Time consuming sport as only extra-curricular?

[Anonymous]

My son is a serious athlete who spends 20-30 hours a week on his sport basically year round. He’s hoping to play in college but we’re unsure about where he’ll ultimately be recruited and I want to make sure that he has multiple college options.

He does not really have other meaningful extra-curricular activities because he spends so much time on his sport. He worked as a camp counselor for a couple summers and will have an office internship this summer. He has good grades and decent test scores that we are hoping to improve.

Anyone have any advice or tips about how to handle this? Are there schools that care less about a large number of extra-curriculars, or that are likely to value a deep commitment to a single activity?

[Anonymous]

Colleges don’t care about extracurriculars unless you’re in the top 1% of the nation

[Anonymous]

I'd see if he can coach some kids in the sport, even informally, this summer?

Volunteer somewhere else starting now for something (like a food bank or animal shelter).

How high are the stats? Major? Best subjects in school?

[Anonymous]

My 4th will be going through the application process next year. My take---let kids be who they are. Don't try and fit the kid to the college; pick the college that fits the kid. If your kid loves a sport and that's his passion, don't change who he is to try to fit into some application profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4th will be going through the application process next year. My take---let kids be who they are. Don't try and fit the kid to the college; pick the college that fits the kid. If your kid loves a sport and that's his passion, don't change who he is to try to fit into some application profile.

This! Thank you for writing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges don’t care about extracurriculars unless you’re in the top 1% of the nation

The top 50-100 schools do care how you spend your time, even if you’re not an Olympian or best-selling author.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd see if he can coach some kids in the sport, even informally, this summer?

Volunteer somewhere else starting now for something (like a food bank or animal shelter).

How high are the stats? Major? Best subjects in school?

This.
Plus, the 3 things they are already doing (high-level athlete/sport, summer counselor, and internship) and that's plenty!!!!
If the grades and test scores are strong, find schools that value him. WashU is ok with limited ECs. Check CDS.

[Anonymous]

It depends on how ambitious they are.

This post has a ton of information on an existing athletic profile that you might find helpful:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/50/1214129.page

Some good examples:

Activities List Example 2: Student Admitted to Northwestern Class of 2028

1. Athletics: Synchronized Swimming, 3x Int’l Medalist, 7x Nat’l Medalist
20 hr/wk, 46 wk/yr. Premiere state team; elite top 3 nat’l team; US Jr Olympics 2022 - Gold x3, Silver; US Nationals 2022 - Bronze; 2023: Silver, Bronze; leadership award

2. Research: Prevalence of Anxiety/Depression in Artistic Swimmers 13-18
2 hr/wk, 36 wk/yr. Study author. Design/analyze survey of medicated depression 8.5% athletes vs 16% gen teens (p<.05); poster presentation; submitted NHSJS

3. Volunteer: Accredited SAT & Math Tutor, Free Online Int’l Peer Tutoring
1 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr. Facilitate critical thinking skills; mentor/enlighten 52 learners, 18 countries; assist in raising SAT scores on avg. by 50 pts

4. Social Justice: Founder & Fundraiser, Paws of Ukraine
1 hr/wk, 26 wk/yr. Aid war-displaced animals. Launch/manage non-profit; fundraise; crochet 100 collars/toys; 3 fairs, feature on UAnimals webpage; raised > $2000

5. Work: Private Artistic Swim Coach/Camp Counselor
1 hr/wk, 40 wk/yr. Coach 12 athletes' skill development up 2 levels; mentor 60 preteens to foster creativity/growth mindset; instill a passion for learning/exploration

6. Tech: Opi-O-Scope Prototype Developer, Stanford Clinical Neurosci Immersion
30 hr/wk, 2 wk/yr. Capstone project of AI injectable nanobot monitoring neurotransmitter levels to prevent opioid relapses; prototype development offer.

