What varsity sports look best?

Applying to College
1

Let’s make up a list of what sports you think admissions officers look upon most favorably if you’re not a captain. I hate how a lot of people write off sports unless you’re a captain or MVP. In my school, your leadership ability does not matter, the captains are the best players.

My List (I put a (+) or (-) after each thing to show if its a pro or con)

<li> Basketball- big-time sport (+), very hard team to make (+), contact-sport (+), come home very tired (+), team sport (+), generally the most athletic people on this list (+)</li>
<li> Baseball- big-time sport (+), very hard team to make (+), some contact (+), come home decently tired (+), team sport (+)</li>
<li> Football- big-time sport (+), takes a lot of kids (-), full-contact (+), come home very tired (+), team sport (+)</li>
<li> Wrestling- lowest first tier/ highest second tier sport(+), takes a decent amount of kids (-), full-contact (+), come home very tired (+), team sport (+), b/c of the weight regulations, wrestling is always on your mind (+) </li>
<li> Lacrosse- big-time sport, but not on same level as first 3 (+) ; hard to make team (+), full contact (+), come home very tired (+), team sport (+)</li>
<li> Soccer- popularity greatly varies, hard to make team (+), contact-sport (+), come home very tired (+), team sport (+)</li>
<li> Track/Cross Country- second tier sport (-), almost anyone can make the team (-), non-contact sport (-), many not so athletic people use it as an activity filler (-), team or individual sport,</li>
<li> Swimming- second tier sport (-), not too hard to make team (-), non-contact sport (-), come home very tired (+), time-intesive at higher levels (+), individual sport (-)</li>
<li> Volleyball- big-time sport if you’re a girl (+), seen as joke if you’re a guy unless you live in CA (-), decently hard to make team (+), non-contact sport (-), come home decently tired, team sport (+)</li>
<li> Tennis- second tier sport (-), non-contact sport (-), not hard to make team if you play regularly, but spots are limited (-), come home tired (+), stereotype of being the sport of the rich and the asians (-), usually individual sport (-)</li>
<li> Golf- second tier sport (-), non-contact sport (-), limited spots but usually few kids try out (-), not strenuous (-), stereotype of sport for the rich (-), individual sport (-)</li>

Of course, being a great golf player would help a lot more than being a basketball benchwarmer, but just assume everyone is at the same talent level. And I play basketball and volleyball, so that’s where my biases stand. :wink:

2

<p>Sports are only a hook if you are recruited. Other than that, it's a nice EC and captain shows you have leadership ability.</p>

3

<p>don't be a jerk, volleyball is hard to make if you're a guy or a girl. maybe at your school it's easy for guys to make</p>

<p>and same with cross country. it's actually pretty hard if you want to be competitive. i would want to see some of those athletic people run 3 miles in less than 17 minutes. yeah</p>

4

<p>Why would you do the sport just to "look good" Just do the sport you're good at and enjoy it! Not everything you do is prep for college.</p>

5

<ol>
<li>Swimming- second tier sport (-), not too hard to make team (-), non-contact sport (-), come home very tired (+), time-intesive at higher levels (+), individual sport (-)</li>
</ol>

<p>i am offended.
how can you say that an individual sport warrants a (-).
your list if full of generalities
take this **** out</p>

<p>edit: btw, you are not coming from biases...you are coming from STEREOTYPES, perpetuated by American Culture...
why do you willingly subscribe to this nonsense and choose to spout it on a college-admissions thread?</p>

6

<ol>
<li>Tennis- second tier sport (-), non-contact sport (-), not hard to make team if you play regularly, but spots are limited (-), come home tired (+), stereotype of being the sport of the rich and the asians (-), usually individual sport (-)</li>
</ol>

<p>***? This is such a biased list. If you're good.. any sports help. If not, then they really don't. Jeez. I play USTA tennis tournaments and let me tell you it is extremely competitive and I need a lot of individual perseverance to keep on going through with tournaments. It takes up my weekends and sometimes I just want to give up. So seriously, no one look at this list.</p>

7

<p>You are completely ignorant emperor. Listing "Coming home very tired" as a positive for sports as an EC is perhaps the dumbest thing I've ever heard when mentioning sports. Oh wait, nevermind - this for tennis "stereotype of being the sport of the rich and the asians" is the dumbest comment I've heard ever on sports here at CC. And I agree with altf4 - why is a non-contact considered negative? Ooooh wow, colleges really care if you are strong and can take hits. Like zagat said, that stuff only matters if you are recruited. And plus, so what if the sport has contact - you could very well be a "soft" player (ie - not trying to get a lot of rebounds in b-ball even if you are a PF or C just because you are afraid you will get knocked down, going OB in football instead of trying to dive for another 2 yards, etc.) so that argument is just plain rediculous.</p>

<p>Your bias is super evident...</p>

8

<p>seriously, i'm glad i'm not the only one offended.</p>

<p>i would think that if it was a BIG time sport, wouldn't it be worse since everyone plays it?</p>

9

<p>someone lock this thread, please</p>

10

<p>i think track and field is the hardest sport to actually achieve any awards or rank...depends solely on the individual...also extremely hard to get recruited for track</p>

11

<p>like i said, i would like to see someone you think that's athletic run a sub-17 three mile race. not on the track either, actual trails and dirt</p>

