sm96ITESM

Hi, I'm a high school junior from Mexico and I will be applying to colleges in the U.S.
Just one question, I'm in the IB program and my advisor told me, after I asked, that being in sports is not important for international students but rather I should focus solely on academics (I want to major in applied mathematics and am aiming for HYPMS and Williams College) and somewhat on leadership extracurriculars. So are sports not necessary? If they are, I can join the tennis team this school year. Thanks in advance

marvin100

There's some truth--sports for internationals are of little importance unless you have the skill to play for a varsity team in college. That said, they won't hurt and may help "fill out" your profile a little; colleges look for multidimensional, well-rounded internationals, after all.

As an aspiring applied math major, you should really make sure you have as many math accomplishments as possible, though--if you're a legit math beast, that will more than make up for missing out on a year of JV tennis or whatever!

(FWIW I'm a Williams alum and teacher in Seoul who sends lots of kids to HYPMS/Williams & similar schools each year).