What do I need to know about College Placement from Private School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focusing on passions sounds good but as you entered 9th grade, did you really know what your passions were?

I had never played an organized sport of any kind when I started practice before the 9th grade. That was more than 35 years ago and rarely a week goes by when I'm not out practicing soccer that I picked up on August 15th, 1979. It wasn't such a big sport in the rural area I grew up in. I never won anything personally but I was the 13th man on the state runner up team as a senior. Memories I will never forget. I also know the pressure I faced trying to make varsity and in state JV tournaments helped me learn to focus and deal with my nerves during tests, both in the classroom and for the SATs.

My suggestion is to go out for a sport as a freshman and see where it takes your DC. Admissions is not going to hold trying a sport against a student.

"I'm the science kid's mom. Thanks for the guidance. It is helpful. I'd rather have her focus on her passions so that makes me happy."

This isn't really reality anymore. By 14, other kids have been playing for 7-8 years. You can't pick up sports in high school (at least not at the level that would matter in any respect for college admissions).

Depends on the sport.

What sports can you start at age 14 that would you excel at enough to impress colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focusing on passions sounds good but as you entered 9th grade, did you really know what your passions were?

I had never played an organized sport of any kind when I started practice before the 9th grade. That was more than 35 years ago and rarely a week goes by when I'm not out practicing soccer that I picked up on August 15th, 1979. It wasn't such a big sport in the rural area I grew up in. I never won anything personally but I was the 13th man on the state runner up team as a senior. Memories I will never forget. I also know the pressure I faced trying to make varsity and in state JV tournaments helped me learn to focus and deal with my nerves during tests, both in the classroom and for the SATs.

My suggestion is to go out for a sport as a freshman and see where it takes your DC. Admissions is not going to hold trying a sport against a student.

"I'm the science kid's mom. Thanks for the guidance. It is helpful. I'd rather have her focus on her passions so that makes me happy."

This isn't really reality anymore. By 14, other kids have been playing for 7-8 years. You can't pick up sports in high school (at least not at the level that would matter in any respect for college admissions).

Depends on the sport.

What sports can you start at age 14 that would you excel at enough to impress colleges?

Sailing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What sports can you start at age 14 that would you excel at enough to impress colleges?

Crew and football for sure. Many track events and cross country. Maybe field hockey. Basketball in some cases involving large growth spurts (though it's certainly a game of skill, so you'd be starting far behind).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focusing on passions sounds good but as you entered 9th grade, did you really know what your passions were?

I had never played an organized sport of any kind when I started practice before the 9th grade. That was more than 35 years ago and rarely a week goes by when I'm not out practicing soccer that I picked up on August 15th, 1979. It wasn't such a big sport in the rural area I grew up in. I never won anything personally but I was the 13th man on the state runner up team as a senior. Memories I will never forget. I also know the pressure I faced trying to make varsity and in state JV tournaments helped me learn to focus and deal with my nerves during tests, both in the classroom and for the SATs.

My suggestion is to go out for a sport as a freshman and see where it takes your DC. Admissions is not going to hold trying a sport against a student.

"I'm the science kid's mom. Thanks for the guidance. It is helpful. I'd rather have her focus on her passions so that makes me happy."

This isn't really reality anymore. By 14, other kids have been playing for 7-8 years. You can't pick up sports in high school (at least not at the level that would matter in any respect for college admissions).

Depends on the sport.

What sports can you start at age 14 that would you excel at enough to impress colleges?

It may not be the norm in fencing, but it certainly happens.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not fencing anymore nor the other sports mentioned except maybe crew since there aren't too many crew programs that allow middle schoolers. My DS who is 10 fences and there is no way a kid starting at age 14 would attract attention from a college recruiter. Maybe if they started 7 days a week but still probably not.

