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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]🙄

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. [/quote]

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 [/quote]

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.

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