If your kid wants to go to a selective university, do not let them play sports in high school

[Anonymous]

Unless your kid is recruited, admissions officers do not really care about sports. I know a kid who has perfect grades and a 35 ACT who was a captain of the varsity football and lacrosse teams (and was class treasurer, NHS president, volunteered, and did part time work), and he got rejected from every remotely selective college. The Ivy Leagues, Notre Dame, Michigan, Duke, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UNC, and UVA all rejected him. Many other kids who are two or three sports athletes have similarly bad results.

At most top schools, the students will tell you most people there did not play sports outside of the recruited athletes. Most of their extracurriculars were centered around the major they want to study. Sports are time consuming and take away time from these more impactful extracurriculars. For sports like basketball, baseball, or lacrosse, you are easily spending 20+ hours per week on an activity that ultimately won’t help you in admissions.

And it doesn’t help that in the DMV area, you have to be super talented or spend years playing a sport just to make into the JV team. You have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on sports. Sports are just a waste of time for most kids

[Anonymous]

Your post doesn't make sense as no kid this year could have been rejected from all those schools.
So you're giving an example from a past admissions season?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid is recruited, admissions officers do not really care about sports. I know a kid who has perfect grades and a 35 ACT who was a captain of the varsity football and lacrosse teams (and was class treasurer, NHS president, volunteered, and did part time work), and he got rejected from every remotely selective college. The Ivy Leagues, Notre Dame, Michigan, Duke, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UNC, and UVA all rejected him. Many other kids who are two or three sports athletes have similarly bad results.

At most top schools, the students will tell you most people there did not play sports outside of the recruited athletes. Most of their extracurriculars were centered around the major they want to study. Sports are time consuming and take away time from these more impactful extracurriculars. For sports like basketball, baseball, or lacrosse, you are easily spending 20+ hours per week on an activity that ultimately won’t help you in admissions.

And it doesn’t help that in the DMV area, you have to be super talented or spend years playing a sport just to make into the JV team. You have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on sports. Sports are just a waste of time for most kids

He wasn't rejected bc of sports. He was rejected bc he was one-dimensional, and probably a typical "male" major (business, econ, CS or engineering).....the major selection was the issue. He had not story. Being "Well-Rounded" kills you.

[Anonymous]

Any other tips for sucking the joy out of childhood?

[Anonymous]

My DC spends a huge amount of time and effort (and our money) on a sport that will not play into their college chances. We feel fortunate to be able to support this because of what it does for DC in so many other important ways. If the sport went away, it is not as if DC would suddenly would have time that they would spend to win a Nobel Prize in high school or become first chair in the NY Philharmonic. DC would still be the same person with the same strengths and the same tendencies, and would just have more slush time in their schedule that would likely get at least partly wasted anyway. I would rather they be busy, healthy, happy, driven, and surrounded by friends in real life than glued to an empty screen. I don't care what it does for their college chances _at_all_. I think most sports parents are realistic enough to know that the odds of having a recruited or scholarship athlete are vanishingly low in most cases anyway.

[Anonymous]

How many threads do you need to start about the one kid you know who played sports and had good grades and didn’t get into some selective schools? For every one of him, there are plenty with the opposite results.

Selective colleges are extremely hard to get into these days. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any other tips for sucking the joy out of childhood?

Seriously. My kid played sports because he enjoyed it. The end.

[Anonymous]

Perfect grades are a dime a dozen at many local highly regarded schools. There will be non athletes with similar resumes rejected by the most selective schools.

[Anonymous]

You are wrong. DS was not recruited but was a four year varsity athlete and team captain and got into a selective college anyway.

Whatever happened with this “kid you know” 🙄 it wasn’t the athletics that hurt him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any other tips for sucking the joy out of childhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid is recruited, admissions officers do not really care about sports. I know a kid who has perfect grades and a 35 ACT who was a captain of the varsity football and lacrosse teams (and was class treasurer, NHS president, volunteered, and did part time work), and he got rejected from every remotely selective college. The Ivy Leagues, Notre Dame, Michigan, Duke, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UNC, and UVA all rejected him. Many other kids who are two or three sports athletes have similarly bad results.

At most top schools, the students will tell you most people there did not play sports outside of the recruited athletes. Most of their extracurriculars were centered around the major they want to study. Sports are time consuming and take away time from these more impactful extracurriculars. For sports like basketball, baseball, or lacrosse, you are easily spending 20+ hours per week on an activity that ultimately won’t help you in admissions.

And it doesn’t help that in the DMV area, you have to be super talented or spend years playing a sport just to make into the JV team. You have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on sports. Sports are just a waste of time for most kids

If sports are for personal enjoyment and to provide balance, yes. If used as a means to get accepted to a highly selective college, you are correct. Recruited athletes only need apply.

[Anonymous]

Four years ago I heard an AO from UVA say they like students who played sports and still got good grades because that shows they can manage their time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC spends a huge amount of time and effort (and our money) on a sport that will not play into their college chances. We feel fortunate to be able to support this because of what it does for DC in so many other important ways. If the sport went away, it is not as if DC would suddenly would have time that they would spend to win a Nobel Prize in high school or become first chair in the NY Philharmonic. DC would still be the same person with the same strengths and the same tendencies, and would just have more slush time in their schedule that would likely get at least partly wasted anyway. I would rather they be busy, healthy, happy, driven, and surrounded by friends in real life than glued to an empty screen. I don't care what it does for their college chances _at_all_. I think most sports parents are realistic enough to know that the odds of having a recruited or scholarship athlete are vanishingly low in most cases anyway.

My kid is a recruited athlete (sorry OP). If his current sport went away tomorrow…he would just play a different sport that is no cut or where the HS isn’t that good and he could make the team.

We actually had a frank discussion in 9th grade because of the time and effort it would take to get recruited and the fact that sporty kids (at least team sports) like many sports.

[Anonymous]

I agree that sports for someone who is not recruitable aren’t particularly important for admission. Lots of ESs aren’t particularly important to admissions, doesn’t mean they have no value to kid. I do think kids should do what they love most, sports or otherwise. But my big issue with varsity sports is those coaches OWN the kids’ schedules from pre-season to playoffs and they’re really isn’t much room for a lot of other activities that would give kids a chance to grow and achieve some cool things and show leadership in different ways. So the three season athlete is in a bit of a pickle in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

🙄

There’s more to life than sacrificing your kid’s authenticity and interests to try to match the ever-changing whims of admissions committees.

Sure, if your kid doesn’t like sports, don’t force them to play one in an attempt to impress admissions. That’s silly and worthless. Same is true if they’re all-in on their instrument, musical theater, dance, or any other super time-consuming passion.

But if your kid loves sports (or the equivalent) and wants to pursue it in HS but not at a recruited level, there’s plenty of upside for them as a human being: authenticity, grit, leadership, social skills, physical health, mental health/wellness, and more.

All that said, if playing three varsity sports is what keeps our 4.0/1500+/12AP student out of the T-20, that’s fine with us. We’re thrilled to see our kid enjoy and excel at the EC’s they have chosen. It’s been wonderful for their growth, resilience, sense of self, and relationships with their peers, coaches, and teachers, alike.

IMHO that’s more important in the long run than dropping their authentic self in an attempt to make themself marginally more attractive to a school with an already tiny rate of admission. But you do you.