I’m a recruitable D1 caliber runner, and im looking to study outside of the US.
It seems that most schools in the UK would not be willing to lower their admission standards for me at all.
My act is a 26–im going to try to improve this quite a bit.
My gpa is 3.5
Also I have very good (extremely good) volunteer work that i’ve done.
Are there foreign elite schools that will take this into account?
Or better yet are there non US schools that recruit for athletics.
The kicker is that I am not willing to learn a new language so the school need to be taught in english.
any1?
I’m not aware of any other country with sports programs run by universities at the same level of emphasis as in the US.
For example some UK universities including Oxford and Cambridge have track teams but they’re more like club teams in US terms, and the bi-annual Harvard/Yale vs. Oxford/Cambridge meet is usually won handily by the H/Y team.
You might want to check out Canadian schools - many have interncollegiate sports but I’m not sure of the extent to which they have recruiting, athletic scholarships etc.
As @bluewater2015 says, no. The sports emphasis is particular to US schools.
If you were an olympic-level rower, Oxbridge would look carefully at your application- but they would not automatically offer you a place. You would still have to meet the stated academic requirements and acquit yourself well in the interview.
Depending on your AP / SATII scores, though, there are UK unis that will admit you - just not the elite ones.
Scottish schools do care about extra-curricular activities including sports, far more so than English schools but still less than America. Athletics won’t guarantee admissions but they could lower your offer and it could help offset slightly worse grades. In your personal statement they’d definitely want to hear about your sports, but do more to link it to your academics, i.e. the transferrable skills you’ve gained such as commitment, teamwork, responsibility etc.