<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I applied early to MIT and filled out the varsity athletics form. My coach sent an email. Whaddya know, I got an email from the coach saying that he sent in a letter of support for my application. I am a competitive applicant without the athletic support so, my question is, how influential is this letter of support? Any input from current MIT students would be greatly appreciated! If you need any more information, do not hesitate to ask. Thank you!</p>
<p>The letter goes into your application and comes before readers / committee like everything else in there. How influential it is depends on how strongly the coach supports you. </p>
<p>Hey how about that football team!</p>
<p><a href=“Brains and brawn: MIT football undefeated, still really smart”>Brains and brawn: MIT football undefeated, still really smart;
<p>Ditto to Chris. It definitely helps. My son’s coach said that 11 of the applicants they wanted were accepted EA last year. Not sure how many others were on the list they sent to Admissions, but looking at the bios of their freshmen roster, I’d say they got their top picks and then others with some experience in the sport but with perhaps stronger academic resumes? Hard to really judge from tiny two or three line bios, and perhaps each sport is different.</p>
<p>Yes, the important thing to remember is that MIT does not have admissions “slots” for sports stars (as they also do not have specific slots for artistic or music prodigies). So nobody is going to get in, solely because a coach wants them. The key test is whether MIT is still the right school for that student if that student got injured the day before starting at MIT, and could never play their sport again. If the answer is yes, then a strong recommendation from the coach is very helpful.</p>