Sports OR Work?

Question

My parents want me to be on my high school's crew team, but I would rather keep my job and work this spring. Crew is six days a week, so I can't do both. I enjoy my job, and obviously I make money while doing it, which I can't do with crew. I can't seem to change my parents mind. What should I do? I really want to keep my job, but they said that I need to continue with crew or it will look very bad on my college application that I did it my first two years but not in my junior year. Would a college understand if I told them that I worked 4-5 days a week in order to get money for college? It's not like I'm not doing anythying at all.

Answer 1

Colleges are just as interested in the fact that you worked to save money for tuition as they are interested in your actual school activities. They're really taking a look at the whole picture of how you spend your time, rather than just what you can find at school to do.

If your parents are concerned still, try this. Go to your high school guidance counselor and ask him/her about the issue. Ask if it's more important to have a lot of school activities, or if it's acceptable to show that you've had work history and other occupations. And go with their advice. If they recommend sports, perhaps you can look at another sport this year that takes less time committment. You can always say for your college application that you switched from crew to Sport X because you wanted to still be in sports, but also needed to find a way to set aside tuition savings. That kind of thinking ahead and managing your time can be very valuable to your college application.