I have been taking Kung-Fu classes since the age of 6. I know that traditional Kung-Fu doesn’t signify rank with belts, but my academy adopted it to keep kids happy. I really love Kung-Fu and the style I am learning it in (7 star/Northern Praying Mantis). I dedicate much time at my academy. I take classes twice a week, and help teach newer students. I also assist and sometimes run classes for elementary students. I am also part of a group my headmaster created called “the leadership team” to which we are required to attend an extra hour long seminar, to which we learn how to be leaders in the academy. I along with 14 other students are in it out of the 150 kids at my academy. I am very passionate about martial arts and I have considered pursuing it at college. But I am worried that since I am under eighteen, and therefore at my academy I am forced to be considered a junior, that my ranking won’t seem as impressive. I am still 6th degree, but I cannot be considered a Sifu (teacher) or a true black belt until I am eighteen. Do you think this will hurt my chances?
Total I would say I dedicate an average of 10 hours a week to the academy (this does not include time I spend training outside of the academy).
I have been looking at some Ivies to see what they offer. And Brown has three martial arts clubs on campus that look really interesting, and they have the major I am considering pursuing (cognitive science). They have a whole department dedicated to it actually. Brown seems like it is a school with everything I want (open curriculum, not to far from home, mid-range size in terms of number of students, focuses on liberal arts, has a good soccer program, and offers martial arts clubs) . This is not a chance me thread, but I am just wondering if the rank will hurt my chances since the “junior” title doesn’t seem impressive, and since Brown is already a very selective school I don’t want anything to hurt my chances of going there.
Put it drown. It’s obviously important to you, and you should be honest about who you are.
If its something you’re passionate about, how you spend a fair amount of your out of school time, and something you’ve shown significant dedication toward (all of which I think are true in your case here), I think it would be a bad idea not to include it; this will in my opinion in no way hurt your chances. If anything, it will show that you can be dedicated to what you care about and that you have leadership abilities, both of which are things that top colleges are looking for. I really don’t think that the “junior” title will make you look bad in any way, especially if you take the time/space to talk about your passion for Kung Fu in an essay, perhaps the Common App activity essay…
It is not only a great accomplishment but the time/energy you dedicate to the academy is an important part of who you are. I’m not even sure you need to put the “junior” into your college applications since it seems to signify your age and not your accomplishment – you might ask the people who run the academy if that would be acceptable since colleges won’t be familiar with their particular system. Or else if you automatically turn into a (non-junior) black belt at age 18 you can note it in the description.
Thatrunnerkid when you say the activity essay on the common app do you mean the first prompt? The one that asks about background or a particular interest you have?