A reality check on "strong extracurriculars"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

You can be recruitable but choosing not to play. If a girl was a starter on a nationally ranked team but chose not to play they still have a fantastic EC. If they were a captain on the team even better. They were elite at their main EC which is the bar.

Definitely not true and I say this as a parent of varsity atheletes. If your kid is not an athletic recruit, sports are among the useless ecs. May get some leadership points if kid is a varsity captain, but others pretty useless as far as admission as impact.

This. If your kid isn't going to play in college (and putting aside sports where the kid might get national exposure competing outside of school), the school DNGAF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

You can be recruitable but choosing not to play. If a girl was a starter on a nationally ranked team but chose not to play they still have a fantastic EC. If they were a captain on the team even better. They were elite at their main EC which is the bar.

Definitely not true and I say this as a parent of varsity atheletes. If your kid is not an athletic recruit, sports are among the useless ecs. May get some leadership points if kid is a varsity captain, but others pretty useless as far as admission as impact.

My son was a varsity captain of his basketball team but not a recruited athlete but 3 kids on his team were high D1 recruited. The varsity captain helped college admissions tremendously in addition to his strong academics.

Source for this? Where is he going? Captains of teams are ok but generally meaningless. There are many of them at every school...

lol ok whatever you say.

Not whatever I say...how many captains of sports teams are at your school alone? No multiply that out by the schools in your county, state, and the country. This is a massive number of kids. At our HS, a single team might have 5-7 senior captains PER SPORT. It is not like the captains do anything truly impactful. Maybe some team bonding, working on stuff for the end banquet, leading cheers, etc. That's about the extent of it.

Varies by sport and team. But, that generally is not the extent of it. Captains are often extensions of the coach on the field, run practices, teach younger/newer teammates how to actually play the game. The bottom line, though, is the same. If your kid isn't being recruited to play, having team captain on the resume is a marginal bump at best.

[Anonymous]

Harvard gives weight to athletics. My son wasn’t ever going to be a college recruit but he was captain of 2 varsity sports and they gave him a 2+ for that. If you’ve see those videos on students reviewing their Harvard files, it can tip the scales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard gives weight to athletics. My son wasn’t ever going to be a college recruit but he was captain of 2 varsity sports and they gave him a 2+ for that. If you’ve see those videos on students reviewing their Harvard files, it can tip the scales.

Yes, no one is saying it doesn't count. Just that it's viewed the same as other ECs. An impactful EC can also get you a 2+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

Sometimes sailing, water polo, and equestrian is not a Div 1 recruit but bc of club teams they are quite valuable to a school if individual natl champs

Water polo and equestrian are NCAA sports.

Not at every school.

At most top private schools (other than Stanford, Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth) equestrian is a (competitive) club sport. Some schools are hoping to convert it to NCAA eventually.
Yet some private schools in T25 are actively looking for nationally ranked equestrians.

The nationally ranked part is what I have seen missing in the back and forth about sports and team captains. People are correct when they say that being the captain on a random HS team isn't a real strong EC. But they are incorrect in believing that being the captain and a player on a nationally ranked team isn't a strong EC, it's an outstanding EC. It's the level of excellence that matters. Virtually every kid on a nationally ranked top 20 basketball team is recruitable. Choosing not to play doesn't diminish the accomplishment.

Nationally ranked sailors/equestrians at our nonDMV private have shockingly good results

Because they are going to compete for their college. That’s the definition of an athletic recruit.

But if the teams are club? Not recruited.

And yes I imagine they’ll still compete? Club or individual. And will do so individually on the “circuit” and still bring notoriety to college?

Club level college teams and varsity teams compete together in college sailing, it's not governed by the NCAA. Many clubs also can help with admission, and yes they recruit. Often sailing is moved around as a numbers game for Title IX, or in the case of Cornell the women's team is varsity and the men's team is Club, except many events in college sailing are "open" and they will compete in coed teams. 1 incredible sailor could win a singlehanded National Championship for a school on the top of the mountain in Montana, it doesn't always matter the setup within the school.

[Anonymous]

Our HS senior had two ECs total. But both were strongly connected to their declared major and minor and were done over all four years, showing dedication, commitment, and interest. Kid got three great offers with great merit aid and scholarships. It's about connecting passion to purpose to participation over a long arc that can be explained in six sentences. It doesn't matter what it is as long as that happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

You can be recruitable but choosing not to play. If a girl was a starter on a nationally ranked team but chose not to play they still have a fantastic EC. If they were a captain on the team even better. They were elite at their main EC which is the bar.

Definitely not true and I say this as a parent of varsity atheletes. If your kid is not an athletic recruit, sports are among the useless ecs. May get some leadership points if kid is a varsity captain, but others pretty useless as far as admission as impact.

My son was a varsity captain of his basketball team but not a recruited athlete but 3 kids on his team were high D1 recruited. The varsity captain helped college admissions tremendously in addition to his strong academics.

