So I know a student who is a star football player at our school, and I never heard the full story, but I do know he chose to de-commit from harvard. We are currently high school seniors, and I was just curious if someone could shed light on how exactly he was offered a spot. He is smart, but I know for sure he is no star student. I think he only passed AP Calc AB with a high C or low B. I also think that from a side comment, his sat did not pass 1300.
Not to be offensive, it boggles my mind that Harvard sought him out. So if anybody knows about what exactly or how exactly he was offered a place at Harvard, please do share.
A couple of things for you to keep in mind:
• Unless he showed you his application, you do not know his GPA/SAT scores. So what you “think” or heard as a “side comment” is not to be construed as fact.
• The fact that he de-committed does not open up a place for you (or any of your non-football-playing friends). The only applicants who are eligible for that spot are other recruited football players in that position.
@skieurope thanks for the link! And my bad if it had that impression, I was never interested in Harvard nor do I play football. I was just taken aback since as nice and talented in football as he is, he just isn’t the extremely hardworking scholar one expects to go to an ivy league school.
@plxsendhelp One must realize that being recruited is not synonymous as being admitted. When an athlete and the coach has a conversation and give each other a mutual verbal commitment to join the team, then that athlete is considered recruited, although nothing is official or binding. Once the admissions committee offers an admission into the next incoming class to that recruit, then everything becomes official. Therefore, for a committed athlete, especially to an Ivy school, nothing is solid until given the green light by the admissions office. Harvard having the highest mandated Academic Index among the Ivy schools would make even a star football player difficult to pass admissions without sufficient academics stats.
@noanswers - Do you have a citation to support your claim that Harvard’s AI is highest? I’ve assumed that Harvard, Princeton, and Yale have near identical AI’s, and look forward to seeing actual numbers.
A recruited athlete has a “hook” which means that he/she fulfills an institutional need of the school. He was sought out for his football skills. That does give a big advantage in the admissions process. Essentially his application will go in a different pile.
A recruited athlete must still show sufficient academic strength where the school feels he/she can be a successful student at the school. You seem to have hearsay but no real facts about this person’s academic status.
You have no idea of the strength of the applicants essays, LORs etc. It is a holistic process.
Most importantly, this process is difficult enough without spending time and energy worrying about other people’s academics and admission status. Wish others well in the process but keep your focus on your applications.
@a20171 - Please don’t perpetuate the myth of the dumb Ivy League athlete, but if you must, at least use accurate information. A low B in an AP class is very BAD for a prospective Harvard recruit, and may be why this student was forced to “decommit”.
Here’s a taste of reality. When my kids were being recruited they were told that admissions expected a minimum 3.8 UW GPA with a very rigorous course load and that all SAT section scores to begin the a “7”.
@sherpa Isn’t something said a lot here “A B won’t be the reason you get rejected”? A B in a rigorous course is not BAD and doesn’t make someone dumb. And small things like one B in calculus can be forgiven for hooked applicants in some circumstances. We don’t know the kids entire transcript we just know one grade. Level of athletic ability also determines the minimum S.I. you need. A better athlete could have a slightly lower S.I. than the team average. If a coach truly believes in a kid, he could recruit as low as a 3.0 according to the article above. So in no way shape or form was I trying to perpetuate a myth of a kid being a “dumb athlete”. I was pointing out that getting a B is AP Calc makes you the opposite of dumb.