I've been on my school's debate team since freshman year (I'm a junior now), and I'm nationally ranked. However, I kind of got roped into debate without understanding some of the pettiness and lack of substance it involves. Instead of making a truly strong, valid argument, people just want to find a loophole so they can win. This kind of grosses me out, and I really don't want to continue doing it. The problem is that I want to go to Brown, and I'm not sure if I would be shooting myself in the foot to give up something that would look so impressive on my application. Should I stick it out for the rest of high school? Or should I just go with my gut and quit so I can move onto things I actually enjoy?
If you're not absolutely depending on any college scholarships related to debate, you should quit. There is no reason to do something that you hate this much just to get into a certain college. If your grades and test scores are high, you'll still have a really strong chance of acceptance at Brown.
You can even write a college essay on what you learned about yourself through your experiences with debate. Walking away from something like this shows that you are willing to deviate from the expectations of others and be your own person!