<p>S#1 was an athletic tip to a NESCAC for a helmet sport. He had significantly lower stats than the norm (3.0GPA with SAT 1880, he was a C-tip). He did very well academically in college and did not struggle.
He is now working in his chosen field and applying to grad school. We are grateful that his sport gave him an opportunity to attend a college he would not have ordinarily been admitted to. His teammates had the same experience.</p>
<p>Feldy1,</p>
<p>Were these for one particular sport? Northeast revenue sport (basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse)? Yes, I would say these numbers are vastly different from the admitted norms. They had to have a hook to get in, what that hook is I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Feldy, if you run the Academic Index numbers - it is possible, just barely, but still possible that 23 ACT/3.45 GPA could be admitted to Cornell. He’s right at the AI floor. But, as fenway stated, these are a far cry from the athletic norm. If this thread comes up in some future search - potential recruits need to know that 9 out 10 times, those scores aren’t going to cut it.</p>
<p>Momof2sons-- I’m glad it worked out for your son and his teammates.</p>
<p>I do know several kids at Cornell who were admitted because of athletic credentials that have not had an easy time academically. Perhaps a NESCAC school with a smaller, more nurturing environment might be more conducive to that, but I know how hard my daughter is working at hers and she was above the mean</p>
<p>None of the kids I listed play hockey. (Not much hockey around here). 1 kid plays football at the D3 level. The rest are playing sports were very few show up and watch - soccer, golf etc. All are still in school and doing just fine. I see from our local paper which prints honor roll & Dean’s lists that 3 of the kids are kicking butt in the classroom. One of the kids at Cornell is doing particularly well in the classroom but is yet to play a minute in his sport. 6 days a week training and not a minute after 2 years but still plugging away. Now that a kid I’d hire. None have a parent who is an alum or who donated big bucks - so no hook there either.</p>
<p>I think many schools recognize that HS kids who spent 30+ hours each week in training for 12 months a year and often traveled great distances to compete are pretty good bets. The determination which leads a kid out of bed Sat morning at 6am to train for 3 hours generally serves them very well when they reach the college classroom. I think that is the common “hook”.</p>
<p>Yes, I would agree that most kids shouldn’t use these numbers as benchmarks. These are outliers who combined some talent with an incredible amount of hard work and determination. The Ivies are not dumb and they don’t admit many kids who fail.</p>
<p>My brother is a SVP at a large investment bank. Says when he interviews college athletes he mentally adds at least 0.75 to their GPA. He makes a point of hiring at least 1 athlete to intern for him every summer. Most of the analysts in his office did not play a college sport, most of the senior folks in his office did play college sports. My brother played D1 football (a “Rudy” type who played a little special teams as a Jr & Sr). He graduated with a 2.9 and it isnt hurting him much today.</p>
<p>Great points Feldy1.</p>