Reply to Advice from Ivy Coach re not listing sports on college application

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s true…it’s not an important EC.[/quote]

That's true. From an admissions standpoint,[b] sports are an irrelevant EC for all non-recruitable students. [/b]But sports are obviously important for the applicants themselves - being part of a team, mental health, conditioning, self-discipline etc. [b]I'd certainly put it down on an application. But all students gunning for the Ivies and other top 20 schools need to make the decision whether the time commitment for varsity sports is worth the opportunity cost.[/b] Junior year in particular is intense. There are only so many hours in a day. And sometimes stepping down to rec sports is the wiser course of action if their heart is set on gaining admission to a highly selective college. [b]Harvard and Stanford really don't care if an un-recruitable applicant is spending 20 hours a week on crew or soccer. It's the rest of the app that matters. [/b] [/quote]

spot on.

Colleges don't care about sports unless you're a recruit. As an extracurricular, they are less interesting to schools than dedication to an academically oriented extracurricular, especially one that you can draw that line from to your intended major or career path. For instance, if you ultimately want to become a lawyer, having been on the debate team makes sense.

You may think it is unfair of colleges to discount the commitment and effort you put into sports, but colleges are first and foremost academic institutions; it's only reasonable that they are going to be more interested in people who showed an interest in academically-oriented pursuits outside just the required classwork, they're more likely to be people who learn for the enjoyment of it rather than just to get the grade.

And college is also supposed to prepare you for your life after college, so colleges want to see someone who has spent some time exploring activities that will give them an informed idea of what they want to study there and what they want to do after, rather than someone just seeing college as the required next step.[/quote]

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