<p>i dont mean to offend anybody here who may be in this situation..but it really is beginning to bug me when athletes are accepted to schools in the summer or early in the year without even applying..simply because they are good at sports.</p>
<p>i understand that they are talented and im happy that they are going to a good school and all...but it doesnt really seem fair that they get incredibly special treatment that nobody else gets. at my school we already have people in at dartmouth, ucla, cornell, and others. personally...none of the schools i am applying to recruit athletes, but a lot of my friends are applying to schools that give this sort of special treatment to athletes.</p>
<p>maybe it just bugs me because this has been the environment i have been in for four years. i mean i played soccer all my life but quit my sophomore year so its not like im bitter about being athletically challenged or anything..but my school is so into sports thats its ridiculous. dont get me wrong...my school is incredible in many areas, but it seems unfair that athletes get two college counselors, whereas other students can barely get appointments with their one counselor.</p>
<p>Back in ancient Sparta if you weren't athletic you were left on a mountain to die. I'd say our culture has changed radically for the better. Athletes may receive special treatment but -- haven't they always?</p>
<p>well u have to think of it this way: football players at my school practice from 4-7 afterschool. Thats a lot of hardwork and determination. As long as they have average grades for the school, then i guess its ok if they get recruited. But a stellar athlete recruited to Ivy leage or duke with mediocre grades is ridiculous.</p>
<p>i'm fine with it as long as the athletes have grades like mine, but if someone takes by place because they throw a football and get Bs in average classes I'M GONNA BE ****ED!</p>
<p>I am an athlete - a varsity cross country and track runner for the top division 1 school in DoDDs Europe :D I hope it helps with my college app. I do have decent academics to go with that too, though.</p>
<p>I don't know how many other schools do this, but at Stanford, recruited athletes must still complete the same application as everyone else, and the Dean of Admissions has the final say over whether the candidate is acceptable. I have found that the athletes in my dorms and classes are extremely intelligent and capable and do not in any way seem like they do not deserve to be at Stanford. They do find out earlier than regular applicants if they have been admitted (though they also apply earlier). An ex-dean of admissions put it well: "When the sports teams do well, people praise the coach; when they do poorly, people blame the admissions committee." Should it be more important to have equally academically qualified students, or should special exemptions be made for talented athletes? Stanford believes that the two need not be mutually exclusive and that talented athletes can also be brilliant students... and most of the time, this works out just fine.</p>
<p>"well u have to think of it this way: football players at my school practice from 4-7 afterschool. Thats a lot of hardwork and determination."</p>
<p>Um, okay. I have play rehearsals after school for that same amount of time, and tech weeks? 3:30-9, sometimes 10. There are plenty of people who work just as hard and are just as dedicated and earn stellar grades, but won't have an upper hand just because they aren't athletically inclined. </p>
<p>I mean, I couldn't participate in sports if I wanted to because of medical problems. What about people like that?</p>
<p>I can't stand the emphasis this country puts on sports. It makes me want to shake people.</p>