<p>Very interesting thread with many good (and passionate) points being made. I’ve been thinking a lot about this subject as my daughter was admitted as an athlete ED to Amherst. She doesn’t wear a helmet and her SAT scores put her in the range of other Amherst students. But do I think she would have been admitted to Amherst without the athletic hook? Who knows, but certainly given how many great students are rejected, there is a good chance she would have been rejected. At the same time I see so many gifted non-athletes not getting into the school of their choice. So is it fair my daughter had this advantage because she’s pretty good at a sport?</p>
<p>I think it begs the question of the importance of athletics at a LAC. Clearly, most of the NESCAC schools as well as many other top LACs, have decided that fielding competitive D-III athletic teams is important to creating the best overall student environment. One can debate whether they are right about this (and I see both sides), but once a college decides that athletics are important then the use of preferential treatment for athletes (both by choosing athletes over non-athletes when both have the same academic record and, in some instances, lowering the standards for exceptional athletes or for high profile sports like football) is necessary. You can’t field competitive teams otherwise. Furthermore, the use of ED for these athletes is also necessary. Using ED for athletes provides the necessary structure around the recruiting process for both the coach and the athlete and ensures that a coach doesn’t have to push for 10-12 admits just to fill in 3-4 spots.</p>
<p>I don’t disagree that better transparency regarding the role of athletes (and other hooks) in ED admissions is appropriate. I disagree however with the suggestion that colleges should publish separate test averages for athletes (or other hooks) and non-athletes. The benefit of transparency for the non-athletes would be outweighed by the stigmatizing of a sizable portion of the student population. It also seems reasonable that if an LAC like Amherst made it clear that up to half of their ED admits are athletes, then the non-athlete and their parent could weigh the true ED acceptance rate and come to a general conclusion that the SAT scores for non-hooks is likely to be higher than the median scores for the entire college and adjust their expectations accordingly. Therefore, information about the numbers of recruited athletes would provide sufficient transparency in my opinion without doing damage.</p>