Former Head Coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes’ football team, Urban Meyer’s recruiting process is simple; “Recruit athletes, not football players.” Studies have shown that students who are actively involved in high school are more likely to attain scholarships in sports. These days, doing extracurricular activities is almost a must for any athlete who wants to be college bound. Colleges do not necessarily look at which activities a student chooses, but how interested and involved the student is.

According to the article “Importance of Extra Curricular Activities For Collegebound Athletes,” “It doesn’t matter what a student chooses as his or her volunteer work or extracurricular activities, rather colleges look for how dedicated a student is to their chosen service or club.” Athletes need to be involved in things other than sports to give colleges an idea of what type of person they are. If they participate in a lot of volunteer work, most colleges will infer that the student is a good person and deserves to be looked into. 

Generally colleges are going to look at what the student has been involved in, as well as what they did while being involved in that activity. The article also states, “Universities prefer students be constantly involved in one or two issues that they really care about rather than be ‘somewhat involved’ in many issues.” I strongly agree with these particular points because it is not all about signing up for as many extracurriculars as possible, it is about the role the student plays in these activities. To be an above average athlete, the student does not only need to perform well in the sport, they need to get out in the world by doing extracurriculars that are interesting to them.

Harvard University wants their students to be involved in things that are important to them and that they have passion for. Any type of volunteer work is acceptable, but it should be an interest to the student, not just hours on a document. If an athlete wants to be considered by a college, they need to show their personality through the activities they choose to get involved in. An athlete can get involved in a variety of activities including other sports, after school clubs, arts, and competitive academic teams. Most high schools have many programs for students to participate in. 

Overall, the more clubs or teams a student-athlete is a part of, the more friends and memories they are going to make. At the same time, the student-athlete is also putting themselves in a superior position when starting to look at colleges. If the student-athlete is an active high school student that does well in a sport, colleges will see that they are an outgoing person. In most cases, being a highly involved student will boost the chance of getting into a college of their liking. Athletes who do other sports are also more likely to be successful in sports beyond high school and have a lower chance of injuries.