Is it absolutely necessary...?

Question

to do a sport in high school to get into college. I have a 4.2 GPA, am a sophomore, and have taken an AP class (took one last year, am taking one this year, and taking a whole bunch my junior and senior years). I am involved in one club right now, plan on joining the debate team and other clubs, and plan on volunteering soon. I would like to attend UVA or another top (preferably Southern) college/university. I've been told to get more involved in extracurriculars, but I CANNOT do sports. I am not the athletic type, haven't done anything of the sort since elementary school, and have a very limited knowledge of rules and such. Do you think I'm on the right track? Do I really need to join a sports team?

Answer 1

No, you don't. If you finish your highschool career with a 4.2 GPA, and a pretty good SAT score, you'll be able to get into plenty of good schools. But, if you're going for something of the Ivy League caliber, join a couple more clubs. UVA is the top business school, so if you want to go there for business, a couple extra clubs and a good SAT score and you'll make it.

Answer 2

Plenty of people apply without many extra curriculars, but ECs are one part of an application which can make it or break it. You're a sophomore now, so you have plenty of time to join other clubs to boost your extra curricular activities resume. If you're not involved in sports, it's important to participate in other ECs such as student government, debate, community service, clubs, drama, music, etc. Sports are a very good EC, especially if you get a leadership position like captain, which is perhaps the strongest EC there is, but they are not absolutely vital. They are an asset to those who are good at them, but so is winning a math competition or being elected to class president.  

Your GPA is excellent, your class rank is excellent (h**l I was 4th in a class of 100 and still got into Harvard), and taking many AP and Honors classes (especially if you take the tests) also will show well on your application, especially if you've take them as early as sophomore and freshman year. With good standardized test scores you stand a very good shot at any top school.

I would warn you that saying you can't do something is a dangerous road to go down. If you think you can't do any sports, then perhaps that's in fact the one extracurricular that you would actually gain the most personal growth and experience from, and may even give you material for your college entrance essay (plenty of people write about their greatest achievements in school, especially in something which can be as emotional as sports). I've known plenty of people during my time on the cross country team in high school who were absolutely sure they were terrible at sports. And for a while they were right, but those who stuck with it, even if they didn't get better, matured immensely, and learned that you don't always have to be good at something to enjoy it.

I wish you the best of luck in your college search. Good hunting.

Answer 3

No, it's not absolutely necessary. I know people who got into schools like Yale and MIT without having participated in sports.

There might be reasons, other than getting into colleges in the future for, for participating in some sporting activities. You might enjoy yourself, improve your health, find an activity you can enjoy for many years to come, and/or make some new friends. And you wouldn't have a limited knowledge of rules if you participated.

Just so you know, not everyone would consider UVA a top college. In fact, I think more than a few people would tell you there are NO top schools in the South.