Did Your Athlete End Up With Plan B?

[Anonymous]

We are discussing with our rising freshman son whether he should continue playing his sport at high level at the expense of other extracurriculars with the goal of leveraging his sport to get into an elite academic school. He is a very strong student and wants to pursue a strategy of focusing only on his sport and academics (his sport doesn't allow time for anything else). Has anyone implemented this strategy? If he is not a recruited athlete, he hopefully will have strong GPA/test scores to fall back on but how penalized will he be with only his sport as an extracurricular? Do schools give any extracurricular slack at all to "just missed" athletes? In our sport in particular, I'm not sure how much an admission committee would immediately recognize or understand the level of competition, level of commitment required, etc.

[Anonymous]

My son was an accomplished HS athlete (regional champ/state placer in an individual sport) but not recruited by any school he had an interest in attending. He had a strong SAT (1490) and respectable GPA (3.7 unweighted). He had no other extracurriculars and his essay was about what his sport had taught him about himself and how his experiences in it would still serve him once he stopped playing.

He was accepted into 6 schools. None are elite academically, but they are all solid state schools - places you could mention on DCUM without getting a sneer. I don't think his lack of extracurriculars was held against him, but I also I don't think schools "cut slack" as much as parents like to think a million extracurriculars help.

[Anonymous]

If his sport makes him happy and gives him energy and makes him feel good about life I’d let him pursue it at the level he wants. Maybe it will help him get into college, maybe it won’t, but if he loves it it will help him get through high school, which is a worthy goal in and of itself.

[Anonymous]

There are way fewer athletic opportunities in college that include scholarships than most people believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If his sport makes him happy and gives him energy and makes him feel good about life I’d let him pursue it at the level he wants. Maybe it will help him get into college, maybe it won’t, but if he loves it it will help him get through high school, which is a worthy goal in and of itself.

+1 He should play as long and as intensely as he enjoys it.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

[Anonymous]

It’s not a “strategy,” it’s a sport he likes. It’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

Moving the family to Montana would probably do more.

[Anonymous]

Not the OP but want to follow up as I think I am wondering the same as OP in that if my DD continues in her sport through high school there will not be any extra time available beyond academic studies. Her sport will allow no opportunity for other activities or volunteer service. Yes, she is passionate about her sport, excels at it and shows strong committment but will college admissions look unfavorably upon her lack of other outlets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

Moving the family to Montana would probably do more.

+1

Nailed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

Always keep in mind that you are only one serious injury away from missing the key recruitment time windows. For that reason and others, I would be careful not to put too many eggs in the athletic recruitment basket as a golden ticket to an Ivy or similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

Please do not make this a goal/plan. You are one torn ACL away from disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

Moving the family to Montana would probably do more.

+1

Nailed it.

And North Dakota would do even more.

But, I also agree with the pp who says to let him do it if he enjoys it.

[Anonymous]

I would think an intense commitment to an extracurricular speaks as much as doing many activities only on the surface level. If you’re worried about it, maybe he would still have time to do a service trip over a holiday break or during the summer? Those trips can be great experiences and shouldn’t eat up practice time on the regular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think an intense commitment to an extracurricular speaks as much as doing many activities only on the surface level. If you’re worried about it, maybe he would still have time to do a service trip over a holiday break or during the summer? Those trips can be great experiences and shouldn’t eat up practice time on the regular.

Colleges see through that. They want to see dedication to a passion or cause over an extended period of time, not tourism masquerading as philanthropy