7. Career: Econ & Leadership Ambassador, Econ for Leaders 2023
30 hr/wk, 1 wk/yr. Selected to promote econ. education; enhance leadership/public speaking skills; network; integrate econ. analysis/decision-making; social media promotion

8. Academic: Author of Academic Papers on Mental Health
4 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr. Published: [redacted]. Criticize policies on access to rural health care; analyze US history of mental health stigma; explore correlation of social media & mental health

9. Foreign Language: Ukrainian; Ukrainian Catholic University & Duolingo
2 hr/wk, 46 wk/yr. Master Duolingo in 6 months; increasing proficiency with weekly online tutor, including discussions of history, culture, and politics of region

10. Athletics: Swim, Long Distance Free and Relay Athlete, Varsity Swim Team
4 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr. Region champs 2022; endurance specialist; contribute personal best 200(2:10:06) and 500(5:45:40) free; collaborate on relays; inflate morale

[Anonymous]

ED Chicago would be an option.

If he could get recruited by D3, that opens a lot more doors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges don’t care about extracurriculars unless you’re in the top 1% of the nation

Wrong. If this kid recruits successfully, that is all the school will care about. So that could be GMU or Marymount or Yale. If he is NOT a good enough athlete for the schools he is looking at, then his EC as an athlete will count like any other EC and this could hurt him if it is all he has as an EC and it is a selective school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a serious athlete who spends 20-30 hours a week on his sport basically year round. He’s hoping to play in college but we’re unsure about where he’ll ultimately be recruited and I want to make sure that he has multiple college options.

He does not really have other meaningful extra-curricular activities because he spends so much time on his sport. He worked as a camp counselor for a couple summers and will have an office internship this summer. He has good grades and decent test scores that we are hoping to improve.

Anyone have any advice or tips about how to handle this? Are there schools that care less about a large number of extra-curriculars, or that are likely to value a deep commitment to a single activity?

Not sure what sport you are referring to but there is time and you son has to make it. My son played Varsity Basketball all 4 years in high school. This included fall high school league play, spring and summer AAU traveling across the country 2 or three practices a night in the offseason just for AAU. OH yeah, and then there was the private training session weekly to keep improving his game. BUT, he still made time to be involved in leadership groups in high school including hours of donating his time for various community organizations. Schools want to see a well balance. He is freshman at a Top 10 school this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges don’t care about extracurriculars unless you’re in the top 1% of the nation

Wrong. If this kid recruits successfully, that is all the school will care about. So that could be GMU or Marymount or Yale. If he is NOT a good enough athlete for the schools he is looking at, then his EC as an athlete will count like any other EC and this could hurt him if it is all he has as an EC and it is a selective school.

Not at Yale or other T-20 schools. Recruiting successfully means gotten the endorsement from the coach and from the admission office, which typically will issue a Likely Letter to confirm candidate is qualified academically. These schools will require a pre-read (full transcript, test scores, all ECs, resume, etc.) in the spring/summer before senior year to assess potential recruit's academic strength. Look up 'Academic Index' requirements for Ivy League. In practice, if the candidate is truly outstanding in a revenue-generating D1 sport (think football or basketball) then the academic index threshold could be lowered to an extent, but the overall Academic Index for all recruits needs to be compensated by other athletes in different sports, e.g. fencing which tends to have the highest academic profile.

[Anonymous]

Get recruited to a top academic D3 like MIT (possible with max rigor and very high gpa sat), UChicago, SALCs, etc

[Anonymous]

My son had a sport as his main EC. Was recruited but decided to go to UVA instead where he does not do a sport. He had some other ECs and I would encourage your son to do that - high school clubs, volunteering, camp counselor. Nothing as crazy as some of the things you hear about… but good enough for UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a serious athlete who spends 20-30 hours a week on his sport basically year round. He’s hoping to play in college but we’re unsure about where he’ll ultimately be recruited and I want to make sure that he has multiple college options.

He does not really have other meaningful extra-curricular activities because he spends so much time on his sport. He worked as a camp counselor for a couple summers and will have an office internship this summer. He has good grades and decent test scores that we are hoping to improve.

Anyone have any advice or tips about how to handle this? Are there schools that care less about a large number of extra-curriculars, or that are likely to value a deep commitment to a single activity?

It may make him look a bit one dimensional to more competitive colleges / degrees. For example, if you plan to be an engineer or a lawyer or a linguist, but spend all of your time on the field - do you really have the passion to become the aforementioned engineer, lawyer, etc?

Does the kid like video games? That’s a passion too, btw. We tend to look down on it as parents, but it is a big part of what they are passionate about and can and should be presented as such on the application. Same with cooking, training family dog new tricks, etc.