<p>elileo, with an an assist from ByThePitch, has completely nailed it. </p>
<p>Situation also varies by sport (the helmet sports being most forgiving), number of athletes on a team (big teams, greater latitiiude, tiny teams, little latitude) and by school (Yale the most stingent). </p>
<p>if there is any rule here, elileo has stated it - “The better you are as an athlete, the more adjustable the academics, within certain boundaries”.</p>
<p>The challenge to manage for athletes and parents is where to invest the incremental effort of time and resources. It is a tough balancing act for many. For very good athletes, effort is often best spent on getting as good as they can at the sport. </p>
<p>Anecdotally, I saw a Harvard-Princeton hockey game the other night and sat right behind the Princeton bench. I can assure you that many of these boys were not rocket scientists.</p>