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

[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

Not true.

Let kids play sports because they enjoy it. My cousin played a sport, but was not recruited for it and got into their top choice, an Ivy (not Cornell) early. Doesn't play the sport in college and din't do a ton of extras that I know of, and attended a good, but not top public high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:🙄

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.

It is not a marginal boost. I don’t think that many parents realize here how much sports actively hurt your chances in admissions because of the time factor. Most college admissions advisors actively tell kids to give up on sports if they aren’t being recruited

Again, I am aware that this is what “[m]ost college admission advisors actively tell kids.”

By all means, follow that advice if you wish. It may be best for your teen.

Personally, we are ignoring it. We will not instruct our child to quit something that they love - and that positively enriches their life, growth, and health - in order to gain more time to do things that may benefit them more for admissions but will certainly benefit them far less in other ways.

As for the potential benefit with admissions: Let’s say my DC’s stats are in the top 25% of a T-10 school. The school’s overall admissions rate is 6%. Maybe my kid has a 10% chance of getting in given their stats (compared to applicants in the lower 25% of the range.) Either way, we’re talking about low probability.

Quitting their three varsity (and one club) sports would reclaim 15-20 hours per week. Let’s assume they channel ALL that time into some other EC that admissions counselors deem “more valuable.” Ok. At best, DC’s admissions chances would do what? Double? To 20% instead of 10%?

Is this worth the cost to my DC who (a) loves playing all three sports; (b) has leadership roles in all three; (c) has slightly different friend groups in each; (d) burns off the stress of school each day and has a healthy outlet for their drive; (e) is building grit and resilience from various setbacks along the way; (f) is enjoying the genuine self-esteem that comes from asserting their autonomy and judgment and seeing the many rewards play out over time?

Again, feel free to follow the advice of the admissions advisors. Depending on what your DC does instead with their time, it could improve their admissions odds. Maybe even double them. But it’s not the right trade off for our DC. Not at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think there is a lesson here than many parents miss. I see parents pouring tons of money, time and energy into their kids sports not realizing that the odds of them playing in college are exceedingly low.

Maybe they do it because it benefits their kid in OTHER ways that have nothing to do with being recruited for college?

- a parent who kid plays a club/travel sport in addition to school sports but has zero interest in playing on a college team (other than Club or IM)

[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

I agree, along with the fact that there is a high likelihood of lifelong injuries from playing high school sports. Broken legs, arms, jammed up fingers and toes, tore up knees, concussions, beat up ears from wrestling. I know so many kids of friends who sustained all kinds of sport injuries in high school for no good reason.

I encouraged my kid to play an instrument and that's worked out great.

[Anonymous]

OP's mistake is viewing childhood through a single lens: college admissions. Big mistake.

[Anonymous]

OP: Your argument makes no sense. There is nothing in what you wrote that suggests a causal relationship between playing sports and not getting into top schools. To put it differently, it is very possible that the kid in your story would have been rejected from all these schools even if he had spent his time playing violin or doing something else instead of sports.

[Anonymous]

No need to do three season sports and club.

Do one season and club then free up time to develop academic hook/overall narrative or theme.

Best of both .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think there is a lesson here than many parents miss. I see parents pouring tons of money, time and energy into their kids sports not realizing that the odds of them playing in college are exceedingly low.

Maybe they do it because it benefits their kid in OTHER ways that have nothing to do with being recruited for college?

- a parent who kid plays a club/travel sport in addition to school sports but has zero interest in playing on a college team (other than Club or IM)

Same. My kid was in sports because it helped keep him focused and in shape. When he missed a week, everything suffered. He did not try to be recruited and still participates recreationally in college for the same reasons.

[Anonymous]

Zero evidence this kid got rejected because he played sports.

Sports are beneficial in their own right. If your kid loves a sport, let him thrive in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

That is a lie given most UVA students who get in now aren’t really involved in sports

Citation needed

[Anonymous]

Neighbor’s son just got into Princeton as a non recruited rower. We can all provide anecdotes, OP.

[Anonymous]

I wasn’t a great high school athlete, but enjoyed participating at the junior varsity/club levels at my small LAC. Great way to meet people and get exercise and feel like a part of things in a new place. Being active and involved isn’t limited to being a varsity recruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think there is a lesson here than many parents miss. I see parents pouring tons of money, time and energy into their kids sports not realizing that the odds of them playing in college are exceedingly low.

You have no idea if the parents know the odds or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:🙄

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.

It is not a marginal boost. I don’t think that many parents realize here how much sports actively hurt your chances in admissions because of the time factor. Most college admissions advisors actively tell kids to give up on sports if they aren’t being recruited

This +1
or the non-recruited student athlete continues with their sport knowing that it will not be a boost in any way come college application time
it is the parents that seem the most delusional to me as they really think that playing on a travel team will move the needle in any way when it doesn't

There is no evidence for what you are saying though. Colleges look for students who aren’t just pulling in the grades. They want to see persistence and a time commitment. It doesn’t have to be sports, but suggesting sports aren’t a benefit on an application is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

I agree, along with the fact that there is a high likelihood of lifelong injuries from playing high school sports. Broken legs, arms, jammed up fingers and toes, tore up knees, concussions, beat up ears from wrestling. I know so many kids of friends who sustained all kinds of sport injuries in high school for no good reason.

I encouraged my kid to play an instrument and that's worked out great.

There is not a “high likelihood of lifelong injuries” from playing high school sports.