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

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[quote=Anonymous]Team "this is mediocre advice" at least to the extent it's presented categorically and without exception.

My hookless DS did three varsity sports all four years and was far from a recruited athlete. He did so because they were fun and he liked being part of the team. He also did other ECs of varying importance. I think DS listed his three sport ECs in the #3-#8 range of common app, which he generally ranked in order of importance. He also listed a paid-coaching job he had as a separate EC, even though it overlapped with one of his varsity sports. Granted, it's a sample size of one, but DS got into Dartmouth (the school mentioned in OP's article) RD and other selective colleges.
 
My thinking is that admissions officers want to know how applicants spend their free time and why. More than anything, they want authenticity. They mostly want to know "what kind of person is he and how might he fit in at our school?" DS spent a significant amount of time doing sports and it was part of his "authentic self." My concern with DS would have been that replacing such sports with more academic/spikey ECs would have unauthentic. Also, DS had a spike, which he displayed through his personal statement, awards, LORs, and a couple other ECs in his app. I don't think replacing his sport ECs with more spike-focused ECs would have done any more to establish his particular spike; whereas, I think his sport ECs added a new dimension to his application.

Also, I've listened to dozens of AOs proclaim that they do not prefer spikey applicants over well-rounded ones, or vice versa. I think this is particularly true at liberal arts focused schools like Dartmouth, which emphasize academic breadth and community as much as depth.

Finally, I personally believe that college is partly a matching process. If sports are an important part of your DC's high school experience and a particular college doesn't value that, it's probably not a good match anyway. [/quote]

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