<p>Hi all
just at a sports event for my son and was told (I really really hope it's garbage gossip) but that a teammate of my son accepted admission at a school on a slot for a sport, but is now saying to his teammates that he fully intends to drop the sport after first term. My son knows as a recruited athlete to look at the person in seat next to him and realize they have fully 20 plus more hours a week to study than him - he accepted that and understands what the coach held out i.e. 4 years of work but fun and growth. It is a HUUUGE commitment that this person seems to be , well, not accepting. To be clear, this is not a scholarship this is nothing than an "understanding". I sat with my husband this afternoon watching my son at his sport thinking about this. Am I alone in thinking this is wrong and will burn the whole high school (at least for a while) in the future?? Or is this fair game? anyone game to argue the other guy's side on this? again this is not a regular scholarship it's an ivy admission.</p>
<p>It’s not technically wrong—and, in the world of college admissions, I have no doubt wronger wrongs are committed daily during the height of application season—but it’s ethically questionable from the perspectives of both the coach(es) who recruited him and the teammates who may or may not have looked up to him.</p>
<p>I’m a high school junior and a competitive athlete with verbal offers similar to the Ivy one your son’s friend got. (I’m talking a range of D1 and D3 schools, from Cornell and UChicago and MIT to Amherst and Williams.) I’m good at what I do (or at least I am from the perspectives of the coaches who really, REALLY want to recruit me), but I don’t love 5 AM workouts enough to justify taking part in college sports.</p>
<p>What’s really driven me away from playing sports at D1 and D3 schools alike, though, is the attitude I feel student athletes receive at the academic powerhouses. When I first emailed the UChicago coach, he responded by saying that I wrote really well for an athlete so competitive. I would have been less offended if the first sentence of his response weren’t a run-on, but I digress.</p>
<p>I’d be lying if I said I’ve never considered doing what your son’s friend did, but my plan from here is to cast a wide net. I’d really like to believe I’m academically qualified enough to get into some of the aforementioned schools without being recruited, so I’m going to try with fingers crossed and essays proofread, just like my non-athlete peers. I’m planning to apply to the same reaches, matches, and safeties as some of my peers, and if I’m accepted, it won’t be after I’ve already seen a likely letter signed by a coach two months prior. If.</p>
<p>All you have to do is look at the rosters of teams at the Ivys and schools like MIT and know this is a regular thing. A lot of athletes will compete for 2 years and then quit. The upper classes just become too much with sports. I think the coaches somewhat expect 2 years - but not one semester. </p>
<p>Honestly this happens all the time at my school. There are two types of athletes, those who want to win an NCAA championship and those who use a sport to get into a really good college. Good example was last year, one of our top swimmers used swimming to get into Yale and quit the team after his first dual-meet of the season. A recruited UPenn swimmer will most likely do the same next year. They are not getting a scholarship, so quitting has no ill-affect on their standing. Its standard practice at least in my experience for people to use anything they have to gain a foothold in the magical wheel of admissions at Ivy schools. I have never heard of the high school being burned for a graduated athlete quitting the team. If you have the talent and really want to pay full price for an Ivy education then more power to you.</p>