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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was disappointed to read this article from Ivy Coach that says that if your child is not going to be a recruited athlete, your child should not include their sports on the common app.  I see the argument that it's not going to help my DC to stand out from the application pool and therefore, DC needs to focus on other ECs, but to say that an activity that takes up over 15 hours a week of DC's time each week (my DC plays on two school varsity teams, but isn't good enough to be a recruited athlete) seems like bad advice to me.  I've heard this from other college counselors too, but I am not going to have DC quit sports - exercise is good for physical health and mental health and has enabled my otherwise quiet DC to become friends with lots of terrific kids from DC's school.

https://www.ivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/college-admissions/playing-sports-college-applications/

Does anyone here think that DC should actually leave two varsity sports teams off DC's college application?  I have otherwise appreciated Ivy Coach's articles but now I'm really questioning their judgment and thinking it's bad advice.[/quote]

Abject, unmitigated idiocy. Participation in HS athletics is often the great differentiator for the exceptionally high-achieving students, and not just at the recruited athlete level. Think of the time commitment, resolve, and grit that are necessary in individual and especially team sports - we're seriously going to pretend that membership or participation in the NHS, the Key Club, SADD and a random Rubik's cube competition are the signals that AOs are looking for ... ?

Student A: 4.00 unweighted, 15 AP classes, all 5s and 1 - 2 4s, 1600 SAT and/or 36 ACT, [b]along with 12 - 15 ECs / awards[/b] that mostly align with their college major interests and help to achieve a cohesive narrative in their essays, [u]plus they are a four-year varsity athlete who served as captain senior year and won a state title[/u].

Student B: 4.00 unweighted, 15 AP classes, all 5s and 1 - 2 4s, 1600 SAT and/or 36 ACT, [b]along with 16 - 20 ECs / awards[/b] that mostly align with their college major interests and help to achieve a cohesive narrative in their essays.

Student A absolutely trounces Student B in the eyes of AOs ... arguing otherwise is just absurd at this point.[/quote]

The flaw in the above is that there is only room for 10 ECs to be listed. The article argues that basically ALL if them should tell the same story. If you have room to list a sport you should list it, but if you have room to list a sport you may be in trouble anyways when admissions offices want spiky applicants.

I've been an ivy interviewer for a few years. I've seen hordes of well rounded students bite the dust, and only one *extremely* spiky student get accepted.

The article is extreme, maybe too much, but so is this admissions climate.[/quote]

Regarding the space available, the common app provides room for up to ten ECs and five awards, as I recall. UC app provides 20 spaces for both, combined.

The way my son dealt with these limitations is by consolidating his HS team, regional and national club teams, and [b]USA baseball appointment[/b] to one EC slot. He also consolidated awards similarly. It required a little extra work, but it allowed him to demonstrate significant time commitments in both research and athletics that aligned with his intended major and that complemented his overall academic profile.[/quote]

How is your kid not a recruited athlete?  I don't know a single USA Baseball appointee that isn't...some of those kids are going in the first couple rounds of the MLB draft.  Nearly all are Power 5 D1 commits.

[/quote]

So true. 
But maybe kid doesn’t want to limit college exp by sacrificing a life to be a college athlete? Esp if it’s not a top tier school? True for my daughter.[/quote]

It doesn't matter...if you are invited to USA Baseball and you have stellar grades/test scores you can attend any school you want.  I believe this is the PP that said their kid has nearly perfect SAT scores.

You may have to convince Harvard and Williams (or the equivalent) that you really actually want to go there...in this instance, Duke or Stanford would achieve all goals as well...but assuming you do, you are walking in.  I guess if you honestly don't want to play in college and you don't want to play the game for admissions (two Big Ifs).

This is the equivalent of your daughter (no idea what sport) getting invited to play for the U18 national soccer team...or the U18 USA basketball team.[/quote]

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