<p>Any opinions on the chances of admission to MIT for a male swimmer with AAA and AAAA sprint and middle distance free style times and the following academics?
5.1 GPA
2200 SAT (M780;CR710;W710)
Class Rank 5/340
AP National Scholar with Distinction (BC Calculus-5; World History-4; Chemistry 4)
SAT II Math II 780; Chemistry 760
Captain Swim Team
Key Club Officer; Lots of service hours with Habitat for Humanity ( two builds)</p>
<p>Like others on this string the coach has been encouraging. Just trying to get a realistic picture of admission chances. Thanks</p>
<p>If you read this string, then you know the realities of the MIT recruiting process. Please hear what we all said and donât get caught up in the âmy son is different - that wonât happen to my sonâ mentality. The question is âcan your son get into MIT without the athletic tip?â If the answer is ânoâ, then chances arenât very good. </p>
<p>Never count on MIT. If it happens, terrific - congratulations. If not, you were not surprised. </p>
<p>The FEW times you hear about athletic tips at MIT are not the norm. It just happened that a truly eligible MIT recruit was admitted. Do not take them as the norm but as aberations. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. Check out NESCAC and HYP. It is a more secure recruit admit.</p>
<p>Yeah, being good at athletics really doesnât help much. My son is a nationally ranked tennis player with similar stats to your son (actually he took 14 AP classes in high school) and he did not get in. He was put on the waitlist but ultimately, did not get accepted. Iâm sure he is an outstanding athlete and student. He is qualified for MIT and should apply for admission. As to whether or not he will be accepted, you just have to wait and see.</p>
<p>2011 Parent, I only looked up times from 1 meet but your son would need these times for swimming to give him a âboostâ, and place him in the top 3, or live MIT swimmers:</p>
<p>Iâm assuming your using the USA motivational times, and if he is 17 then he is in all these time ranges, if heâs only 15-16 then heâs in some of the ranges and close to the others.</p>
<p>I played basketball in the UAA and am now a grad student at MIT. I can tell you for a fact that the UAA coaches have much more pull in admissions than any of the coaches at MIT. Coaches in the UAA tend to at least have a couple of picks, meaning that they can get a kid in who would have essentially no chance getting admitted if not for that sport (this is usually a pretty small number, but still is significant, especially in sports like basketball where a few players can make a team). At MIT there is no such thing (same as Caltech). As people have said, the coaches at MIT can write a recommendation letter, but after that it is out of their hands. That is why a lot of coaches usually cast their nets rather wide, and hope they get a small percentage of those they recruit. The coaches arent trying to mislead anyone, it is just that you never know what the admissions office will do. Sometimes one kid will get in with seemingly the exact same numbers with which another did not, and there is no way of telling what differentiated each applicant. You should always have a backup plan when you apply to any top national institution, especially those like MIT or Caltech and dont take it personally. Further, dont give up on your dreams if you really want to attend a place like MIT. I was rejected from MIT for undergrad, but now I will be getting my PhD there. In fact, for me it turned out better because at a lot of top institutions, like MIT, they dont accept students from their undergrad program into their PhD program.</p>
<p>I think you need to look into other schools. Personally, I think the most important thing is not your chances to get in⊠but how to graduate from it.
I heard study in MIT is really, I mean, really difficult.</p>
<p>Some of my Dâs senior friend who got 2400 in SAT and INTEL finalist went to MIT. She canât sleep enough during weekdays and at least 2 or 3 days in the week, she needs to stay up all night. All she does is study. Do you think you can manage that with your sport? I donât think so.</p>
<p>Thatâs why we dropped conversation with MIT coaches.</p>
<p>There is NO comparison between MIT basketball and Caltech basketball. The Caltech basketball team is what you get what coaches have no pull. The MIT coaches clearly have some significant pullâalthough I donât doubt that it is less than coaches in the UAA or the NESCAC. Iâm not saying that you donât have to be a great candidate for most schools to get inâjust that you donât have to be typical MIT caliber. For example, my recollection is that Jimmy B had a 1430/1600 on the SAT.</p>
<p>Caltech is what you get when the coach has no pull and you havent won a conference game in 25 years so nobody wants to play there. It is a fact that the MIT coaches also have no pull, but they do have a couple of advantages: 1) class size, their classes are 4 times larger so more kids are admitted, and 2) they have had success, so if a kid is choosing between Caltech and MIT, most of them want to go to a place where they can win games. </p>
<p>With regards to Jimmy B, he deserved his spot at MIT just like anyone else who gets in. He wasnt a huge basketball recruit coming out of high school (he was a very big recruit for MIT, but its not like he was getting D1 offers). He was probably the 3rd best player on his team in high school (Andrew Brown played D1 and Kevin Snyder went to Williams). He didnt have any offers to play for any Ivy league schools, and therefore came to MIT and by working hard for 4 years made himself into the national player of the year in DIII. He was a double major in Physics and Business at MIT, while playing basketball, and was named the Student Athlete of the Year by ESPN Cosida with his 4.6/5 QPA. I think he was plenty smart to be at MIT.</p>
