Athletes

<p>Just wondering, around what stats does a pro-level soccer player need to go to Yale or schools of similar prestige (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford)? I'm asking for a friend.</p>

<p>A soccer player from a neighboring school got into Harvard recently.
He was the type who gets drunk every weekend and doesn't have a clue what's going on. low 2100 ish SAT, 3.8 GPA, one or two AP classes, decently smart but not brilliant.</p>

<p>RAs have it a bit easier, I think.</p>

<p>Actually screw it, I'll just post his stats, or an estimate at least.</p>

<p>SAT: 1850 (Only took it once because he never received a fee waiver)
Subjects: Spanish 800, Math 2 650 (Same deal. Messed up his bubbling on Math 2 or it would be much higher)
GPA: Around 3.8-3.9 unweighted</p>

<p>He comes from a very poor, Mexican family, and works multiple jobs to support them. Also has spent his entire life basically in the ghetto.</p>

<p>As a soccer player, he is being offered significant money to turn pro directly out of high school. He spends an absurd amount of time practicing and such. He's a 12-letter guy at our school, as well.</p>

<p>Do you guys think he has a shot?</p>

<p>He would definetly add diversity to HPS population so i think he has a chance.</p>

<p>totally hijacking here, but does proficiency in a sport not currently offered at yale help because it brings diversity or hurt because the applicant has less value as an athlete?</p>

<p>i'm asking because i've been very involved with wushu since i was 7 (and until recently was one of the very few girls at the school) but yale currently does not have it even as a club team...</p>

<p>TheWerg: Does he WANT to go to college? It takes a lot of drive to keep up with school and be a varsity athlete in college. He's demonstrated he can do that in high school, but what does he really want to do next? If he could play for Yale (or some other school that would cover his cost) would he do it? If so, he should be contacting the coach, but he would need to be convincing that his dream is to work his rear off in class and on the field for four more years.</p>

<p>A recruited athlete with those stats could definitely be accepted at Yale, especially if he was coming out of a decent high school. However, it would depend on the coach going to bat for him and saying "THIS is the one guy I need." Coaches don't have unlimited ability to get people in; they have to pick their shots carefully.</p>

<p>If he's applying this year, and he hasn't already had extensive contact with the soccer coach, forget it. If he has been talking to the coach, and the coach has seen him, etc., he should pretty much know where he stands already (and if he doesn't, he should ask the coach to tell him).</p>

<p>As for wushu -- I'm sure long-term participation and achievement in sports is seen as a positive quality, but with no varsity program at Yale, it's not going to give anyone a significant advantage unless he or she is a likely Olympian (maybe make that likely Olympic medalist).</p>

<p>Somewhere I have an article that discusses how much the Ivies (by mutual agreement) are willing to bend their admissions requirements for athletic talent. The need to quantify this is why the academic index was developed. IIRC, the average Ivy admit has an AI of 211, but athletes tend to be in the 190's. A few are admitted with AI's in the 170's.</p>

<p>Using conservative numbers for him (I don't know if the Spanish Subject test would be accepted if he is a native speaker. He might need another test.) I get AI's that hover around 200. I would say he has a good shot if he wants to try.</p>

<p>Yes, he really does want to go to college, although I know it's hard for him with all that money sitting there. He would work hard both on the field and off, as he's done all his life. He hadn't been considering top schools before I talked to him, quite frankly because he's Mexican and never considered them as a possibility. He is a legitimate top division 1 soccer player and has been recruited by many top schools as well as drawn the attention of pro soccer. However, he is a smart guy and knows that soccer won't last forever and injury is always possible to get injured. I thought that if he wanted to always have job opportunities, he might as well aim for the best, if you guys thought it was possible. Should he apply? If so, I'll tell him to contacttheir coaches right away.</p>

<p>he should definitely apply, but most recruited athletes already have verbal commitements and early apps turned in. as someone already said, the coaches are the forces that get these applicants admitted - they can push for a limited number of applicants with possibly lower scores and GPAs. many of the choices is candidates have already been made, with recruiting trips/scouting over the summer.
that said, there is no harm in trying to contact caoches now. definitely have some representation of his high level of talent included in the application. he has achieved a lot and his recruitment looks good, so by all means, he should go for it.</p>

<p>mistofthekane, i feel like i know someone who fits that exact description. maybe it's the same person? unless harvard recruits a lot of similar soccer players...</p>

<p>^^ nymband, I don't think you live anywhere near me, but that's pretty coincidental. Past soccer players to Princeton in my town, females included, have sort of fitted that description as well. The degrees of weekend drunkenness vary though. Not that they all drink - just the recruited ones I know.</p>

<p>LOL,
Note to self: </p>

<p>1) Make a graph of how drunk people get on weekends and how often they they get into Princeton
2) Sell it
3) ???
4) Profit!</p>

<p>Just kidding!</p>