[_obsession]

i'm a sophomore and i was on the swim team last year, but decided not to do it anymore cuz it's not really my thing & it's better for me not to do it so i can keep my GPA up.

i mean i'm part of my church's choir, a filipino coalition which helps out in events in our town, and active in like 4 clubs at schoo, and part of the academic decathlon.

that's good enough right? i mean would it really make a difference if i was in a sport or not? do colleges like athletes better than students who aren't?

[kinesis]

Well, I'd say sport is like an extracurricular: it adds points to your application. However, you are correct. Your GPA is more important. Unless you can truly find the time to balance playing sports and keeping up your grades, I advise you not to do your sport unless you REALLY enjoy doing it. Plus, you already have so many extracurriculars. Honestly, it's fine if you don't do your sport.

If you are a GOOD athlete, then I suggest you stay in, because I know of some very good Varsity captains/athletes who have terrible GPAs, but have gotten into good schools because of their high status in their sport.

[rich.paekk]

I know for a fact that if you are extraordinary at playing squash or tennis, you have a pretty high chance at Harvard

[clairdeluned]

If you're an incredible athlete, yes. A girl sitting in front of me in Calc 2 years ago got into Stanford with 1100 on her SAT's and a mediocre GPA. But she swims incredibly well and is "Olympic material".

However, if you are not as dedicated to a sport (no awards or anything like that), colleges will probably view it as another extracurricular activity. Your GPA is more important than sports... you made the right decision

[flyaway]

i heard that some colleges tack on "points" if u do varsity for like, say 2 years

[_obsession]

thanks for all the help, guys.

swimming would be great for my body.but i'm not very good at it & i don't have the passion, you know?

[chibifry]

Well you could always practice
Honestly the one thing I regret is not having joined a team/sport during my freshman year. I didn't know about "recruited athletes" and stuff like that. I think being part of a sports team is a huge plus. If I were you, I would just stay or join a different sport.

[xosandy]

since you're already involved in a lot of social and academic clubs, it's better that you're also in sports because it makes you more well-rounded. the only drawback is that it'll consume a lot of your homework time but if you can handle it then i say stay in swim or join another sport that's more appealing to you.

[sphynkter]

unless you're pretty good at it i don't see the point unless you really like it. but most of the time if you're really good at a sport, you'll like it. focus on gpa and other clubs because a mediocre athlete isn't that impressive. colleges are usually looking for good atheletes that they know will join their team

[hannahch0ng]

Sports can be good, but I think colleges just like to see that you stick with something for four years, whether is be sports, music, or art. They just want to see some commitment from you, and what better way than sticking with something all throughout high school.

However, if you're GPA is dropping because of sports, then you should definitely quit. Besides, you sound like you have a lot of stuff going on already. I think it'll be fine if you quit swimming.