Was wondering if the coaches have any influence with the admissions committee when they want an athlete to join the team? I know the final decision is up to admissions but are athletes held to the same standard as a regular non athlete?
The candidate still needs to be a fit for MIT.
In case the candidate (athlete) decides to not play or incurs an injury, do the adcoms believe that he or she will still be a good match for MIT?
In a way athletes are held to a higher standard because they must not only be able to handle the rigorous MIT coursework like everyone else, they have to do it while dedicating 20-30 hours a week on their sport.
Check out some of the College Admissions>Athletic Recruits threads. There are some references to MIT and their recruiting process that might help.
Thank you for the reply. I was unable to find any reference to MIT when i looked in those threads.
@investment61
Here are two valuable discussions wrt MIT and athletic recruiting.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1473244-cruel-process.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1497562-mit-athletes.html
My son is a freshman and an athlete. We were told from day one that the coaches have no say so about admissions. Everyone goes through the same application process. There are no slots like they have at the Ivy League schools.
My son was an athlete all four years at MIT. When first being recruited his coach told him that although MIT Admissions holds all the power, recruits like him would be placed on a list that was sent to admissions. He was admitted along with a lot of the fellow recruits he met on the overnight visit he was invited to. In subsequent years he noticed that about 50% of the recruits that were said to be on the list were indeed admitted. This shows, that for his sport in particular, getting on the coaches list helps tremendously in getting admitted. YMMV.
I am also a potential track recruit that’s heavily considering MIT. How does being a “recruited” XC/Track athlete affect admission odds given I’ve shown a strong STEM background?
@Rojobot - The person best able to answer that question is the coach, of course. You may not get a straight forward answer to your question, but you can give it a shot by asking it in a direct manner. Just ask how admissions works with athletic “recruits” and find out if you will be on the list sent to admissions. Then ask what percentage of the XC/Track recruits were actually offered admission last year. Good luck to you.
The admissions office tends to use the tragic accident test. If the applicant suffered a tragic accident in the summer before he/she was to start at MIT and would never play their sport again, would MIT still be the right university for that applicant?
If the answer to that question is yes, then the letter from the coach to the admissions office can be very helpful in the admissions decision. If the answer to that question is no, then there is nothing that any coach can do.
Keep in mind that the dean of admissions was once an MIT varsity coach. Stu Schmill really understands the process from both sides.
Yeah I emailed the coach recently, and he said that he can support applications, but MIT recruits are generally as or more qualified as non-recruited accepted applicants.
Anyone with more info on the coach’s influence on admissions? Or any past threads with info on this topic?