<p>Exactly how much of a boost do you get being a recruited athlete? Also, does the coach give the prospective athlete a certain ranking or just a simple support letter?</p>
<p>From what I understand, athletic recruits are ranked in order of the coach's preference. However, I have heard of cases in which kids of lower athletic rank have been admitted of kids that were higher on the recruit list because of other factors in the applications like academics. Athletic recruiting is big, but again, it's all part of a bigger picture in the eyes of those Harvard staff members that are determining whether or not to vote for you.</p>
<p>Exactly how much of a boost can being an athletic recruit give? Say around 2200 SAT, 34 ACT, 4.0uw, valedictorian?</p>
<p>Depending on the sport, athletics seems to give a huge boost (like seveal hundred points on the three-part SAT I). And, once they are in, they just can't seem to flunk out. It's rather extraordinary.</p>
<p>It's not just athletes, though. Getting admitted to Harvard is extraordinarily hard: getting out is a virtual guarantee. Harvard really, really doesn't like to fail its students. Heck, even if you're caught cheating you can come back.</p>