Athletics & Admission: Hook or not?

<p>I'm very confused!</p>

<p>On some boards I've read that athletes do have a hook for admission even if they aren't elite/exceptional, but have enough skill to compete at the collegiate D3 level. I've also heard that any coach can tip an athlete and that if an athlete is qualified and a strong applicant being recruited allows them to be admitted. Bowdoin said something about having different levels of tips for the athletes who are great, but don't have great grades...</p>

<p>Can anyone explain how much being an athlete helps at Pomona? :/</p>

<p>I'm a freshman baseball player and here is my understanding:</p>

<p>Coaches rate their recruits on how much they want them (1-8 I've heard), but still this doesn't guarantee that you get in. What I was told by the baseball coach when applying was that his support of my application would help a lot if I were on the boarder, fringe, whatever you want to call it. If my credentials would have gotten me rejected staight up, being an athlete would not have helped. Basically, being a recruited athlete is definitely beneficial, but not a deal-breaker.</p>

<p>for a clearer explanation from Pomona see these articles:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=1793"&gt;http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=1793&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=1829"&gt;http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=1829&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=1972"&gt;http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=1972&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>