Currently I am in Tennis and I find that it doesn’t make me happy. I originally joined tennis for college and that’s remained my motive ever since. I feel that as I’m advancing I’m my high school career (sophomore) I’d rather spent my time learning and taking more AP classes. Will dropping tennis junior year affect my admissions for college?
Dropping a sport to participate in another EC is fine. Dropping a sport solely to devote more time to studies, particularly if you are aiming for a top college, will do you no favors.
This is the first time that I can remember disagreeing with @skieurope.
If you want to get admitted to the very top schools (say, top 15 or 20), then @skieurope is probably correct. In this case you need very high grades in hard classes and great essays and great ECs.
However, the majority of the very best students are not going to get into an Ivy League or equivalent university. There are a LOT of very strong universities. A lack of ECs might hurt a little bit at many schools, but great grades will help at the hundreds of very good schools that are out there.
Also, we hear stories or see posts all the time from students who tried to do too much and couldn’t handle it. The US education system and related expectations put too much stress on our high school students.
My take on this: You need to do what feels right to you. Participate in ECs that you want to participate in. Take classes that make sense for you. Keep ahead in your classes and do as well as you can. Then find a university that works for you and that appreciates what you have accomplished.
If you don’t like tennis, then to me it makes sense to drop it.
@DadTwoGirls We’re basically saying the same thing. I specified top schools in my response (although I would extend the list past 20 and perhaps I should have been more vigorous in that emphasis). While I know the vast majority of colleges focus solely on objective stats, I assumed (and I know what happens when one assumes) that the OP is targeting at least one school that considers EC, since s/he asked the question. Of course, if these top schools are not on the OP’s radar, then no, it will not matter.