If she’s not athletic, golf is ideal.
“If not athletic golf is ideal”. Must be a joking around. Golf at a high level is very athletic. But if she doesn’t like helmet sports or running sports it’s a good choice.
It’s swinging a bat at over 110 mikes an hour over and over. Then modify this fast twitch for more subtle shots. Laser like eye hand. Ability to discern terrain and distance. Walking 6 miles while doing it and in high school carrying a 30 point bag on your back for 5 hours. Competition and sportsmanship. Ethics and self regulation.
Wonderful sport and very athletic at elite levels and gets a kid outdoors and moving her body every day for hours. Think it is a great option.
Many of the best players were caddies as kids. definately not wealthy.
Golf is not athletic? LOL.
“I’m a very mean mom, but I would not be willing to request a waiver from the school or to provide payment for or transportation to an after-school sport if my child refused to participate in the at-school options because of her philosophical conviction.”
I did not say my daughter was “refusing” to participate in an at-school option. I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. Many students at her small private school (with limited EC’s), opt to take an athletic activity outside of school in lieu of a school-offered option.
Two thoughts:
- Schools like to see an ongoing commitment to something, so if she has that with golf, sticking with it is perfectly appropriate.
- Based on the schools you’ve mentioned in other posts, sounds like the schools your DD is looking at are perfectly familiar with rich, white suburban applicants. Why now does it matter what it might look like to someone else. If she is worried about looking to elitist, maybe she can start a golf fundraiser to raise money for equipment and teach golf to disabled students or something. She should do something with her skill, not worry about what it looks like to someone else.
It’s great to be a social justice warrior (maybe) but justice is accepting that everyone has their interests and abilities and for some that’s golf. That’s true tolerance and acceptance of all.
@Empireapple
And tolerance is understanding that teenagers are not always rational.
As a parent of a varsity golfer and a kid who just went thru a successful admission cycle I have to say I share some concern about listing varsity golf as an EC in college app to most selective schools where holistic process can make family affluence a disadvantage. My upper middle class unhooked DD deliberately left off her varsity golf in her applications to tippy top holistic schools this year and gained acceptance to all of them.
I speculate every piece of information helps paint applicant’s background and there is no question that in some zip codes golf is a very expensive EC. For example, at my DD’s high school’s home course a regular round for non-members cost $155 and with a qualifying score for varsity at 79, there is no way a kid can get on varsity without having spent $$$$ in the sport. Of course, if the HS is in a working class area where $15 muni courses are the norm then golf as an EC may not be perceived as a privileged sport. Unless the kid is trying to be recruited athlete, its just my humble opinion that you do not want to add another little piece of information that reinforces the stereotype of an upper-middle class kid. In OP’s case though, varsity golf as a course requirement is probably fine; I would not list it as an EC in college app or attach any hours to it.
Most selective schools take family affluence as an advantage, not a disadvantage. They need full pays to offset the students that need financial aid. Also this is part of a high school requirement more than an EC I think. The ivies oooze wealth and privilege, the average family income at Brown is $225K, and given that half the families get FA, there are a lot of families with wealth at $500K or more likely $1M.
How do you leave a sport off an application, it is on the high school transcript.
Unless I missed something, the OP never said it appears on the HS transcript (are there places that list sports on a transcript?). S/he just said it’s a graduation requirement. I imagine there are other things that some high schools require that don’t appear on a transcript. Community Service and retreats come to mind.
Yes. My kids’ transcripts say Girls Athletics- cross country, or Girls Athletics- volleyball, or whatever sport they were enrolled in that semester, and a grade. It is part of their GPA, but not the academic GPA.
Having an activity for 3-4 years shows commitment and maturity. Being a varsity athlete shows dedication and perseverance to get to that level and a special ability and leadership. These are all great qualities for a college application. No college reviewer is going to spend that much time thinking about her golf experience compared to the rest of your application unless she wins state or scholarships etc and that is all positive.
If she caddies… https://www.wgaesf.org/site/c.dwJTKiO0JgI8G/b.6021411/k.8F77/Scholarships.htm
I know two kids that have 4 year full rides due to this scholarship. Maybe this will change her mind?
OK, then I guess it’s school specific since it was not on mine. But I should have realized that, since I seem to remember at least one of the high schools I looked at back in the day listed it as well. And I guess any HS that allows varsity/JV in lieu of PE would also list something as well.
But then, answering the question about leaving off the application: there are only X number of spaces on the application, and no rule that they all need to be filled in. If the activity is not important in the scheme of things, there’s not reason the applicant needs to list it even if it appears elsewhere.
Cross Country is the go-to sport around here that private school kids participate in when they are forced to participate in a sport. Would she be interested in that? I dont think it has much elitist or non-elitist rep either way . . . good benefits to it as well.
(and our transcripts dont grade sports at all; they are never mentioned. HS sports are graded classes in parts of the US? i guess i learn something new every day!)
They are a PE class, same as any other PE class. 2 years of PE are required. My kids took/will take 4 as do all athletes at their school who participate for 4 years.
@jzducol You’re using your own experience. Adcoms know what goes on around the country. Just listing golf on an app doesn’t mean someone is wealthy. Or even that they pay for the sport.
I’ve never seen hs sports on a transcript. Occasionally, some EC like orchestra shows up as a class, IF it’s a class. That’s different.
High school sports are a class here. And at every public high school that I am familiar with in our area. Athletes enroll in 6th period PE. 6th period starts around 2 and practice usually goes to 4 or 4:30.
I wish our school had counted sports for PE! My son ran up to 50 miles a week as a three-season varsity runner. He still had to take PE! And more than once, he had to run for a grade the same day as a track or XC meet. Really?? Absurd.
@jzducol Your reply echos my sentiments exactly which is why I posted the question. Thanks for chiming in!
@skieurope I’m not sure how this will be listed on the transcript because it’s the first year that it’s optional to take a sport in lieu of P.E. class. I’ll have to check into this.