Clarification on Academic Index and minimum GPA

[sherpa]

It was stated in a recent thread:

…by Ivy League Conference rules, a student with a 2.9 unweighted GPA is NOT going to be admitted. Period. Not at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn or Cornell. No matter what explanation; not as an academic applicant or a recruited athlete…

The following quote from a New York Times article was offered as proof:

Perhaps the most talked about goal of the A.I. is the academic credential minimum it establishes, a number below which virtually no Ivy League recruit can be admitted. This summer, that floor was raised from an Academic Index of 171 to 176, which roughly translates to a B student (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) with a score of 1140 on the old two-part SAT.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/sports/before-athletic-recruiting-in-the-ivy-league-some-math.html

While I agree that admission to any of these colleges for a student with a sub 3.0 GPA is unlikely to the point of bordering on the absurd, it should be clarified that there is no Ivy League rule setting a minimum GPA either for “academic applicants” (whatever that means) or students who also happen be athletes.

First of all, as noted in the NYT article, the minimum AI of 176 “roughly translates” to a 3.0 GPA for a student with a 2 part SAT of 1140. But a 3.0/1140 is only an approximation and, more importantly, higher test scores balance a lower GPA (and vice versa) meaning that, with extremely high test scores, a sub 3.0 GPA student could easily exceed the minimum AI.

Second, the minimum AI rules only apply to recruited athletes. Ironically, there are no such rules for non-athletes (or walk-ons).

I might be wrong, and it certainly wouldn’t be my first time here on CC. If any one is aware of an actual IVY League rule regarding minimum GPA’s or AI’s, please point me to it.

[varska]

@Sherpa, according to all my research you are correct. The average calculated Academic Index for the recruited athlete population must be within 1 standard deviation of the average for the student body as a whole at each school. (calculated over a rolling 4 year period). Further, the minimum or floor required by the league is an AI of 176. There is no minimum GPA set by the league.

Each school and athletic department may set their own requirements, one of which may be a minimum GPA, but this is not something that is set by the Ivy League.

[gibby]

FWIW: This from Harvard’s Golf Recruitment page: http://gocrimson.com/sports/mgolf/faq

For our initial evaluation of golf prospects we typically look for individual SAT I & II scores above 700 and/or ACT scores above 33. We would like to see **grades above 3.80 (unweighted) on a 4.0 scale **or the equivalent while taking a rigorous course load.

So there does seem to be minimums established by teams. I imagine the above is also true for most Harvard teams, except Football, Basketball and Ice Hockey.

[sherpa]

Great link, and entirely consistent with my understanding from talking with coaches from HYP in another non-revenue sport. In fact, that is almost exactly what the Princeton fencing coach has told me they expect, “700+ on all SATs and SAT 2s, and a 3.8+ with a rigorous course load, but there’s a little leeway…”. While Harvard also seems to be leaving a little wiggle room (“typically look for”) it is clear that they maintain high academic standards for ALL their students.