What should I do?

I was cast in my school's spring drama production. Also, I wrote a play and performed a different play for my school's drama festival, which had to be written, performed, practiced, and directed within 24 hours of receiving the topic for the play. I did not participate in my school's athletic program in my freshman year, as I was focusing on my academics during the transition from a small Catholic middle school to a rigorous college preparatory school. I plan on playing three sports in my sophomore year (Cross Country/Wrestling, Swimming, or Basketball/Lacrosse). However, by playing sports in my sophomore year, I would not be able to participate in my school's fall or spring drama productions. I would still be able to participate in the annual drama festival, though. My options are the following (for the sports, assume that I have no experience in any of them and for the drama productions, assume the fall and spring productions are equal and that I will still be participating in the drama festival):

- Participate in the Fall and Spring Drama Productions, Play a Winter Sport (Wrestling, Swimming, or Basketball)

- Participate in the Fall Drama Production, Play a Winter Sport (Wrestling or Basketball) and a Spring Sport (Lacrosse)

- Participate in the Spring Drama Production, Play a Fall Sport (Cross Country) and a Winter Sport (Wrestling, Swimming, or Basketball)

- Do Not Participate in the Drama Productions, Play a Fall Sport (Cross Country), a Winter Sport (Wrestling, Swimming, or Basketball), and a Spring Sport (Lacrosse)

Assuming I do everything else right (academically, extracurricular activities, etc.), out of these four options, which one would look better for nomination and admission to the U.S. Naval Academy?

Also, for the Winter Sport, can someone please help me decide between Wrestling, Swimming, and Basketball? Which would the Academy rather see excellence in? The only one I've had experience on a team would be Basketball (but it was only for my Catholic middle school, and I wasn't very good).

rubio1996 said:

... which one would look better for nomination and admission to the U.S. Naval Academy?

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I think I speak for most here when I say: this should not be the determining factor in your choice. Do what you love to do - not what you think will look better to admissions. If you love to act - act. Athletics, while seemingly very important, are not an absolute requirement (Yes 90% are varsity athletes but that means 10% are not.)

All that said, Cross Country does not rely heavily on technique. OTOH, wrestling, swimming, basketball, and LAX certainly do.

Assuming I do everything else right (academically, extracurricular activities, etc.), out of these four options, which one would look better for nomination and admission to the U.S. Naval Academy?

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First, I agree with the above poster that you should participate in the activities that you most enjoy. If your heart is in drama, do drama.

The above said, SAs (all of them) consider sports to be important. If you don't enjoy sports, you probably won't enjoy USNA. You CAN do drama at USNA; you MUST participate in sports.

If you do enjoy sports, participate in the sport that most appeals to you -- whether it be swimming, lacrosse, cross country, etc. Try to find a balance between drama and sports -- how you do that is really up to you. There is no "right" way to do it.

Looking back, I'll probably play a Fall Sport (Cross Country) and a Winter Sport (Basketball or Wrestling). I'll participate in the Spring Drama Production and the School Drama Festival, as I did this year. Although Basketball is the only sport I have team experience in, the only problem is that I am not nearly as good as the varsity, or even some of the junior varsity, basketball players, and therefore, I would probably not be given any leadership roles, such as captain or co-captain. Wrestling is a much smaller team, so there would be a better chance for me to become captain/co-captain. Can someone please help me decide which one would be a better fit for me?

You're nuking this. Do what you want and have fun.

If you stick with drama there could also be leadership opportunities there, too. If you're doing 24 hour plays sounds like you're on the right track. Stuff like stage managing or leading a tech crew is a responsibility too. The Academy isn't (just) looking for cookie-cutter 3-sport team captain class president types, and I think they'd rather see excellence in something unusual over mediocrity in something that most other candidates excel in.

Also, rubio, there is no need to post the same question on four different threads. Perhaps you are overthinking more than just "sports or drama?".

As 1985 has candidly inkled at ... athletics are important. To confirm that, just open the Admissions page of the USNA website and read Dean of Admissions quote about the specific areas they see as important.

Straight from the Admissions horse's mouth.

Okay. So, I have narrowed it down to two options:

- Participate in the Fall and Spring Drama Productions, Play a Winter Sport (Wrestling)

- Participate in the Spring Drama Production, Play a Fall Sport (Cross Country) and a Winter Sport (Wrestling)

Between these two, can someone please help me make a decision?

Not me. This one's yours.

rubio1996 said:

Okay. So, I have narrowed it down to two options:

- Participate in the Fall and Spring Drama Productions, Play a Winter Sport (Wrestling)

- Participate in the Spring Drama Production, Play a Fall Sport (Cross Country) and a Winter Sport (Wrestling)

Between these two, can someone please help me make a decision?

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Several people have already suggested that you do something with a sport, and other than that to participate in whatever ECAs interest you. So why keep asking the same thing in multiple forums? I don't mean to be mean, but if you can't decide for yourself what ECAs to do in HS, why in the world would I want you to be in charge of any military unit bigger than just yourself? IOW, quit worrying about it and make whatever decision feels right for you.

This is like pulling teeth.

Do what you will enjoy. No one here knows you and can say "Oh, clearly you're a good fit for the wrestling team!"

Myself and most of my friends at Navy did not participate in sports/drama/community service/clubs because they would "look good," we did them because we enjoyed them and it just so happened that doing the things we loved happened to be positives in the eyes of service academies. I can tell you for sure that I had no "master plan" for team captainship or anything when I was picking out what sports I wanted to do, I picked out the ones I thought I would like. Because I was doing things I enjoyed, I was successful in them.


You're worrying about something YEARS in the future. For perspective, the class that my class is detailing right now (15) will detail you. I will be an O-2 (knock on wood) when you are a plebe.

Here's what you can do RIGHT NOW.

-Go outside. Talk to girls (or boys).
-Spend time with your friends.
-Enjoy your summer.