Source for this? Where is he going? Captains of teams are ok but generally meaningless. There are many of them at every school...

lol ok whatever you say.

Not whatever I say...how many captains of sports teams are at your school alone? No multiply that out by the schools in your county, state, and the country. This is a massive number of kids. At our HS, a single team might have 5-7 senior captains PER SPORT. It is not like the captains do anything truly impactful. Maybe some team bonding, working on stuff for the end banquet, leading cheers, etc. That's about the extent of it.

Varies by sport and team. But, that generally is not the extent of it. [/b]Captains are often extensions of the coach on the field, run practices, teach younger/newer teammates how to actually play the game.[b] The bottom line, though, is the same. If your kid isn't being recruited to play, having team captain on the resume is a marginal bump at best.

This is largely not what captains do…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

You can be recruitable but choosing not to play. If a girl was a starter on a nationally ranked team but chose not to play they still have a fantastic EC. If they were a captain on the team even better. They were elite at their main EC which is the bar.

Definitely not true and I say this as a parent of varsity atheletes. If your kid is not an athletic recruit, sports are among the useless ecs. May get some leadership points if kid is a varsity captain, but others pretty useless as far as admission as impact.

This. If your kid isn't going to play in college (and putting aside sports where the kid might get national exposure competing outside of school), the school DNGAF.

I disagree. DS won at a national level for a sport he didn’t pursue in college. I think doing something (and winning) at that scale absolutely matters. Why wouldn’t it? I think top colleges want winners. People who go out and accomplish big things. I don’t know if that’s why he got in, but his results were excellent and without those accomplishments I’m not sure he had the same strong narrative

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

You can be recruitable but choosing not to play. If a girl was a starter on a nationally ranked team but chose not to play they still have a fantastic EC. If they were a captain on the team even better. They were elite at their main EC which is the bar.

Definitely not true and I say this as a parent of varsity atheletes. If your kid is not an athletic recruit, sports are among the useless ecs. May get some leadership points if kid is a varsity captain, but others pretty useless as far as admission as impact.

This. If your kid isn't going to play in college (and putting aside sports where the kid might get national exposure competing outside of school), the school DNGAF.

I disagree. DS won at a national level for a sport he didn’t pursue in college. I think doing something (and winning) at that scale absolutely matters. Why wouldn’t it? I think top colleges want winners. People who go out and accomplish big things. I don’t know if that’s why he got in, but his results were excellent and without those accomplishments I’m not sure he had the same strong narrative

The national win is what matters. And gets you the rubric points.
Not playing the sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard gives weight to athletics. My son wasn’t ever going to be a college recruit but he was captain of 2 varsity sports and they gave him a 2+ for that. If you’ve see those videos on students reviewing their Harvard files, it can tip the scales.

Yes, no one is saying it doesn't count. Just that it's viewed the same as other ECs. An impactful EC can also get you a 2+.

Impact/level is what matters. I said it before and some insecure mom melted. A 2/2+ is not easy to get based on Harvard's rubric. Random club president, random Non-profit, random community service will not get that. Team captain on a competitive team at a competitive school or starting player at a demonstrable top level is a lock for it. People can cry all they want about it but facts are friendly, they aren't out to get you even though you don't want to accept them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

You can be recruitable but choosing not to play. If a girl was a starter on a nationally ranked team but chose not to play they still have a fantastic EC. If they were a captain on the team even better. They were elite at their main EC which is the bar.

Definitely not true and I say this as a parent of varsity atheletes. If your kid is not an athletic recruit, sports are among the useless ecs. May get some leadership points if kid is a varsity captain, but others pretty useless as far as admission as impact.

This. If your kid isn't going to play in college (and putting aside sports where the kid might get national exposure competing outside of school), the school DNGAF.

I disagree. DS won at a national level for a sport he didn’t pursue in college. I think doing something (and winning) at that scale absolutely matters. Why wouldn’t it? I think top colleges want winners. People who go out and accomplish big things. I don’t know if that’s why he got in, but his results were excellent and without those accomplishments I’m not sure he had the same strong narrative

The national win is what matters. And gets you the rubric points.
Not playing the sport.

It's the level of excellence, not the sport itself.....some just hate the idea that colleges value sports so much that it colors their thinking.

[Anonymous]

Who TF cares?
What are you all racing towards anyway?

[Anonymous]

If we are aiming to T50 and not T20, does any of this really matter that much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do AOs look at coaching or refereeing? Strong for the resume or not really?

Your kid should do things they want to do. If they love coaching/refereeing, then continue. If it really is meaningful to them then they'll have something to write about.

Colleges can tell when kids do things just for the resume.

I thought dcurbanmom would be smarter...

You thought that despite all public evidence here to the contrary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is elite level athlete? You are either recruitable, or not recruitable.

Sometimes sailing, water polo, and equestrian is not a Div 1 recruit but bc of club teams they are quite valuable to a school if individual natl champs

This is as much a full pay plus thing as it is a sport thing.