<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?</p>
<p>As I understand the NESCACs (Amherst, Bowdoin, Tufts, Bates, Colby, Trinity etc) -Coaches are given a certain number of tips/slots for admission.
There are about 66-72 tipped slots per admission class divided among all the sports. Schools with football teams usually allocate 14 tips per admitting class for football players, ice hockey gets 4-6 and so on and so on. Men's and women's sports are to be equal</p>
<p>The tips are then divided into "bands'--A, B, C
A recruited athlete will fall into one of the bands based on his/her academic stats---gpa/sat scores. A C band athlete can have lower SATs/GPA than the average admit but with coach support will be admitted. For example, a C band athelete might be a B student with 1200 SATS. A C band recruit must be an impact player for 4 years--coaches don't get many C slots. A B band has slightly higher stats and an A band has stats that are commensurate with the typical student admitted but coach support with ensure that the student does get in</p>
<p>Bands vary from school to school based on the general admission averages.
For example, A B band at Amherst, my be a B at Trinity or Conn College</p>
<p>Athletics is a huge hook even at these top LACs</p>