Does anyone have the experience on this? My son is a basketball player and really wants to make their Men Basketball Team. Since MIT is in D III their recruit process is different from the other two like D1 and 2. I just want to learn how they weight the basketball and the academic during their recruit. In other words how much important is the school transcript?
Your answer will be very helpful to us. Thanks
My daughter was recruited there last year and a friend talked to the basketball coach a few years ago. In our experience you meet the academic standards and the coach will support your application with a note in your file. D didn’t ultimately apply so I can’t comment on how well it works. For my friend’s group of recruits I think 6 got support, 2 got in, 2 got waitlisted and 2 got rejected. You will need to sign a non-binding agreement to compete for the team for 4 years if you use a coach’s support for admission.
S was recruited for baseball. Unlike Ivies or other D3’s with designated spots for sports, the max support the coach can offer is to recommend the athlete (even then, each coach has limited athletes he/she can support). During his OV, both the head coach and recruiting coach said he would be at best 50/50 if he applied with their full support. His objective stats were within the median for MIT. FWIW, he got the same read from CalTech, both coach and AD. So consider being a recruited athlete the same as having a real strong EC. If your son doesn’t have the grades, test scores, other parts of the package, the sports angle is not going to get him over the top. He ended up not applying to either school because he was not ready to commit to STEM heading into college.
This is in line with what we’ve been told. You need to have the stats. And to put into perspective, according to the common data set the 25th percentile last year was SAT 720 reading 770 math or 33 ACT (with 34 math, 34 reading).
Also worth noting. The only thing marked “very important” on their list of attributes to be considered for admission was “character/personal qualities” - grades, test scores, rigor of schedule, essay and recommendations are all one step lower at “important”.
@jmk518 I was not aware of signing a nonbinding agreement to play for 4 years in exchange for coach support. When does the recruit sign this document?
Thanks so much for your quick reply. I have a quick follow up question, lets say the coach wanted my son to play on his team, would he have to go through the application process like every other normal applicant? Thanks
Yes
And, the only difference would be that your son would have the coach’s note/letter in his application jacket. The coach as far as I know is completely out of the process.
@jmtabb what is the best way to show the admission office an athlete’s character/personal qualities
My D wasn’t a recruited athlete, but she filled out recruitment questionnaire for swimming (MIT is the only school she filled out for). I don’t think anybody contacted her at all, until she got an email from the swimming coach several days before pie day. It says the coach was looking forward to meeting her. We took it as a sign she got in. She did.
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Do the admission office value academics more than athletics for student applicants. For example if athlete 1 is a better basketball player than athlete 2 but athlete 2 has a little bit better grades, who would be more likely to get recruited?
So a lot will depend on what the administration wants to do with it’s sports teams. Men’s basketball is usually a “big” sport at most schools. So the coach may or may not have any pull – it just depends. Best thing to do is reach out to the coach and have an honest discussion. Most will tell you what they can and can’t do, especially if your 6.8-7 feet. 
Good luck.
@sportymit “Do the admission office value academics more than athletics for student applicants.”
Yes, academics are more important than athletics at MIT
@shuttlebus I believe it was mentioned in the recruiting questionnaire. I don’t recall if it was a document we scanned and returned to the coach during the recruiting process or not, but I recall seeing it. Or sport was track.
I can’t believe that agreement would be binding under NCAA rules
As I noted above, it is non-binding.
So what is the purpose if it is non-binding? Guilt?
I took that comment about “character/personal qualities” out of the school’s common data set, and can’t tell you what they are looking for more specifically than that.
I think for a place like MIT the bottom line is that ALL of their students are academic superstars. The difference between a kid with a 4.0 and 36 ACT and a kid with a 3.9 and a 35 ACT is negligible, and doesn’t make that much of a difference once you get to that level. They’re looking for that “it” factor - and they’ll know it when they see it.
Example from our high school from last year. We have two students, both of Indian descent. Both are National Intel/Siemens award winners, both are top students at the school with top grades and test scores. One got accepted to MIT, the other was deferred EA and then waitlisted. In this case I’d tell you the one that got in had a more dynamic personality, and was a bit more “driven” in her academics and research. (Both students ended up at another top University).
@twoinanddone that is what I would conclude. There is nothing binding in D3 so all they have is guilt or maybe some option to recoup expenses if the student does not act in good faith. The latter was never implied to us.
MIT and University of Chicago coaches definitely do not have the same pull as the Ivies and NESCAC. The MIT coach told my son in football that he would give him a “likely letter” if he could, but that it “doesn’t work like that” here. He said unless you have received an A in every math and science class (including IBs), there is not much of a chance you would get in.