My friend says: I played a lot of sports in high school but didn't 'make it' per se/

[B45]

My friend says: I played a lot of sports in high school but didn't 'make it' per se/so to speak.

Are both okay?

 

[Rover_KE]

You need a comma after 'make it'.

Only 'so to speak' makes sense there.

 

[BobK]

This shows how risky (sometimes misleading) it is to use Latinate abbreviations and phrases like per se. (Few people know or bother with the difference between e.g. and i.e..)

b

 

[Raymott]

"As such" might work, since that's what per se means, but I'd want something more strongly calling for 'as such' before I'd use it. It's not exactly clear what you didn't make as such, or per se. You made a keen high school sports player.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Neither of the endings are clear for me. I would end it with "didn't make it to the next level".