<p>Your s/d is a RECUITED athlete. They are not one of the 26,000 other applicants all of whom are trying to distinguish themselves in a few hundred words. In those informational visits to the schools where the admissions officer is giving advice, are the visitors all (or mostly) recruited athletes; or is the advice about essay content being given generally to everyone present (i.e., to the other 26,000)? Do the books about essays (which are sold by the tens of thousands to people looking to be unique) contain special sections devoted to recruited athletes; or are those books written for the other 26,000?</p>
<p>You s/d is not all things to all people. He/she did not spread themselves out to umpteen clubs; dozens of ec’s; special resume builders abroad. He/She devoted themselves to a sport (yes, they have other activities and they are great students, etc). They are well rounded (actually probably a little oblong); they are well read; they are good students. But, to try to manufacture life experiences while cutting out 20 – 40 hrs a week is simply going to your “B” game.</p>
<p>Now, the content of the essay can be shallow; or it can be deep. It can use the sport as a metaphor to life; or it can be trite; it can be well written or not. That is up to the author. But, your s/d is not one of the 26,000. He/she is one with the hook; the school is not looking to reject him/her (like the 26,000); the school is looking to accept him/her.</p>
<p>Let me frame it this way. Of the 26,000 other applicants, assume the overwhelming majority listened to the well-intended admissions advice; bought the books (making the authors a bit of change); hired private college counselors; wrote essays that ran the gamut of whatever a few hundred words can cover. How’d it work? Not very good since 23,000+ didn’t get in! (If you take away those that did not have grades or scores you are left with, what, 15,000 “qualified applicants;” meaning that 12,000 didn’t get in. And, I am sure that there were some beautiful essays in the rejected group.)</p>
<p>Of the RECRUITED athletes who had the grades and scores and whose essay was well written and in some way touched their sport (whether by metaphor or in some real way) how many failed to get in? Does anyone have any actual evidence of a trend to rejection? (Actually, the coach is probably the best source since he/she has a vested interest in getting the athlete in.)</p>
<p>If your s/d wants to write about something else, fine. But, after really thinking about it, he/she wants to use sports as his/her springboard, go at it!</p>
<p>(BTW, I have heard that the “well-rounded” student is not the target of a college; rather colleges want someone who has pursued a passion to their very core; who has brought their soul into play; someone who has committed to something. An inch wide and a mile deep is better than a mile wide and an inch deep. Colleges want a diverse class, which when looked at from a distance is “well-rounded,” but whose individual components are more oblong and jagged – like the pieces of a puzzle.)</p>