Chances for a Pro Athlete?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hello,
If you can all chance me, that would be great!</p>

<p>I am 22 years old, and I am/was a professional soccer player in Europe. My career ended about 3 months back because of a really bad knee injury. </p>

<p>Obviously, soccer has given me so much, but now that my career has come to a stop, I would like to set a new challenge- go to a top university. </p>

<p>Technically, I have enough money to last me a long time. I can just put all this money into various invesments, and this will keep me going for the rest of my life. I'm not trying to go to school so I can get a job afterwords. I might, but thats not the reason. I'm going with the purpose of expanding my mind, and have the satisfaction of recieving a "Harvard" diploma 4 years from now. </p>

<p>My stats are below. Btw, I did my high school in the states. </p>

<p>ACT 31
SAT 1350
GPA 3.75/4
Class Rank: Top 10 Percentile</p>

<p>I know academically I did not get the best scores and GPA, but you have to take into consideration that I hardly every cared about school because I was nonstop training for soccer.</p>

<p>Now that soccer is over, and I have all the time to focus on studies, I know academically I will do fine.</p>

<p>So if you can tell me whether I have a chance or not, that will be great~</p>

2

<p>I personally don't think they are going to care too much that you WERE a professional athlete; that doesn't help them much. If you were going to play for them, I would say I have no doubts that you'd be accepted.</p>

3

<p>1MX,</p>

<p>Actually, that probably wouldn't have helped since professional athletes are ineligible to play NCAA sports.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I can't play because I have broken many NCAA rules such as playing in professional games, having an agent...etc.</p>

5

<p>Why don't you try buckling down the next few months and retake the ACT and SAT?</p>

6

<p>What team did you play for?</p>

7

<p>Your age might be a problem, and the fact that you chose soccer over academics when you were college-entry aged. And then there is the challenge of fitting an older student into a freshmen dorm situation, especially one old enough to purchase alcohol. Perhaps attending a good state univeristy for a year and demonstrating a passion for academics would make you attractive. You might want to ask admissions how many older students, if any, they accept.</p>

8

<p>Academically you are well below the standard Harvard admit, and you can't play for them because of your professional background Unless they like the idea of having a student coach, I don't think your soccer experience will count for anything. Your goal would be to make your life experience seem interesting enough that they would want you for that reason. Or focus on the many excellent universities with less stringent academic admissions standards.</p>

9

<p>Pro athlete? Cool! Which team did you play for?</p>

10

<p>no one really knows whether the fact you can't play for them will hurt you. Stanford took Michell Wie even though she can't play golf for them (although she's famous obviously.)</p>

<p>I don't know if you'll get into Harvard, but I think you can get into some highly prestigious university. It may take you a year of preparation. </p>

<p>Since finances aren't a problem of yours, I would do a few things:</p>

<h1>1) go to Harvard as an extension student and take some classes to show you can get "A'"s.</h1>

<p>Harvard rejected gold-medalist Joey Cheek because they said they weren't sure he could handle the classes after a 10-year layoff. (Of course, he was out of school much longer than you, but he did get in the high 1400's on the SAT). They had suggested he go to a state school for a year and then transfer. </p>

<h1>2) study for and re-take the SAT</h1>

<h1>3) volunteer as an assistant coach on their soccer team right now and say you would continue in that capacity if you were admitted.</h1>

<h1>4) Don't worry 22 is not that old to go back to school. I know they've taken people who went out and actually did stuff in the real world (e.g., found a business) and then went back to school. They admire that sort of thing. They certainly won't hold it against you that you chose sports over academics.</h1>

11

<p>one more thought: If you played soccer in France or some other country that doesn't speak English, market yourself as someone who will study that language and culture while at Harvard. That's something you can bring to the classroom that will be rare--you've actually lived in Europe and interacted with people. </p>

<p>Once you get in, you can always change your mind if you find that's not what you're really interested in studying, but you want to play up what experiences you have and how they would be a valuable addition to the university.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
Your age might be a problem, and the fact that you chose soccer over academics when you were college-entry aged. And then there is the challenge of fitting an older student into a freshmen dorm situation, especially one old enough to purchase alcohol. Perhaps attending a good state univeristy for a year and demonstrating a passion for academics would make you attractive. You might want to ask admissions how many older students, if any, they accept.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I personally know a few members of the class of 2009 who were over 21 at the beginning of freshman year. I think, in general, Harvard recognizes + appreciates students who take untraditional paths to college–so long as they've been doing interesting things with their time.</p>

<p>To eindtrecht–I think you have a great story + would make an interesting addition to the class. I think some of the previous poster's advice about getting involved in academic pursuits to demonstrate your seriousness about returning to school is great. Make sure you can talk intelligently about your academic interests.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
I don't think your soccer experience will count for anything.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually, it shows a lot of dedication as an extracurricular.</p>

<p>OP, did you study for the SAT/ACT?</p>

14

<p>Firstly, thanks a lot for the insightful responses. I really want to make this happen...</p>

