<p>My older daughter was a three season varsity athlete in high school with no interest in playing in college other than for fun. She plays intramurals and is allowed to pick and choose what, where, and how often she plays. It works out great for her. I think colleges know how time consuming sports teams are, and if you play the same sport for all four years and move up to varsity and possibly captain, it will only help you. The college will see committment and passion( there’s that word again) I suppose it also depends on the schools that you apply to ie my daughter’s college is a very " rah rah" sports school with a big emphasis on sports management. It 's very possible that they thought my daughter would fit in nicely- who knows. If you are not looking to get recruited, I am not sure if sports will help any more than being the editor of the yearbook or having a paper published through creative writing class that you are taking. Colleges want ECs that show passion, dedication, and commitment. Sports can definitely show that, but so can many other things.</p>
<p>Thanks twogirls for your insight. The rah rah school is exactly what she’s looking for. She wants a school where they play football or basketball on ESPN lol. Are there any club sports at your older D’s school and if yes, did she try out for those? Now I see why you went to NJ for the ACT…you really do need to fit the testing in at the most opportune times. I just checked out the fall schedule and playoffs start the night before the Nov. SAT <em>sigh</em>.</p>
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<p>I think they are a plus. They show determination, stick-to-it-iveness, sportsmanship, the ability to work hard at something. And every school wants walk-on players and club athletes as well as their stars.</p>
<p>I learned with S’12 that “club sports” doesn’t mean “not a big deal”. Most travel to play other colleges on weekends, practice 2-3 times a week, etc. Intramural sports are a lot more casual.</p>
<p>She was debating on trying out for club field hockey but decided that the time commitment was too much. This year as a freshman she played on several teams just for fun: soccer, basketball, volleyball and softball. She also played midnight broom ball ( ice hockey with sneakers on) and went to the gym every single day for a Zumba class- makes you wonder when she studied LOL! We took her to NJ for the ACT because she started tutoring around Thanksgiving and was ready in February, but we did have to think about her sports schedule as well and Feb seemed like the best time. She also took it in April and went up by 4 points the second time around. She did not study much from Feb until April- we had the tutor back 2x for a mini " tune up."
My 15er is a bird of a different feather. It’s amazing to me that they grew up in the same house. That stinks that playoffs start the night before the Nov SAT. I am sure that many will be in the same situation.</p>
<p>Practicing 2-3 times per week and traveling to other schools sounds like the perfect commitment for her. It sounds exactly like the travel teams she plays now. She may just have to pick which sport she wants to do, don’t see her doing both for much longer. Her grades are better when she’s in season b/c she knows she can’t fool around and she has to get down to business. I remember learning that when I got a part-time job in college…less time available and suddenly my grades skyrocketed haha!!!</p>
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<p>There’s definitely something to that!</p>
<p>My D is a two sport athlete as well (volleyball and lacrosse). She’d like to play in college, club or walk-on, but is not a likely athletic recruit and would never make a college decision based on sports.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, the kids who get recruited to play D1 or D2 that we know tend to choose schools that wouldn’t be a very good fit other than for the sports scholarship. Only a couple, who play for her very large LAX club, are going to any college that is popular on CC (Stanford and Brown).</p>
<p>I think sports participation is a huge plus. I tend to think it ranks higher than most other activities, probably for the reasons that OHMom has pointed out. I also think that having such a commitment and love for her sports is a blessing. It will shine through in her applications and the time put into it will be understood. </p>
<p>My middle daughter participated in 3 sports in high school and 2 in college. High school was manageable for her because the school literally scheduled the day around student athletes but I started to worry at how much time track took up in college. (D3 school) She served as co-captain of the outdoor track team her senior year and took that more seriously than her classes. She was working on her thesis and needed every shred of spare time. Instead she was always at one meet or another, often hours away from her college. She qualified for conferences and there went even more time. But for her, being involved in a team sport is an energizing, positive experience and it probably helped her to get her schoolwork done. It’s intense but for some kids it works. </p>
<p>Twogirls, I also can’t believe that my girls all grew up in the same house. Each one is so different from the others.</p>
<p>“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” --Lucille Ball</p>
<p>But yikes, figured out why we haven’t received my son’s final report card. Received a notice today that he hadn’t handed in one of his textbooks, one for which he immediately produced a signed receipt from his teacher. I think the problem might be that he handed the book in after classes had ended. Always something.</p>
<p>mihcal1,</p>
