Varsity Sports as EC

happy1
Thu, 31 May 2018 19:00:30 +0000

A few comments:

–Different admissions/colleges officers may view the same set of facts differently. There is no one answer that will cover every single situation, every single college etc.

–Your child should do what he/she enjoys in HS. If that is sports, then great. I don’t think anyone should do ECs solely for the sake trying to make the college resume look good. He/she will find the schools that appreciate him/her for the person he/she is.

–That said if your child does want to expand his/her horizons he/she can seek out a different of activity with a minimal time commitment (ex. volunteering at a soup kitchen one night/month) or look for something non-sports oriented to do over the summer.

–I do agree that in terms of admissions sports for a non-recruited athlete count as a solid EC – nothing more and nothing less. I do think that admissions officers are familiar with the time commitment needed for varsity sports. Additionally, if I remember correctly the applicant does put the number of hours devoted to each activity on the application so the time commitment to the sport will be noted.

–In terms of having fewer activities with larger time commitments is viewed – the general rule is that depth in a few activities is preferable to having a lot of activities with minimal involvement.

–And no matter what your child’s abilities in the sport may be if he/she is not a recruited athlete (regardless of if it is due to personal choice, not being at a high enough level, or any other reason) then he/she will not get the benefit (often called a “hook”) that comes with being recruited athlete. A “hook” is when a particular applicant fills an institutional need of the school. In the case of recruited athletes that means filling a position of need on a particular sport’s team. No matter how great your child may be at his/her sport if he/she does not want to play on the college team then he/she will not be filling that need for a player at that sport/position so there is no “hook”.