<p>DD1 - did no school sports but did do one year YMCA swim team, and one year TaeKwonDo. She also was accepted into a special Fine Arts school on top of her regular high school. Choosing that route meant no AP classes. She applied to 4 colleges and got into all four.
DD2 - did Cross Country, Indoor/Outdoor Track 9th and 10th grade. now in 11th she is finishing up Cross Country and has a full load of APs. As of today she has dropped Track to complete a required speech course and she wants more time and energy to spend on starting a Film club and make some films to prepare for her college apps next year (film major). </p>
<p>this year is very tough!! there isn’t enough time in a day for her to do everything. just last night I checked on her at 11pm and she had fallen asleep while reading. so we took a brisk walk around the block so she could finish.
advice is to choose something that the student loves and stick with it and use time management. know priorities and it also all depends on intended major and college choices.</p>
<p>One of my kids moved to an individual sport (fencing) in 10th grade that was year around, but had few requirements. If there was a big test or something, she was able to skip practice with no impact on anyone except herself. She fenced at the club level for three years, generally twice a week. It was a much smaller commitment than a team sport, and allowed her to do other things she liked (Quiz Bowl, 4H) while taking advanced classes. So one thing to consider is that your son can still play sports, but does not necessarily have to stick with a school team. You are right that there are only so many hours in a day…</p>
<p>If you are asking what colleges think – I think they do want to see kids undertake a couple of ECs and commit to them throughout high school if possible. All academics and no ECs is not a strong application for top or even second tier schools. The key thing is to make sure he is doing things he enjoys, though, and not neglecting his academics due to EC activities.</p>
<p>Sometimes they just want to do it all and we just have to help things run smoothly so they can do it. S2 found he wanted to sing in the chamber choir even thought he was in the band, orchestra, jazz band and played 2 sports. I got him to school for the 6:45 am rehearsals. He is not a ‘singer’, he just found he really liked singing with a small group of singers at a high level. So I think if your S wants to continue orchestra, don’t discourage him. You never know, he may end up in choir also!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your valuable suggestions/advice. Appreciate it!</p>