouldn’t they all increase my chances at Harvard because thats what MYSELF wants? Intramural basketball sounds fun yeah.
@ThankYouforHelp Yeah I had that in mind, however, I rather be just a student in college rather than a student athlete. It’s so much work in hs let alone college. You see I guess I have a “hook.” I’m half african american and half asian american, I feel I can turn that into a unique essay. All my asian friends tell me I’m “harvard bound” cause I’m black and it kind of just gets my hopes up, but again I feel disrespected. But if people think I have a good chance at Harvard, you can bet I’m working my ass off to give me the best possible shot.