12

<p>LOL, everyone was offended by this. I thought I'd be the only one to say, "what the hell?"</p>

13

<p>I think wrestling will provide you with the biggest hook among all these sports. My admission officer at Yale himself, told me during bulldog days that it is looked on very highly by them when a wrestler is able to both wrestle and keep the same grades. They know exactly the huge commitment that this sport takes and everything that goes into it like massive weight loss and long, tiring practices. I still wonder how I was able to do it. I attended 3 hour practices and i lost 5 pounds a day from it. We would run just as much as the track team and at the same time kill each other in a room with no windows where everyone was sweating on top of each other. To do all that and still have the energy to do homework and study was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life but I think it was a huge hook for me and it was also a topic of one of my essays.</p>

14

<p>Of course any sport you participate in should be done for your personal enjoyment, and all these sports take a considerable amount of work.</p>

<p>I made it full of generalities and stereotypes on purpose. I was trying to take the viewpoint of an admissions officer when starting this thread. Just like all clubs aren't created equal, I think some sports look better than others. I don't see why saying that a sport makes you come home extremely tired is offensive, some sports are just naturally more labor-intensive than others. After basketball practice, I couldn't open a book for at least two hours because I was so tired. After volleyball practice, all I had to do was take a shower and I was ready to start my homework. So in that case, I would say the sport you play matters. I gave individual sports a neg because, as many have said, one of the main things colleges like about sports is that its shows you have developed teamwork skills, if you play an individual sport this attribute is removed. Doesn't have any backing on how good or bad your sport is at all. I don't see whats so offensive about saying some sports carry rich reputations. If you lived in Garden City, LI or Grenwich, CT and played golf and tennis it wouldn't help remove the rich stigma the admission officers had in their head about you as soon as they saw the address. </p>

<p>I admit the contact sport part wasn't really necessary. A few weeks ago somebody commented on how Asians usually take part in non-contact, indiviudal sports and didn't receive any flak. So if you saw an Asian applicant that played football or lacrosse instead of tennis, wouldn't that be a unique quality that the admissions office would pick up and like? But yeah I admit, its not really an important trait to decide how well your sport is received.</p>

<p>Finally, of course how good you are at your sport matters a lot. Like I said for swimming, the more competitive you are, the more time-intensive it becomes. I'm talking about the average players who only participate for their schools, maybe the regular starters or second-string guys.</p>

<p>Sorry for offending everyone. I was simply trying to start a discussion on how admissions officers look at sports. Maybe I should've just listed the order instead of trying to rationalize what I thought the admissions office would like about each sport. Sorry.</p>

15

<p>i think track and field is the hardest sport to actually achieve any awards or rank...depends solely on the individual...also extremely hard to get recruited for track - I COMPLETELY AGREE</p>

<p>you ****ing a$$ - track athletes (those who aren't serial activity joiners like yourself) are the most athletic people in the school. Track athletes at the international level are much more physically fit and athletic than any football player.</p>

16

<p>And stop doing things just to get into college. I am proud to say i have done NOTHING on my app solely for the use of my college application.</p>

17

<p>I'm not a serial activity joiner. I've played the same two sports that I love since freshman year. Every club I'm in I have joined because it interests me.</p>

<p>The entire point of my thread was what goes through the admissions officer's head the first time she looks at the activity list. Since only 12 or 13 people make the basketball team and tryouts are so competive, she can safely assume that the player is at least competent and has been playing for a long time. Looking at track, a sport that generally accepts most of those that tryout, she can't make any assumptions. Of course, this is where you list all the awards you've won in track and talk about how you've been running since 12. In that case, the debate is over.</p>

18

<p>The entire point of my thread was what goes through the admissions officer's head the first time she looks at the activity list. Since only 12 or 13 people make the basketball team and tryouts are so competive, she can safely assume that the player is at least competent and has been playing for a long time. Looking at track, a sport that generally accepts most of those that tryout, she can't make any assumptions. Of course, this is where you list all the awards you've won in track and talk about how you've been running since 12. In that case, the debate is over.</p>

<p>Just letting you know, i didn't bother reading that. You post is crap, someone lock it.</p>

19

<p>I never said the part about coming home very tired or whatever offended me. I said (well, I'm being more blunt about it now) that such a statement is dumb. Why would a adcom care if you came home tired from a sport. Doesn't everyone? Every sport you listed (and every sport in general) you get tired playing. That point is moot. I can see your point about the asian playing a contact sport (though I can't confirm that asians don't play contact sports, just saying that if that is indeed the case than I guess an adcom could see that as an extra risk). But in general, I think thinking about what sports make people look good is not a good idea. Play for fun - if you happen to be really good, then you'll get recruited from somewhere.</p>

20

<p>Big Props to StanMaster22, Wrestling kicks your ass way more than any other sport. Football and LaX come close, but honestly, running or lift for an hour and then beating the crap out of each other for two hours is just brutal. Plus, all wrestling coaches expect you to be there 15 minutes early and leave 15 minutes late...and they put wrestling before school, which is terrible when you're trying to be a top tier student. I'm not bashing on other sports, frankly i admire people who are good at and love what they do, I'm just glad to hear from Yale that wrestlers get the props they deserve.</p>