<p>So after watching everyone in my classes work their a**ses off for 4 years while I just did the bare minimum, I'm being recruited for an Ivy League School. I'm not stupid, (my combined SAT score is about 2100 and I've gotten 5s on multiple AP tests) but it certainly makes me feel uneasy to read the statistics of so many rejected students who seem to have put in so much time and effort with ECs and academics (my GPA is about 3.4). </p>
<p>I know that athletes add to student diversity and I certainty work hard, just in a different way. No one that I know wants to go to a college with terrible athletics. But sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that my future is already set in October for a college that my peers with 3.9 GPAs would have a hard time getting into. </p>
<p>Wondering if anyone else out there is in the same situation?</p>
<p>1) IMHO you shouldn’t feel any guilt whatsoever. You (possibly) bring a talent to the school that is not easily found. You have seperated yourself from others by performing in the classroom and in your sport.</p>
<p>2) Congrats on making it so far, but being recruited is not the same as being accepted and enrolled. You will be competing with other athletes of your caliber and academics to get the coaches & admissions committee’s nod. If you are accepted you will have your work cut out for you. You will not be able to do the bare minimum, and it will be hard in the classroom and on the field…trust me on that. Sleep will become a luxury. </p>
<p>Everybody on your possible future ivy campus is smart and highly motivated. You’ll be amazed at how smart some of these people are.</p>
<p>HJR: Through the combination of practice, God-given talent & hard work you’ve been handed an opportunity to separate yourself from the great mass of high school seniors engaged in the collegiate application/acceptance process.</p>
<p>Please take full advantage of the opportunity given; work hard on the athletic field and in the classroom. When your collegiate career is complete, remember this opportunity which was presented to you. Pay this opportunity forward to the next set of athletes in your sport by considering advising the next generation of students and parents on the process; perhaps even mentor a student or two. Volunteering for the sake of repaying a gift is very rewarding as you’re giving of your time and effort without expectation of any return.</p>
<p>Guilty? Seriously? How much blood, sweat and tears went into all the practices and games in your sport since you were 7 years old? How hard was it to rise to the level of a Division i caliber athlete? How hard was it to accomplish that while still being in the top 5% academically of all college students in the country? </p>
<p>Assuming that you’re not just ■■■■■■■■ the athletic recruit board - you should hold your head high. Very, very few individuals are able to accomplish what you have. You’ve earned your place in every respect.</p>
<p>That’s what my parents said. I know the two-a-days and 4 years of self-torture (learning how to push myself) are finally paying off. But it’s still hard to watch my peers (one in particular) struggle so much throughout this process, especially in applying to the same school.</p>
<p>As the parent of a varsity, 4 year letter winning athlete, I know you didn’t get where you are doing the “bare minimum” in your sport! Congratulations!</p>
<p>I don’t get the guilt, let it go. No reason to feel it. Just support your friend and enjoy the fruits of your hard work. Competition starts in this country at a very early age, not just in sports and classroom, but in art, theater, music, you name it. Some people are more successful than others…</p>
<p>I once asked my d whether she felt athletic recruiting was unfair, especially since depending on the school, academic standards are sometimes relaxed in order to let stellar athletes in. She thought about it, then said she thought it was important to encourage “awesomeness” of every variety, whether musical, artistic, intellectual, or athletic. that way, the student body as a whole would encompass the full range of human talents, and everyone would benefit. Just see yourself as one part of the awesomeness of your school.</p>
<p>Me neither, but it happens. There’s a lot of animosity - especially this time of year - by parents of kids who have been prepped and groomed to a 2400 sat and think that means they have earned their way to an ivy league admittance.</p>
<p>I agree with those who say don’t feel guilty, but regarding the line ‘no one you know wants to go to a school with terrible athletics’, I can guarantee you there are plenty of kids who do not care about college athletics at all and do not consider it in their college search!</p>
<p>It’s easier to feel guilty than you guys think. I have a friend who was offered a likely letter to play a sport at Brown, but after being iffy for a while about playing a D1 sport, turned it down. She was then rejected ED, even though she was a valedictorian and had a 2380 SAT (and obviously the extracurricular accolades from her sport), and watched as other teammates attended other Ivies and schools of that caliber being recruited, all with lower grades. We all felt incredibly bad for her. The best thing you can do to help feel better about it is prove that you deserve to be there with your college academics.</p>
<p>It also depends upon the culture of the school and the role athletics play–and I’m not talking about UT or even Stanford–in it. There are colleges, esp in the Ivies, where the culture is fiercely anti-athlete–wher even non slotted athletes are considered by their classmates to be “stupid” or that they don’t deserve to be there (my DD did an OV at one and couldn’t wait to leave campus after her night in the dorms…). Other places embrace athletes–I have found this to be the case at NESCAC schools but Harvard does as well. As for the OP’s concern that he doesn’t have the perfect set of numbers as thoses applying-- kids who are USAMO members maybe all math but nothing else-- they are accepted, same with outstanding musicians, or poets. Colleges are looking to recruit well rounded classes of oblong kids more than well rounded applicants.</p>
<p>Oh, and one more thing, all of the studies that I have seen demonstrate with high confidence levels that varsity athletes by almost whatever measure one wants to use “succeed” post college compared to their peers. (except in becoming university professors…). They also vastly disproportionately financially support their alma maters as alumni/ae.</p>
<p>Two of my kids were recruited for different sports with the end result being that they were assured via likely letters in October that they would be admitted. They are both strong athletes at their respective schools and contribute a lot. But they both felt very guilty and slightly embarrassed. ACT’s were in the 30’s and grades were fine so really nothing much to be embarrassed about. The reason - as I am sure you now know - comes from watching close friends struggle with the process of applying ED and being rejected and then RD to 10 schools and all the anxiety that goes with it. It is painful to watch your friends suffer. One way they dealt with it was to NOT apply the new college sticker to their car and to never wear the new sweatshirt out in public until after May 1st. Just keeping a low profile helped tone things down. When all is said and done, the oboe player at your school will have secured a full ride to someplace great as will so many others who have achieved greatness at something besides the 2400 SAT. Just keep working hard the way you obviously have for four years and make the most of the great opportunity being offered to you.</p>
<p>In all walks of life there are some to whom things come more easily than others. In your case it’s getting into good colleges, for whatever reason. You can’t feel guilty about it, although you can be sensitive and not boastful. Many colleges are looking holistically at their applicants and want good scholars who can also bring other talents, be it sport, music, leadership or theater. It’s always a hard time when others are being disappointed.</p>