Hi,
My child and I are having a hard time deciding between 2 activities to pick and which one will better help her college admissions process. We know college is not everything but we still want to give our daugther the best chance she can get.
Choice #1:
She is outspoken and could coxswain for a very competive rowing program about 18 minutes from where we live.
PROS
Athletics matter SO much in applications these days
It shows leadership
All top coxwains from team go to ivy leauge
CONS
It will take up the majorty of her time, it meets 6 times a week
It is not at her school so it is hard to get to and expensive
There is a expected weight and height. She is not done growing and could be very tall!
Choice #2.
She could run cross country on her team and intensively persue science
PROS
She would have more time for homework, friends, and sleep.
She would be a part of her school commuity
She would stay fit instead of sitting in a boat all day
CONS
She would not have the edge of athletics. She comes from a whealthy town where colleges are less likely to accpet students
She would have no sports to play in winter or spring
If her academics are solid, then she’ll have a successful collegiate career. Or must you two have to get into a certain range of “ranked” colleges? It sure seems like it.
If she enjoys crew and it’s affordable and it doesn’t negatively affect her academics, I’d say stick with that.
I wouldn’t have her do XC – it seems simply cruel. It won’t help her a lick in college applications.
If getting into a more prestigious college is the goal then stick with rowing. Keep running and exercise like any rower - if she grows tall enough she can be a rower.
Thanks for the bumping advice. I will not do it again. You think so? Even if she is not very good. Can she make up for being horrible at XC by being amazing in others topics such as science?
@bodangles Thanks for the bumping advice. I will not do it again. You think so? Even if she is not very good. Can she make up for being horrible at XC by being amazing in others topics such as science?
For most colleges and universities, extracurriculars are less important than grades and test scores. Even for the universities at which ECs matter (the very selective ones, where all applicants have great grades and test scores), they’re not going to be like, “This one did cross-country, but she’s not fast enough, so that’s a bad EC.” In my opinion, she should dedicate herself to things she likes, or she might have a pretty miserable high school experience. Then the college chips will fall as they may, and she’ll know that she tried her best and had fun at the same time no matter where she gets accepted senior year.
If your daughter has already started her senior year, I think it is too late to start something new just to try to stand out for college admissions.
I have always heard that longevity in a sport impresses ad coms. And being able to write and talk about a sport being your passion, that gives you a boost.
What are your child’s passions, interests, activities? Is she musically gifted, artistic, computer geek, cheerleader, debate club? Your child should promote who she is, and not who you think a stranger in admissions wants to accept into their college.
Never do a sport for what it can get you in the future. Do it for the sport itself, and what benefits it gives you now. Sports are great, usually keep you in shape, provide a social group, but I find those who are doing it to get into college or because their parents want them to play don’t really love it and don’t succeed, or burn out.
If being a cox is not convenient or affordable, she’d better really want to do it otherwise it will be a chore. If she loves running, run.
My daughters played their sports in high school with no intention of continuing in college. One is playing on a varsity team with a scholarship, but she didn’t decide she wanted to play until the summer after her junior year. She didn’t go to any of the college camps or play on the all star teams as a sophomore or junior. The other found out there was a club team for her sport after she selected her college, and it’s just been a bonus having that opportunity to continue playing (at a very low level but perfect for her).
I would forget about any fantasies of what is going to get her into college and go for the XC. Why? You say she likes to run. It will be far better for her health to run and get into great shape than to be sitting in a car all that time to get to the boat house and then to be sitting in a boat. My kid is running XC and she absolutely loves it–the comraderie on the team is great and it is a highlight of her hs experience even though she will never be a varsity runner. Neither of us care about what the impact will be on college admissions. I think you are way over imagining how much participating in one sport vs. another is going to matter. Unless she’s being recruited for it, I don’t think it matters. My older kid also did a sport she wasn’t any good at and I don’t think it mattered.
Friends, time, sleep are all very important. Look at your list–it sounds like really the only reason you want her to do this is because you think it’s a ticket into an Ivy league school. Don’t do that to your kid.
If your daughter is more passionate about her science pursuits and XC, it seems like that would benefit her applications more, since that passion will come through in her essays, etc. My 2 older daughters did participate in sports they enjoyed in HS at the varsity level, and they could both have pursued playing at D3 schools, but both decided they wanted to try new activities when they went to college.
If your D is leery of intensive practices 6X per week in HS, it seems unlikely she would enjoy and be committed to that level of athletic activity in college. Does she have a big desire to play a sport at a high level in college? My 2 older daughters are both interested in sciences, with HS activities/AP classes in those areas, and both ended up with large scholarships for those science activities/AP classes. They focused on those science activities on their applications, and their passion showed through. Their participation in HS athletics did also show that they were well-rounded students.
The best EC’s are ones that you are passionate about and are good at doing (or can become very good at). Never did my children choose an EC b/c of its value in college admissions.
My son’s major EC’s, both connected with his high school, were debate and journalism. They satisfied his competitive spirit and passion for research and writing. They made him a key part – and a leader – of working teams. He loved doing them, was very good at them, won awards for them. Anything else he might have chosen to do would not only have been a waste of his time but wouldn’t be nearly as valuable for college admissions. The knowledge and skills that he got from those EC’s have also been valuable in his career after college.
My daughter’s “EC” (gymnastics) was something she wasn’t particularly good in but she stayed with the team without doing anything special in the sport. She spent far more time on her passion, which was making art. To get into art school she needed to devote a lot of time – outside of class, and not as class assignments – making art. She did that in summers, too, attending precollege art programs.
From this thread, I thought student was much younger, early in high school (still growing, picking a sport). From other thread, it sounds like she is starting to apply to colleges.
Agree that if she’s a senior, neither activity is going to have any influence on college applications. Again, do it for the benefits of the activity now, not what it means for getting into college (nothing).
If your school has indoor and outdoor track, your D can continue her distance running for the whole year–she doesn’t have to stop after xc season is over. If your school doesn’t offer track, then there may be a local track club she could join and run with in order to stay fit. That said, not being good at xc is a fixable problem, though not so easily in late August. Most kids have average natural talent, but some of those average kids just work really hard. They push themselves to run their miles faster each week, and improve a lot that way. But if your D is jogging slowly and chatting with friends, and that is what she enjoys about xc, then getting better at it might not be possible without forgoing the comaraderie.
She would not have the edge of athletics. She comes from a whealthy town where colleges are less likely to accpet students
She would have no sports to play in winter or spring
She is not very good at running.
Here are your “cons” for cross country.
what "edge" are you talking about? If she does cross country, she WILL have a sport on her resume.
So what? She does NOT have to do sports year round.
Does she like running? If so, fine.
Also, question…it sounds like you are expecting that she will be able to join that crew team in a leadership position as a senior. Really? Around here…that just doesn’t happen.