I’ve always hated anything to do with school sports because of my faulty back and the fact that I was never good at them. Thus, I’ve always steered clear, since I didn’t want to torture myself just for the sake of adding it onto my resume. However, since I’m still mid-high school, are they extremely important to get into a good school?
Currently my average is a 99% weighed (my school doesn’t calculate GPA, just uses averages)
My extra curriculars include:
Student Council, Philosophy Club, Stock Market Club, Model UN, 130 of volunteering at my public library, and I’m planning on doing another 60 this summer at my local hospital.
Outside of school I’ve been in chess competitions and I’m also a black belt in tae kwon do (which Im still doing currently)
I’ve also won a multitude of academic essay awards, including one national and one state-wide.
I’m just wondering, are these ECs enough are they weak? What colleges should I be aiming for (rank-wise) and is there anything I should change or add (like a school sport) in my remaining years of high school?
Nope. Sports are important only for those who want to be recruited for sports. In fact, many students who were very involved in sports in high school don’t really have time for it in college. Many schools mandates some sort of physical activity, wellness or what was called gym in high school for some period of time (2, 3, 4 semesters-depends) Luckily for you, most college offer (wellness) options that would appeal to even the most sports averse student. hey, maybe you’ll find something you never tried before or even heard about.
You don’t need to be a division 1 level athlete to get into a good school, or even play sports for that matter. Far from it, though it does make it easier if you’re incredibly good and being recruited heavily. Just study really hard for the SAT’s and keep writing and entering competitions. Try to get published if you can, that would be huge. No one can tell you what colleges you should be shooting for without SAT/ACT scores. If you got about a 1450+ or a 32+ you might be able to get in as high as the top 20. No one can really say right now though. If you got ~1200 SAT or ~26 ACT you probably won’t get top 50 but you could still get into some really good schools.
@zoxzis I got in without participating in any sports teams…of course I play certain sports for enjoyment or for keeping (somewhat) fit, but you do not need to participate in school sports to get into a good university.
In terms of ECs, good enough for what? Participate in the ECs you have interest in. Don’t volunteer just because you think it is something that will help applications. Do it only if you would be doing it if you did not tell anyone about it. Colleges don’t care about volunteer hours anyway.
Some colleges care very much about community engagement and the responsibilities. Most don’t care if you were on a sports team or not. But the top ones- and depending on your major- can care very much about how you experienced teamwork.
OP, you need to be learning what your targets do look for, what they say.
I should clarify that I meant that colleges don’t care that you are collecting volunteer hours. They do care if you are involved in meaningful activities motivated by a desire to be helpful and to improve the lives of others. And, presumably those involved in such activities would be doing that whether or not they were going to report them on a college application. But key here is meaningful and not just collecting hours.
Sports won’t help you. Being well rounded was needed for top schools about 20 years ago. Now top schools look to build a well rounded class, with students have a wide range of deep experience.
Your biggest issue that I see is no clear focus. ECs are too scattered. Try to focus on one thing you really like (writing) and spend all your energy on that.