For the past couple years I thought I was set on competing in varsity sports in college. I’d taken all the steps to get there and had even received a couple offers (it’s D3 though so that comes in the form of admission support).
Recently however I’ve been rethinking it a lot and am not so sure I want to continue pursuing my sport at a competitive level in college (esp because it’s a year round sport and very high commitment). So, I’ve been strongly considering just applying to college as a regular applicant instead of applying as a recruited athlete. However me being an over thinker, I’ve been doing research on clubs and student org’s in college since without a sports team I would want other ways to find my community on campus. As I research though I’ve found a few different threads talking about how clubs are advertised as “easy to join” but in reality many are competitive and require try-outs, interviews, and/or lots of money.
Is this more the case at big universities? Would majority of clubs be more lax/less cutthroat at smaller colleges and LACs? (below or around 5000 students) Like for example if I went to a small LAC and wanted to try acapella for fun because I like singing, would it be easy to join with minimal experience? Or at a bigger school, are there acapella clubs for various levels of experience?
I guess I’m asking all this because previously I had this idea that not doing a year round sport would open up way more opportunities and time for me to explore other things I’m interested in, and joining clubs throughout college wouldn’t feel like as much of a commitment. But was that just a misconception? Leave any advice below thanks:)
also if anyone knows a student who was given the chance but decided against pursuing college sports could they share their experience and thought process? thanks everyone
It depends on the club and the school. Acapella is very competitive at some schools. Club sports are very competitive at some schools and just a casual activity at others. Some schools have try outs or applications for clubs while at others it is just show up to the meetings and join.
I think anything where the school is paying a coach is probably harder to join than if the club is run by students.
Based on interest, some schools have multiple teams in the same sport and they are tiered for different levels of competitiveness. The top players are on the “A” team. You see this a lot at larger schools.
@goldentrees100 By saying year-round, are you by any chance a swimmer? Knowing the sport could help people answer the “is it a competitive club” question.
@tigerwife92 good guess but I am a runner I know most running clubs are not very competitive though so I’m more asking about other extracurricular clubs I’d considering joining on top of running.
For example I used to sing and dance for fun when I was younger and would love to do it again just as a hobby in college, so I’m just wondering if there’s chances to do that or are most of those clubs competitive and require lots of skill/experience?
@goldentrees100 Got it. D20 was a year-round athlete; she realized sophomore year she could compete for colleges based on her times, but they weren’t on her top 3 academic list, or she could go after merit at a school she loved. She discovered college “club” sports and realized there was a way to continue her sport at her top 3 academic choices, if she really wanted to. Taking a heavy AP load junior year plus training gave her insight into what her college life would look like as a varsity athlete. She knew if she wanted to fully focus on her major (Bioengineering), she personally couldn’t handle 6 classes plus labs, 2 a-days, strength training, etc. Since she wasn’t going to continue with recruiting, she really wanted to experience high school senior year. She still competed for the HS team, but dropped club (year-round), which freed up 20-30 hours per week. She had time to participate in the school play, tutor, run for president of her favorite academic club, take the HS captain spot and get to know her HS teammates (usually year-rounds just showed up for meets). She’s never regretted her decision; she coached and taught lessons until covid, so she was still involved in her sport.
Were you offered any merit $ at the schools? Only you can decide if you like the schools and want to compete in college. I’ve seen a lot of kids burn out junior year of HS, so I’ve heard this a lot over the years. D1 full athletic scholarship kids aside (which is very rare in her sport), I would ask the kids I worked with if they would choose the college if it wasn’t for their sport. Again, money changes things for most families.
As far as clubs/organizations go, bigger schools like state flagships have hundreds of organizations/clubs; there is something for everyone. Seriously, D20s school has 500 clubs/organizations. If you can’t find something to do, it’s because you didn’t look. She just signed up for 3 fun, low-key clubs; all were “no-cut.” She wants to get acclimated to college life in the time of covid before she adds a competitive or more time-consuming activity. She did look into one musical theatre group, but it required a 6 day/week commitment. Coming off of years of training, she wanted something with a smaller time commitment. Good luck; let us know what you decide!
Broadly – and this is a big generalization – and larger universities, the competition for acceptance into some organizations will be more competitive because of the numbers. For instance, my public flagship kid was interested in continuing his debate-type activity in college. At a university of 30,000 undergrads, the organization had a total number of 15 members and was taking 2 new students his 1st year, based on try outs. He was a 1st alternate, none of the accepted applicants dropped out, so that was the end of that activity for him. In contrast, if my LAC kid wanted to pick up a club sport or try something else new, it was generally a question of signing up though of course, if he couldn’t carry a tune, or act, it wouldn’t have occurred to him to try out for singing or theater production.
At the flagship my D attends, the most prestigious clubs and activities are insanely competitive. But there are many that are open to everyone. The business clubs and student government tend to be the most competitive. Fortunately, my D had very good luck and was accepted to every club she applied for. Her favorite activity, however, is a club sport just that anyone can join just by showing up to practice, trying it out, and if they like it, paying dues to become a part of the team. And most years they manage to field a regionals/nationals level team doing it this way. With almost 1,000 clubs, there is at least one club for everyone even if you don’t get into a competitive club.
I know most running clubs are not very competitive though so I’m more asking about other extracurricular clubs I’d considering joining on top of running.