<p>To answer peoples questions. The one about european experiences and languages. The funny thing is that I play in France (I'd say what team, but I'd like to keep my anonymity). I can speak English, French, German, a little bit of Spanish, and I can understand most of Dutch. Considering all the travel, and all the new teammates that come from all over the place, its common for a footballer to learn a lot of these languages. </p>

<p>Also, I've traveled a lot with the team. I've been to pretty much all the countries in Europe. It's pretty common to see some political leader or some big guy from a big corp attend the games and watch from the luxury suites. So, we as players usually get a chance to talk to them after the game.
Strictly speaking, I can just have one of these people make a few phone calls and make the necessary "arrangments". </p>

<p>However, I don't like to ask for favors, and I really want to get into the school on my own. I mean just getting into the school is a challenge I would like to overcome without any help. </p>

<p>Taking the SAT/ACT is a good idea. I'm sure now that I have all the time in the world, I can improve that score. When I took it four years back, I studied a little bit for it. But not as much as I should have.</p>

<p>Also, for people saying I might have become less smart after taking a 4 year leave, i don't think that's true. A soccer player's typical day is done before lunch time. Playing snooker and playstation with teammates everyday after training is only fun for so long. While in high school, I absolutely hated to learn new things Reading was something I done vie cliff's notes. I just did it for the hell of doing it. In the past four years, I was flying through a book a week (No, these were not picture books). I would attend random ass lectures in town. Also, I've attended the local college as a part timer and took a lot of accounting and finance courses. </p>

<p>Funny how I actually start showing importance to academics after I got out of school.</p>

<p>Also, I got a lot of volunteer activities with the local community. They were mandatory for members of the team but I genuinely liked attendin these events.</p>

<p>Once again, I really am not looking for a job after college. I'm just doing it to cross of another big thing from my life list. </p>

<p>So, thanks a lot for the help. If anyone has anymore tips, let me know.</p>

15

<p>exactly how famous were you? i am a soccer/football fan in the US, would I have heard of you?</p>

<p>anyway, since you have time, I would try to prove to them that you can do well academically. retake the SAT or ACT and try to get an amazing score on it. you could also take classes at another college/harvard extension school or whatever and get amazing grades in them.</p>

16

<p>I disagree with the posts that says that you have nothing to offer Harvard; that's crazy. The drive it that it takes to be a professional athlete is exactly the kind of leadership that Harvard looks for. </p>

<p>I agree with an earlier poster that you might want to try out Harvard Extension for a while to elevate your "academic game" up to the level of your soccer game so that you can effectively hold your own at the highest levels of academia, get the most out of the experience, and contribute intellectually to those who are already at that level. But once you do, I think your experience, perspective, drive, and attitude would benefit any college classroom, and I can't imagine someone like you not being able to do it. Harvard or anybody else would have to be crazy to reject you.</p>

17

<p>Some of the comments here are mind-bogglingly off base. The supposed negatives are not serious issues, if what the original poster says is correct. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Harvard has admitted several ex-athletes well past the age of 22. I don't recall all the names but there was some retired player from the Boston hockey team near age 40 who was advised to apply by the Harvard hockey coach, and got in (Harvard College, not extension-school courses). Some Olympic medalists in their mid-20s were also admitted. </p></li>
<li><p>Three years of sports outside the US is comparable to the 2-4 year delay for foreign applicants who perform military service in their countries.</p></li>
<li><p>Chances sound rather good for this guy. Three years out of high school the transcript (which was OK if not stellar to begin with) becomes less important than what happened after and the current state of ability as could be documented by test scores and AP exams. Conceivably even the GREs could be submitted (if scores are good) to show comparability with Harvard seniors of the same age. Language skills beyond English, if they include writing, would be a big plus.</p></li>
<li><p>Freshmen in special situations (local, married, older, celebrity, etc) are not necessarily required to live in the dorms. If admitted and, for whatever reason, forced to rent a dorm room, there is nothing to stop the OP from also renting an off-campus room and living there.</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteering as a coach and then negotiating admission has a serious potential to backfire. Any dealing with the sports teams should go directly through the coach or athletic directors, or through an introduction via some person in the European football leagues. The admission is separated enough from the sports that there isn't the possibility of horse-trading for an admissions slot --- not by the candidate himself, at any rate. The soccer coach can probably advise on how cases have been handled of elite athletes who show an interest in training the college team. I know of some grad students who did this but have no information about undergraduate cases. </p></li>
<li><p>It being an unusual case, the interview, which is usually a formality, would become more important, and might happen with admissions people in Cambridge.</p></li>
</ol>

18

<p>eindtrecht-I'm impressed with the way you've kept up academically after high school.</p>

<p>I think I know what you mean, but
[quote]
I'm just doing it to cross of another big thing from my life list.

[/quote]
is probably not a good answer to the typical interview question "Why Harvard?" Think about some of the things you'd like to do (research, classes, extracurriculars) that can only be done at Harvard.</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
Your age might be a problem, and the fact that you chose soccer over academics when you were college-entry aged. And then there is the challenge of fitting an older student into a freshmen dorm situation, especially one old enough to purchase alcohol.

[/quote]

Rivers Cuomo.</p>