I know that this question has been asked often but I want to know my chances given my particular student profile. Obviously, thank you so much for your help. Below is some information about me.
I am a sophomore with all A’s and a 4.2 weighted GPA.
My schedule this year as a sophomore includes advanced classes like AP Econ, AP Spanish, French IV, Chemistry, Pre-calc, and Honors English.
My junior year schedule will include AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Spanish Lit, AP French, APUSH, AP English Lang, and Intro to Calc.
I am vice-president of my school’s French National Honor Society, vice-president of the Young Diplomats Club, Captain of the Speech and Debate team, and I also participate in Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, and Spanish Film club. I am very serious about Speech and Debate and I am district champion in my event. I have volunteer experience here and there.
My passion is languages & international relations and this is demonstrated by the two immersion camps that I have been to over the last two summers and the many levels that I have skipped in my school to get to the AP level in two different languages. I speak Spanish, French, Arabic, and English. I also take online research classes offered by the University of Geneva in International Relations. Finally, my event in Speech and Debate is International Extemp which requires a great deal of knowledge about the world.
Demographically I am a white male who is from a western state, gay, an atheist and has divorced parents.
Here’s my question: With all of the stuff above, will the fact that I don’t have an athletic activity (except in Junior High) preclude me from Harvard, Stanford, or Yale?
I don’t think it will preclude you from a chance.
That being said, all of my former students who got into Harvard were athletes; one student was a top California swimmer with amazing test scores and grades. Another student was a tri-athlete, but his academics and EC’s were phenomenal. Another student wrote a heart healthy cookbook after her father suffered a heart attack. According to those students, they felt the thing that the interviewers seemed to focus upon was the balance of multiple activities combined with their academic skills, time-management, sleep and study activities.
Neither of my kids played any sports nor had any inclination to…and they both got into the schools you are targeting…sports is only one of many extracurricular activities one can pursue outside of school…
Unless you are a good enough athlete to be recruited, it is completely irrelevant. For ECs, they want to see interesting ECs pursued with passion and with a high level of accomplishment.
Unless you are a recruited athlete, a sport seems to be considered as an EC, nothing much more. I know tons of kids from our local HS who played no sports and got into all of the Ivys as well as other top tier schools.
“I know that this question has been asked often” Yep, it has been often asked. And the answers you got were the same answers before. Like any applicant, your odds of getting rejected are HUGE – but it won’t be because you’re not some athlete.
@intparent: I actually disagree with the “completely irrelevant” part. I’m not a recruited athlete, but I am on the Varsity Baseball and Track team at my school. In college/scholarship interviews and essays, I was able to talk about leadership skills and collaborative skills built by being a part of a competitive team. My interviewers were pretty enthusiastic about talking to me about it as well.
@chunkers44 I strongly agree with you, but for some reason, it’s not as widely felt here on CC. Varsity sports have played a very big part in my kids HS experience and have served them well since. During the admissions process, comments about sports leadership, both on their essays and in recommendations have garnered significant attention. Maybe a small group of us will just have to privately think of it as a “Super EC”.
Absolutely agree with chunkers44 and JustOneDad: the leadership, camaraderie, & team-building from participating in sports is similar to some of the teams found in corporate American. can be a lot like teamwork in the office.
My daughter’s year, the 2 who went to Harvard were not the best students but were the recruited athletes. That doesn’t mean they weren’t prepared and didn’t do very well but there it is. And some of the top students didn’t apply to Harvard. There are special slots for recruited athletes However most students are not recruited, so it doesn’t matter if they did sports or not.
@auntbea, @chunkers44 and @justOneDad My kid’s main ECs are varsity sports as well. The point of this thread is to address the OP’s nervousness that w/o any sports he is somehow less interesting to top colleges. I think the three of you would agree that there are MANY routes to become an interesting applicant to selective schools that have NOTHING to do with sports No one is saying that varsity sports ISN’T a top EC – we’re just saying it’s an ESSENTIAL EC – that’s the main thrust of this thread.
OP actually asked if the lack of sports “precludes” his possible consideration – which everyone has said resoundingly NO. In my earlier post, I half-chide the OP for asking such an often answered question on this site.
I think we are aware of that. Take a look at the #1 post and what was said.
What we are discussing is that, sometimes, folks are a bit too quick to classify sports as “just another EC”. If there are foods and “super foods”, then maybe participating in Varsity sports is a “Super EC”.
Participation in HS sports has many benefits as respects college admissions and you certainly don’t have to be a “recruited athlete”.
Same for music, one may be admitted because of music talent in a particular instrument. But for most students, music is just one of the EC. I don’t see how it is different for sport. One may play very well and be recruited for that, but for most, it is just an EC. If one is weak in EC, it would be a disadvantage in applying to top schools.