[Anonymous]

Lots of the kids who started at 10 are long gone by Juniors. And in places where fencing is a HS varsity sport (e.g. NJ) kids can get a lot of experience fast. Also, recruiting depends on weapons, gender, coach, and college. I know girls who were recruited as fencers without having been nationally ranked -- the bar isn't always that high. At the other end of the spectrum, you have someone like Adrienne Jarocki who started fencing (sabre) at 14, was recruited by Harvard, and was NCAA champion her freshman and junior years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not fencing anymore nor the other sports mentioned except maybe crew since there aren't too many crew programs that allow middle schoolers. My DS who is 10 fences and there is no way a kid starting at age 14 would attract attention from a college recruiter. Maybe if they started 7 days a week but still probably not.

Kids can absolutely start crew and football for the first time in HS and be recruited for college, assuming they fit the size and athletic profile needed. There is not a steep learning curve in either sport, and for both raw athleticism is more important than skills gained from years of practice.

[Anonymous]

That middling grades won't get you into selective colleges even if you destroy your standardized tests. You've got to hit the books. If you're not committed, it might be a waste of money like it was for my family.

[Anonymous]

And the best OOS publics place more weight on GPA than test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focusing on passions sounds good but as you entered 9th grade, did you really know what your passions were?

I had never played an organized sport of any kind when I started practice before the 9th grade. That was more than 35 years ago and rarely a week goes by when I'm not out practicing soccer that I picked up on August 15th, 1979. It wasn't such a big sport in the rural area I grew up in. I never won anything personally but I was the 13th man on the state runner up team as a senior. Memories I will never forget. I also know the pressure I faced trying to make varsity and in state JV tournaments helped me learn to focus and deal with my nerves during tests, both in the classroom and for the SATs.

My suggestion is to go out for a sport as a freshman and see where it takes your DC. Admissions is not going to hold trying a sport against a student.

"I'm the science kid's mom. Thanks for the guidance. It is helpful. I'd rather have her focus on her passions so that makes me happy."

This isn't really reality anymore. By 14, other kids have been playing for 7-8 years. You can't pick up sports in high school (at least not at the level that would matter in any respect for college admissions).

Depends on the sport.

Definitely not soccer!
What sports can you start at age 14 that would you excel at enough to impress colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focusing on passions sounds good but as you entered 9th grade, did you really know what your passions were?

I had never played an organized sport of any kind when I started practice before the 9th grade. That was more than 35 years ago and rarely a week goes by when I'm not out practicing soccer that I picked up on August 15th, 1979. It wasn't such a big sport in the rural area I grew up in. I never won anything personally but I was the 13th man on the state runner up team as a senior. Memories I will never forget. I also know the pressure I faced trying to make varsity and in state JV tournaments helped me learn to focus and deal with my nerves during tests, both in the classroom and for the SATs.

My suggestion is to go out for a sport as a freshman and see where it takes your DC. Admissions is not going to hold trying a sport against a student.

"I'm the science kid's mom. Thanks for the guidance. It is helpful. I'd rather have her focus on her passions so that makes me happy."

This isn't really reality anymore. By 14, other kids have been playing for 7-8 years. You can't pick up sports in high school (at least not at the level that would matter in any respect for college admissions).

Depends on the sport.

What sports can you start at age 14 that would you excel at enough to impress colleges?

Definitely not soccer!

[Anonymous]

Get straight As, become a national merit scholar and win some awards that are hard to get that few people get ... and throw in some community service. Voila.

-- Signed, a Penn Grad (P.S. was only a merit semi finalist... so tier two ivy)

[Anonymous]

My kid had a 35 ACT and an 800 math level 2 from a big 3 and got in nowhere competitive. Hit the books and pick a sport or activity and stick with it. Grades are so much more important than test scores.

[Anonymous]

what was the kid's gpa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid had a 35 ACT and an 800 math level 2 from a big 3 and got in nowhere competitive. Hit the books and pick a sport or activity and stick with it. Grades are so much more important than test scores.

Have seen you post this on other threads as well. Would you mind sharing a little more info, as our child is in a similar boat (maybe) and we are concerned? E.g., what kind of GPA? rigor of curriculum? any special/in-depth ECs? And, I guess, most importantly, when you say nowhere competitive, can you give a general idea of what that means (were you looking at just Ivies, top 20, and SLACs?). And what kind of place did he or she end up? This kind of info would be so helpful. Thanks.