<p>I will be a senior in high school next year and I’m having trouble deciding if I should play golf next year or not. I have been on my school’s JV team since sophomore year, but next year I will be applying to colleges and I am in 5 AP classes. I don’t want my grades to slip, but I don’t want to be seen as a quitter either. I want to know if not playing golf will hinder my chances at being accepted in to college? Will they view it as a lack of commitment?</p>
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<p>If you’re quitting golf because you want more time to focus on your rigorous schedule, no, it won’t be held against you.</p>
<p>First of all, it’s not logical for a college to infer that the only reason you’re not playing gold any more is because you’re a quitter. You could have simply lost interest, there could have been an argument between you and a team captain, or a variety of other reasons.</p>
<p>Your reason for quitting—to focus on doing well in your classes—is completely logical and shows your commitment to academics over an extracurricular activity. No one can predict how college admission officers may read your file, but “lack of commitment” is likely NOT to be one of them.</p>
<p>I will add, however, that you at least see how your schedule with so many AP classes work out, as you may be overestimating the amount of work you’ll have to do. If it is indeed overwhelming, then you should stop.</p>
<p>Lack of commitment? Like absent said, I doubt they jump to that conclusion. It could be anything. In additon to the possibilities the PP listed, they could simply presume you were injured.</p>
<p>during senior year, grades are the most important thing</p>
<p>I know this may be an unpopular stance, but I would say don’t quit. Firstly, it sounds like you are just quitting due to classes and not because you are tired of the sport. If you love doing it I think you should continue. You shouldn’t give up something that you love for classes (that I assume) you are most likely taking to improve your chances in the college admissions game. If that is not the case, drop it and read no further. </p>
<p>If you love it and are worried about time, it really depends on how many AP’s you have taken before, what AP’s you are taking, and the teachers. Sure, at first 5 sounds horrible and sometimes it might get overwhelming, but sometimes it isn’t as bad as it sounds. For example, at many schools AP English requires very little commitment beyond a normal English class-- no problem there. Calculus AP might be a tad more demanding but if you played golf you might be able to do homework on the bus or in class. There are tons of ways to work it out. So consider if you are just psyching yourself out or if it really is too difficult. Also consider that golf is just one season and that off season is most likely much easier to handle.</p>
<p>But it is good that you are recognizing this now instead of later.</p>
<p>I still love golf. That’s what makes this decision difficult. I am not on varsity, but since I will be a senior I’m unable to play on JV. My coach tends to tell me last minute where and when I’ll be playing and I’m not sure if I will be able to handle the undertainty next year. One time he called me at 9 pm to tell me he needed me to play in a match at 11 am the next day. I would still play golf recreationally, but I’m just not sure about playing on a team especialy when I’m not a key component.</p>
<p>Well, maybe the uncertainty will work to your advantage. That might mean that you have even more free time than you are used to having while on the JV Team. You can use that extra time to help balance out school work and golf. Sure, last minute sucks but there are a great deal of things in life that are last minute and it might be a good learning experience.</p>
<p>^I know what you mean sparknerd. My golf coach once called me 10AM to tell me I was playing at 11AM (I missed the tourney because I was sleeping in, which sucked because it was at a really nice CC). </p>
<p>Here’s what happened with me: I made the team and didn’t play much (stressful and annoying). But, senior year golf was SO fun, if only because of just getting to play golf everyday and hanging out with friends after practice. And, in actuality, I had far less work a night during the golf season. This is because since I played a varsity sport I could get out of gym (required) and have a free period, which I used to get HW done. So, I had 0-30 minutes of HW a night during season and got straight As (generally, senior year classes get slightly easier and more laidback because of college admissions). Whereas out of season, I had .5-1.5 hours a night. See if you can cut a similar deal with your school to get out of gym. </p>
<p>If you really love golf, go out for the team. Worse case scenario is, if you are really busy, you use golf as an excuse to get out of homework (it works, based on my experiences). School comes first, but you can always say that coach made you play until 9PM or something and ask for an extension.</p>