<p>I'm currently a sophomore and I run cross country, indoor and outdoor track. I'm a good runner, but not varsity or captain material. I dedicated about twelve hours each week to sports and I'm wondering if i'm wasting my time? Do college only like varsity sports? I attend a large competitive high school and next year I might make varsity track, but definitely not varsity cross country. I like running because it keeps me in shape and it's fun being on a team. Instead of doing cross country next year I could do cheerleading which I could easily make varsity and have a chance of being captain. I like cheerleading it's fun, but I fear that colleges may look at it unfavorable because of the negative stereotype it has.</p>
<p><strong><em>bump</em></strong>*</p>
<p>Why would you think that colleges look negatively at cheerleaders? I don’t think it would be a bad thing to drop a sport you don’t enjoy, and won’t provide you with leadership potential, to participate in an activity that you like and could potentially be captain of.</p>
<p>^ +1, sounds good to me</p>
<p>I do both of those sports as well. If you truly enjoy those sports, I would recommend off season training- one or two off seasons can raise you to the varsity level.</p>
<p>Also, if you care about putting it on your transcript all you need is just 1 year of varsity sport because I believe you don’t have to specify how many years you were in varsity. (correct me if I’m wrong)</p>
<p>How could you ever possibly even consider quitting cross!!! Sorry haha I’m a little bit obsessed with the sport… Obligatory speech here though: Sophomore year I was the 12th runner for my team, so I was barely even scoring for J.V. Junior year I worked my butt off and became the 8th runner and state alternate. I still don’t really consider myself a good runner, but if you commit you totally could make varsity:) </p>
<p>Okay now that that’s over, I don’t think a college is going to look negatively on cheerleading. You won’t look as dedicated because you switched, but if cheerleading is something you’d really like to do, who care if it doesn’t look quite as good as sticking to the same sport all four years? You’re still doing something you’re passionate about.</p>
<p>If you don’t have time to do both, commit to the one that brings you the most fulfillment. How it looks to a college should be a secondary consideration. It saddens me to see students ignoring their true passions to do something they think others will approve of. Life is too short and there are too many other things in the future that you will have to compromise on. Continue doing the sport you enjoy most. Convey that passion to the college. Maybe they will appreciate that even more than a co-captain position.</p>
<p>Colleges won’t look at you negatively because you switched sports. Go with whatever makes you happy.</p>
<p>Colleges would much rather see you doing something you have passion and dedication for than trying to make sure whatever you do “looks good” on the application. Just do what you enjoy, there’s no point in trying to turn yourself into someone that you aren’t.</p>
<p>I played 3 sports freshman and sophomore year, but because of a serious concussion I can never play again. This year I joined the clubs I wanted to but couldn’t because I had sports (Academic Challenge, Mock Trial, Student Council) how bad will this look on my college apps?</p>
<p>
A lot of HS students misunderstand how colleges look at ECs. First off, most colleges admit based just on GPA and scores. You can see this on the info supplied by the colleges on their Common Data Set (look in section C). They can rate factors as very important, important, considered, not considered. If its not in the 1st 2, it barely makes a difference.</p>
<p>For colleges where ECs are important, merely taking part is not nearly enough. They don’t care if you were on the varsity, if you volunteered for 300 hours, if you were a member of this or that. A quote from the Stanford Admissions website illustrates the view from a selective college
There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of very selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html</a></p>
<p>So in terms of your decision about track, do what you want. If you enjoy track, stay. If you’d rather be a cheerleader, cheer. Neither is going to be enough to stand out at the most selective schools, and won’t play much of a role (if any) in admissions at the rest.</p>
<p>If you’re thinking of a very selective college and want to work on strong ECs then 2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>
<p>What kind of schools are you considering? I doubt most schools, especially publics, would care.</p>
<p>A7512MT - No - what you needed to do was to place what happened in context - that kind of thing is actually fodder for an essay (played sports - loved it, can’t play anymore…). And make sure you show the love for what you are doing now. Good luck.</p>
<p>KD94025- luckily I’m a junior. I already have the story of my concussion and how its affected me that was my midterm essay for AP Lang which I’m probably going to edit for my college essay.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman in high school, and I dropped baseball because it was too much time, of course colleges do not know this so will this drop look bad on my college transcript?</p>
<p>Please use old threads for information only, don’t post and revive them. Instead use the New Thread button to ask your question(s).</p>