How important are extracurriculars (beyond sport) for recruited athlete at Ivies?

RecruitedSwimmer · May 2018

Son is member of National Honor Society, Commended Merit Award recipient, member of academic clubs and has done volunteer work. Thanks.

SevenDad · May 2018

I am under the impression that admissions officers don't expect to recruitable/elite athletes to have TOO many ECs other than their sport...they understand the time commitment that pursuing a sport a a high level requires.

gointhruaphase · May 2018

The parental worry about ECs stems from the older view of the importance of being well rounded. They are countless reasons to be well rounded, but its importance in applying to college as an athlete is not one of them. Colleges are not necessarily looking for well rounded applicants, they are looking for a well rounded class. If your son is a D1 caliber soccer player, chances are he is not the star of all of the high school's dramatic productions (and vice versa). But colleges want both good soccer teams and good dramatic productions. So, they are looking for the standouts in the various areas. Most standouts concentrate in the area in which they stand out.

I am not advocating that athletes give up on non-athletic interests. To the contrary, they should participate in any activities that they enjoy doing. Parents, on the other hand, should not worry so much about whether their athlete has focused too much in one area and needs a broader base of ECs. If an athlete spends 20-30 hours a week on a sport, there isn't going to be much time left for other endeavors, and that allows for only superficial EC involvement. Colleges want depth, and not breadth.

Nor am I saying that other EC involvement has no impact on an athlete's application. I just think that the impact is so slight that it doesn't justify any concern. Put differently, if Princeton wants you to play LAX, I don't think they care much that you dropped out of French Club after freshman year.

skieurope · May 2018

I totally concur with the above two posters.

Startingblock · May 2018

Agree with above. For my son, ECs were never in the conversation during the recruiting process, including pre-reads. If ECs were important to getting an athlete accepted I think they would get some assessment before a slot/likely letter is offered.

(my son did not have any particularly impressive ECs on his admissions app and he was accepted)

RecruitedSwimmer · May 2018

Thank you! Very helpful information.

dadof4kids · May 2018

I pushed S to be somewhat involved in other ECs both to make him a better citizen and well rounded human being. Also in case the sport fell through. Although he was not nearly as involved as his siblings.

But I didn't list any of those activities on his resume, and to my knowledge he was never asked about other ECs by a coach. As far as they know (still) he goes to school and practice and that's it.

starwars1 · June 2018

If you are good enough of an athlete to be offered a recruitment slot and fully supported by the Ivy coach, as long as the academics and test scores are solid, the ECs would not have any significant impact. However, the Ivy coach for our DS wanted us to give him a synopsis of all of his ECs, interests and leadership activities. He wanted this for writing his support letter to the admissions committee for the Likely Letter evaluation.

Emsmom1 · June 2018

My daughter had no real ECs other than a little volunteering and her sport. They didn't blink an eye.

RecruitedSwimmer · June 2018

This is helpful - he is solid academically with 34 ACT, 790 on Math Subject Test and 4.2 GPA and he would have placed in top 20 at Ivy Championships, so hopefully, his stats show that he can handle the academics and a high level in his sport. I agree that with the sport commitment, it is difficult for these kids to extend themselves in numerous other areas, especially if they are trying to keep up their grades.

makemesmart · June 2018

@RecruitedSwimmer if his times are already enabling him to earn potential conference meet points, then he is in a great position. Good luck!

starwars1 · June 2018

@RecruitedSwimmer If your son is verbally offered a recruitment slot by the coach, with his academic stats you posted, he should be on solid grounds, since his academic index is strong. I wouldn't worry about other ECs. However, if he doesn't have a definitive offer (albeit unofficial) from the coach, then his sport is just another strong EC and wouldn't the be same as being recruited.

katliamom · June 2018

Family member was a recruited Princeton basketball player. She had minimal ECs beyond her basketball. She WAS asked to retake her SATs and to raise it by a minimum of 40 points.

RecruitedSwimmer · June 2018

Safe to say that without a coach's support, admissions would be a gamble. Hopeful that he has options of a coach's support when the time comes. I believe some of the coaches were perhaps sending over pre-read information to admissions and maybe wanted to add his ECs. Thanks.

How important are extracurriculars (beyond sport) for recruited athlete at Ivies?

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