Decision

[Crazy Asian]

I am going to be a Junior next year, which i've heard is the most important year in highschool.

i have a tough decision to make. I want to get good grades this year, but i also want to be on swim team. The problem is that swim team is going to take up a lot of my time. i don't know if i should drop swim team or not. it is something that i love doing.

my question is, have any of you regreted that u play sports or other things, and got bad grades? have you ever wished you could go back and concentrate on school more and less on the things that don't effect your future life?

thx.

 

[ViciousDADogg]

Opposite. I wish to go back and concentrate on things I like instead of grade. Actually I was concentrating on nothing and got bad grades. I like really struggled through highschool.

In the end?

What you learn in there, inside class rooms, doesn't really matter. As long as you can make those SATs and go to college. If you don't make SATs, you go to two year college and still make it, if you have money.

Most important thing IMO is to do what you like. SWIM team sounds useless, unless you getting something more out of it than swimming. Learning to interact, etc...


Frankly I don't know why you'd be getting bad grades. I've done nothing in highschool, not a single home work, still made it pretty good. Go for the swim team and keep the grades up. Enough to pass.

 

[Crazy Asian]

well swim team for me is to push myself to my limits, get in shape, and for competing.

the thing is, i got like a 3.4 gpa last year and my parents got soooo fvcking mad. and don't i need good grades to get into a good college?
u say that it's not important?

 

[StoneColdFox]

Highschool transcripts are important, but not as important as ACTs or SATs.

You have to be able to maintain both. I know guys who did track, crosscountry, football, band, carried a job and still had a high GPA and graduated in the top percentage of our class.

It's all about maintaining things.

What was mentioned earlier is true, social interaction, and learning life lessons is more important than book learning.

But to make your parents, teachers and prospective colleges happy you need to maintain good grades.

Go for swim team, just keep that GPA up.

 

[benjiprice]

If the decision is indeed as binary as you say, I'd go for the grades. If a 3.4 is bad for you, you have an excellent chance to get into a top school and that can completely determine your life. Sure you do fine in life without getting into a top school, but it just makes it so much easier. Just having that name on your resume and the contacts you'll develop is unbelievably valuable.
Once you're at that school you can piss around all you want, have the time of your life and still get a kick-ass job.

I understand you passion for swimming but if you really can't do both, go for academics.

 

[girl_in_a_boy_forum]

SATs are generally a bigger deal than your GPA. I'd recommend taking the SAT twice (three times if you can stomach it).

And you can definitely get into college with a 3.4.

As for the swim team...my junior and senior year of high school, I was horseback riding and teaching physical therapy lessons to kids with Downs and autism almost every day of the week. I graduated with a 3.3. The extra curricular stuff can weigh down your GPA, but those extra curricular activities look really good on your college application.

 

[Serialized3]

I am going to be a Junior next year, which i've heard is the most important year in highschool.

i have a tough decision to make. I want to get good grades this year, but i also want to be on swim team. The problem is that swim team is going to take up a lot of my time. i don't know if i should drop swim team or not. it is something that i love doing.

my question is, have any of you regreted that u play sports or other things, and got bad grades? have you ever wished you could go back and concentrate on school more and less on the things that don't effect your future life?

thx.

That's odd. I was on a state-championship level swim team in high school, and outside of a couple hours practice after school on weekdays for a few months in the spring, and the occasional weekend tournament, it never ate up much of my time. If you love it, it shouldn't even be a question you have to ask here.

Besides, getting good grades in high school isn't exactly hard.

Edit: To answer the second part of your question, I was actually glad that I did sports in highschool. Not only does it give you exercise and a chance to excel at something, but it also gives you access to another tier of the high school social circles. The most popular kids at many high schools are the athletes.

 

[Crazy Asian]

yeah i think i'm going to swim after all...

serial, what did u swim in highschool?

i swim the 100 breaststroke
my last time was 1:08, but that was 3 months ago and i'm sure i'm faster now

 

[BossMan]

i would swim...high school sports never took up much of my time...i was a hardcore baseball player and ended high school with real good grades playing all four years...but maybe it was cuz i had played baseball my whole life.

but what did happen was i played in college, and, keep in mind, i play in a band and write the music which takes time too, but in college my grades were like a 2.5, and i blame baseball. so this semester im not playing baseball for the first time in my life.

for you, i'd say, hell ya, swim. you can do it in high school. but i wouldnt do it in college unless youre crazy dedicated.

 

[Serialized3]

yeah i think i'm going to swim after all...

serial, what did u swim in highschool?

i swim the 100 breaststroke
my last time was 1:08, but that was 3 months ago and i'm sure i'm faster now

500 free
200 free
100 breast
100 fly occasionally
100 free occasionally
Usually breast/free in IMs

 

[Lust]

Don't drop it.

See it as an opportunity to learn an important life skill that will affect your adulthood.

Time management.

Working your ass off, constantly. Being in demand and able to do well in both areas of your life.

 

[PhatE1vis]

Definitely keep up with sports. Colleges not only look at grades and SATs, but your extra curriculars, too. It will only help.

I was a swimmer too - helped me get a scholarship to a very decent college (50y Free, 20.78).

 

[Crazy Asian]

phat
20.78???
DDDAAAMMMMMMMM
i go a 24.71

 

[PhatE1vis]

Yeah, but that was at the end of college at age 22 after swimming 4 hours a day. Plus I'm purely a sprinter. After a 100 yards I'm toast.

Bigger point is, you'll get a lot of personal satisfaction from pursuing something tough, regardless of what it is. And there are fringe benefits to that personal satisfaction, especially with hs sports (like a better body, social contacts, interest from college recruiters, etc.)

Go for it!