The process of getting into a decent college is a long and frustrating process as we all know. It requires time, dedication, and especially money to become a student in the top 5% of high school. One will need SAT practice and other preparations, but the most important and current exaggeration is extracurricular activities (In my case it's sports). I have begun wonder if the amount of money spent on lessons is really worth it, I get 2 tennis lessons ($30 dollars each) per week for the whole year totalling up to 3 grand a year. Tennis is nearly all I can do right now, Basketball and football in my low-income area which is literally for blacks. Soccer is dominated by people whom played the sport for all their life, I can't swim very well, golf is just not my type, and volleyball is for girls only. I have no choice but to learn the few available sports. So, I can not figure out how the academically gifted people will get into a decent college when the colleges wants them to be involved in sports, it's becoming a craze. My school has 3000 people, competition is endless. The amount of money and time I dedicated into tennis does not seem to help. The only people who can take advantage of those Ivy League universities are those from a low population, high income, and prestigious high schools.

I think college is way over rated and school push it too much- probably because they look better if their students get into a better college. Every class you take "will look better for colleges" you do a car wash for the school? "better for college".... You join ASB or some other hey look at me im good club, guess what? "it will look better for college".... I mean everything you do in high school is dictated by what it does for college, and it sucks that as a freshman in high school you have to look 5+ years ahead....

which is why I'm going into the military-they can care less what you've done in school



just my opinion

Here's some advice: Do not go to college if you have no idea what you want to do in life unless you have a full ride. If you want to be a doctor or an engineer or an architect, awesome. Follow your dream and achieve your goal. But if you have no clue what you want to do, don't go to a school and waste thousands of dollars and 4 years partying to end up 4 years older and with no experience and a degree in something like English of Psychology that means absolutely nothing. Unless you take something in college with a dedicated career path, like Engineering, etc, then college is a rip off. If you're totally undecided about what you want to do, learn a trade - at the very least you'll definitely be able to find a job when you're finished. I don't know about you but I don't know any out of work plumbers or electricians, but I know plenty of Comp Sci majors who can't find a job.

Forgive me if I am wrong as I am 30, and maybe the college application process has changed in the last 12 years. From what I understand, sports are not the only extra-curricular activity colleges look at. They look at activities like music, drama, student government, volunteer work, etc. It appears you do not like sports and would enjoy other activities more. If you do the activities you enjoy, you will not only find them more rewarding and form friendships with like minded people that will last the rest of your life, but you may excel at them. Excelling at an activity and winning awards looks good on your college application.

I went to a public school in an urban area with 3000 students that did not have many sports offerings. While some teams were selective, there were a few sports teams that would take anybody who wanted to play. Does your school have a team that will take anybody? There may be sports that are not part of your high school's sports program that you might nevertheless enjoy. These sports will also look good on your college application.