Club Sport in College Worth It?

I'm a freshman at college and I've recently joined a club sport for the hell of it. It's a sport that I've always found pretty cool but have never played. The time commitment is a lot more than I'd expected and it often requires giving up my whole saturday and hours of my evening almost every weekday as well. I've heard that varsity sports can help a lot with recruiting but do club sports have the same merit? My particular school's club team for this sport is also pretty good amongst all the others. The problem is I've already found it taking away from studying and social time early on so I don't know if it fits my lifestyle, especially with finance clubs starting up soon. Any advice?

9 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Note: I will give you a biased answer (see my username).

I played in college (and after college when work allowed) and would recommend it but caution that you will have to be extra disciplined to stay on top of grades/recruiting while playing. I actually found it easier to be disciplined with my schoolwork when rugby was going on (as I knew that I *had* to study all day on Sundays and non-practice nights after giving Saturday and 2-3 weeknights/week up to rugby) but it really does take up a lot of time/energy so consider how much capacity you will have for school. It is a great sport, and if you enjoy it and stick with it, then you will make life-long friends and have a ton of fun doing it in college (including what is generally a fun social side across most schools) and potentially after.

Impact on recruiting (IMO): Most varsity sports > rugby > most club sports. You are more likely to bond with an interviewer over rugby than club soccer/lacrosse but it does not garner the same respect with most people that most varsity sports will. FWIW, my first boss played rugby in college and we talked about it for most of our first interview but that is obviously a lucky case.

 

Beatae incidunt aut quasi quaerat est quos autem. Dolor cum repudiandae rerum facilis voluptate qui modi at. Consequatur quas quaerat quaerat qui consequuntur explicabo. Illo asperiores ad sit ut cum. Ad eveniet provident labore quia reiciendis qui. Ducimus qui dolorum quo.

Facilis soluta quis eveniet. Aperiam non inventore exercitationem rerum ducimus iste. Debitis itaque nihil facilis quaerat ea repudiandae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”