Athlete Recruitment

<p>I'm an athlete recruited by UChicago. Do you think it will increse my chances of selection?</p>

<p>I'm on an U of C varsity team and I know that prior to this year it helped immensely...it even helped (in some cases) get merit based scholarships although not officially for their sport so there was no conflict with NCAA Division III rules and regulations. However, this year my coaches have been saying that the admissions office is not as welcoming towards their choices as they have been in years past... I don't know if this is just because my team has had a large number of people recruited who quit (the team and in some cases even the school) or simply because they're cutting down on recruitment. On a personal note...what sport?</p>

<p>Wow, I had no idea U of C recruited athletes</p>

<p>It helps a little bit with the application, but it won't get a C-student in. A's, B's and at least an above avergae courseload because UC doesn't believe in recruiting people only for the athletic experience.</p>

<p>So it'll help if you're a strong student. If you're only average then I can't say much except not to pin all your hopes on it. Good luck!</p>

<p>busterthebunny </p>

<p>I've been recruited on the swim & dive team. Yeah, it's pretty frustrating when recruited athletes quit because in my opinion, nothing beats the pride of playing for one's university.</p>

<p>Miss Silvestris </p>

<p>True, and thats why UChicago is one of the best schools in the world. I'm a straight A student by the way, with the toughest courseload my school could provide.</p>

<p>Then you probably have a good chance.</p>

<p>I applied Reg. Decision to UChicago...Through football with full support (coaches virtually guaranteeing admissions). 3.6 UW GPA and 30 ACT.</p>

<p>Will I be able to get "merit" aid through this, or is it only for athletes that would legitimately qualify for it? Thanks.</p>

<p>Merit aid goes to students who would legitimately qualify for it/ goes to students with particularly interesting circumstances and academic/extracurricular interests. None of the merit aid winners I know are athletes.</p>

<p>I think Chicago "recruits" insofar as the admissions and the athletics office chat with each other. All of the varsity athletes I know here are students first and athletes second. The "dumb jock" stereotype doesn't hold, as those "jocks" have a higher average GPA than the rest of us.</p>

<p>^^^jeez this is just my opinion (coming from someone who is not athletic) but that kinda irritates me if someone can get merit scholarships with 3.6 and 30 and no hook</p>

<p>the "hook" is their athletic involvement</p>

<p>I don't think athletic recruitment alone can win you a scholarship. But if the rest of your application and stats are as good, you might get one.</p>

<p>zebra,</p>

<p>All colleges recruit athletes to some degree. If the sport has a coach, the coach is out trying to find athletes. The only question is what inducements they offer. Div I offers money, except for Ivies, service academies, and a few others. In Div III and the Ivies, admission preference is offered,, again to a varying degree.</p>

<p>Some schools, like Williams/Amherst/Middlebury recruit pretty heavily, so much that it has become controversial at their schools. The Ivies have a very formal method of policing themselves to ensure that recruited athletes do not deviate too much from the rest of the class (search for Academic Index).</p>

<p>In U of C's conference, the UAA, there seems to be a "thumb on the admissions scale," but not at all as strong a preference as at other schools. I would be surprised if it helped much on merit aid, unless you were a national class star.</p>

<p>If the athletic preference seems unfair, consider whether it seems unfair to show preference for an outstanding musician, or actor, or debater, or any other unique talent. These people add richly to the fabric of the school. I believe the school has good reason to recruit, but I am prejudiced.</p>

<p>i was recruited an got in EA. though i had a 2310 strong grades and ec's so i may have gotten in without it, but im sure it helped</p>

<p>It definitely helps and the dumb jock stereotype overall may not hold true but there are a few people on my team who barely maintain the minimum required GPA necessary for competition (a 2.0) and they received about 30,000 dollars a year in merit-based aid. I don't know how it was justified because officially no division three school is allowed to offer money for athletics but most schools find a way to avoid this (i.e. they call it something vague, like the University scholar award).</p>

<p>I don't know what a dumb jock is, but I'm assuming he looks like one of these:</p>

<p><a href="http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0607/gallery.nfceast/images/EAGLES-MINI-CAMP-FOOTBALL.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0607/gallery.nfceast/images/EAGLES-MINI-CAMP-FOOTBALL.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>OR</p>

<p><a href="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/d00ltaz/dumb07.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/d00ltaz/dumb07.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>UChicago emphasizes that it wants athletes who are good at studies first. Unlike some schools, they don't recruit a person if they don't see him making most of the college as a student once he's there.</p>

<p>One, I don't think the illustrations of "dumb jock" were necessary...</p>

<p>Two, didn't you just answer your own question?</p>

<p>Regardless, it's been my experience that every year my team recruits upwards of 60-70 people. Obviously not all these people come here (and some of the ones that do quit the team), not all of them get in, and not all of them are great students. At least in my sport, the coaches rank the applicants in the order they value them and I think they tend to rank the people with the lower gpas higher because they figure the other ones won't need as much help getting in. The top recruits are almost always admitted early action seeing as how they're recruited the summer before the school year. But this year my coaches have repeatedly said that the admissions office was not as receptive to their recruiting requests as they have been in the past years.</p>

<p>Nah, it's one thing to know UChicago's attitude towards recruited athletes and another to have a current UChicago athlete tell you about it.</p>

<p>As for the pic, you didn't have to see it if you didn't need to.</p>

<p>By current UChicago athlete, do you mean yourself?</p>

<p>Nope... an athlete currently attending UChicago.</p>