<p>I am interested in your opinion based on what you say about the SAT scores. My son took his first ever standardized test when he took the SAT with accommodation on June 1st. Setting the essay score (5) aside (he will be working on writing this year as a subject), he got 730 CR, 76 MC W, and 690 M. He is only now taking Alg II this summer. My idea was to just focus on the few math problems he missed and hope for a high 700s in math, but I confess I am a little nervous about not reviewing any CR or W before the PSAT. Since he was very close to the California cutoff, I feel like I <em>should</em> do something because National Merit could be his ticket to help pay for college if he was somehow, miraculously, to get the same corporate scholarship my oldest got.</p>
<p>Sound crazy? I haven’t done anything about SAT/PSAT prep, though. I have no clue if he was a “one hit wonder” with his scores or not…as we’ve done so little practice.</p>
<p>Michal - since he’s in range to make NMS, I think it’s worth doing a little prep for the PSAT. Maybe a practice SAT or two and the math review you mentioned. Also, you might sign him up for the SAT in October. It’s just a week or two before the PSAT so I think it gets him used to the setting. I’ve got my S signed up for Oct (partly for that reason), although we may have to switch to Nov because of a fall camping trip.</p>
<p>How much prep is necessary for the PSAT? I understand that it depends on the kid. Mine is studying SAT vocabulary and doing a practice section from the blue book once or twice a week. She is also doing tests from PR cracking the code PSAT- 2013 but from what I hear and observe this test may be way too easy compared to the real thing. I gave her a practice SAT from the blue book and she did well considering that she did not study and was not tutored at all, so now I am thinking that she should prep for the PSAT. She is basically going to study for the SAT because it covers the PSAT. Her composite for the PLAN was excellent so I am hoping we have similar luck, but I realize these are different tests.</p>
<p>I also wanted to add that my older one always managed her time and did better in school when she did sports. During those periods of time in between seasons she procrastinated big time and did not do as well. Thankfully there was not much time in between seasons!</p>
<p>For those of you with experience with both the PLAN and the PSAT, did your child do the same on both in terms of percentile rank, or did he/she do much better on one?</p>
<p>My D took both the PLAN and the PSAT soph year and she did significantly better on the PLAN. The difference was shocking. She is doing SAT prep this summer. Her practice scores are nowhere near the level her GPA and AP scores would suggest. Part of me wonders if she should just concentrate on ACT instead.</p>
<p>Just back from a 4 college tour! On our way back from a family visit in DC, we visited (and toured) University of Richmond, Duke, Elon and Furman. They are all beautiful campuses. shoboekid had mixed feelings about doing college visits, but since they were on the way, so it wasn’t a trip JUST to go see colleges, she was good with the plan. I think it was good for her to get to see a few to see the similarities and differences. There were thing she liked and didn’t like about each of them, and some of her preferences surprised her (and us)…time will tell!</p>
<p>Keep, After talking to several SAT and college consultants each of them told me that my son should do a diagnostic test of both the SAT and ACT to see what test fits him. We found that he is better suited for the SAT and has been in prep this summer and will only take the SAT. His plan is to take the PSAT in October and his first SAT test in December and the SAT again in May or June. Not sure any of the schools he is interested in requires SAT II’s but if they do I suppose they have to fit in the Spring as well.</p>
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<p>If it’s significantly better, why not? S’12 sent his ACT scores to all colleges and not his SATs because they were much better. I don’t think there is a college out there that prefers one over the other, and in some cases the ACT can replace SAT Subject tests as well.</p>
<p>shoboemom,</p>
<p>I would be interested in what you and your D thought about U Richmond and Furman. I’d love to hear more details.</p>
<p>PN, thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>shoboemom, I want to hear about Elon too!</p>
<p>D scored about equally well on PSAT vs. PLAN, maybe a slight edge to the PLAN. I’m debating about whether she should take the ACT in September - that will spread out the testing a bit. She won’t have a lot of prep for it though. She’s doing what I consider light prep for the PSAT/SAT this summer.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your insight. Her summer SAT prep will still count towards the PSAT and the reading comp and geometry review can only help for either test. If her practice test scores aren’t there at the end of the month she’ll switch gears to the ACT and she won’t take the SAT this fall. Also, I don’t want to obsess too much, she has so much summer work to do for her AP classes.</p>
<p>Shoboe I would like to hear about those schools as well- we are visiting Duke, Elon, Richmond, Wake Forest and Emory during the Feb break. Not sure if Duke is staying on the list.
This testing is stressing me out but I am trying to keep it hidden from my daughter. She has been doing vocabulary work and practice SAT from the blue book. When her summer job and drivers ed end she will take it up a notch. I have a tutor coming in Sept. I really have no clue what to expect from the PSAT other than she has the potential to do well.</p>