<p>I never said Jimmy B wasnât very smart or even that he wasnât outstanding by any ordinary standards. All Iâm saying is that the coach has significant pull and that a significant number of recruited athletes are admitted who would not have been admitted if they were not athletic recruits.</p>
<p>Hmm - This is interesting stuff. Looking at my own situation, I would be a top athletic recruit for MIT, and my grades and 2400 SAT help my case as well. I really like the school also and, frankly, would consider MIT right around the top of my academic choices. But I just canât see myself going to a school where 1) I canât make a legitimate commitment to my sport that I could at a D1 program (to the point where Iâd be looking at playing professionally) and 2) I donât have the admissions security offered through the Ivy/NLI process. What do you all think? Can I really overlook those factors when itâs pretty clear to me at this point that I will have the option of several Ivy League schools, which offer the academics Iâm looking for as well as the athletic/admission advantages?</p>
<p>Monstor- I think itâs pretty risky to turn down other top schools for the chance to compete for MIT. Weâve known several athletes who got into MIT and several others who appeared equally or better qualified (academically as well as athletically) who did not - I just donât think thereâs any guarantee there. If youâre good enough that an Ivy would give you a likely letter without requiring you to commit to coming there (e.g. giving you a chance to see whether or not youâre accepted to MIT), that might be a possibility, but thatâs pretty rare. Typically Ivy coaches want a commitment to attend before they offer a likely letter. </p>
<p>It would be hard for me to advise my S to turn down a sure bet (likely letter from Ivy or letter of intent from another DI school) to wait to hear from MIT.</p>
<p>It is hard to be in someone elseâs shoes in a decision like this. So from the outside looking in, I would say your assessment is pretty accurate overall, but Iâm going to make the following comments:</p>
<p>1) âI canât make a legitimate commitment to my sport that I could at a D1 program (to the point where Iâd be looking at playing professionally)â </p>
<p>I wouldnât factor the playing professionally into this decision. If you wanted to play professionally, I would suggest an SEC, PAC-10, ACC school as examples for baseball. Playing professionally is a whole other / different conversation. Your major will have more significance at MIT than most Ivys or other schools based upon what I know and Iâve read. Iâd also comment that MIT canât commit to you a roster position in your sport. That wouldnât sit well with me if I wanted to go to a top notch school and play a sport. I would go to the next school on the list, and follow my dreams and goals. Because if you donât follow your dreamsâŠyou have nightmares. If you can truly see yourself at MIT without a sport, I say go for it! It is a great school.</p>
<p>2) âI donât have the admissions security offered through the Ivy/NLI process. What do you all think? Can I really overlook those factors when itâs pretty clear to me at this point that I will have the option of several Ivy League schools, which offer the academics Iâm looking for as well as the athletic/admission advantages?â </p>
<p>I hear what you are saying - that IVy and D1 are going to be more secure than MIT or any D3. That statement is true based upon first hand knowledge. However, the Ivys can vary in their committment level with some offering Early Decision and others only doing Regular Decision. If you can commit to, and get a Likely Letter from your first choice Ivy that is what I would pursue. </p>
<p>There are several factors Iâm not aware of including financial aid, Ivy school, major, recruit/coach relationship, and tenure of your coach. If all of this is clear to you, and you absolutely have the passion for being a student / athlete, do what will make you happy. There are many people who wish they had your problem! Good luck and let us know how it turns out.</p>
<p>I guess it really just depends on how much risk youâre willing to tolerate. You might tell an Ivy or other DI coach that MIT is your first choice and youâd prefer to wait and get the results of your EA application there, before committing elsewhere. If youâre a highly desirable athlete, those other coaches might be willing to wait and try to get a likely letter for you, if you find that you werenât admitted to MIT. You could ask the other coaches if thatâs feasible and most of them will probably be honest with you. </p>
<p>Of course the risk youâre taking is that if youâre not at the very top of their list, you may find that theyâve replaced you with another athlete by the time you hear from MIT. They only have so many likely letters to offer and if someone else comes along who is generally comparable in skills, they may choose not to take the risk of waiting for you and potentially still having to fill a roster spot late in the game if you accept an offer at MIT. </p>
<p>Some of this is just an issue of timing - being willing to commit to a school when theyâre willing to make an offer to you. If you hesitate too long and another athlete didnât hesitate, you may lose that spot. So how big a gambler are you? :)</p>
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.</p>