<p>Fogfog, This is a great thread - very interesting to think of the varying perspectives of others. I would think if I was a recruited athlete at a Div. 1 school, I would stand tall and proud - and if it was an Ivy as well, I would feel great that I made it through the admissions office, even if my scores, etc. were not on the high end of the accepted class. The schools all mention the need to have well-rounded students, to “build” a class - well, athletes are certainly pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that make a class, just as minorities, international students, published authors, gifted scientists, etc.
I am glad you are enjoying “Playing the Game”! I am passing it on to my D when she comes home from boarding school for Thanksgiving break…</p>
<p>Interestingly
Football was the worst as far as “accomodations”…included were basketball and hockey…and often lacrosse
but of say 25-30 varsity teams–thats only 6 (if the school has women’s hockey, lacrosse and basketball)
Evidently there are plenty of athletes who are not counted against the tips because their academic profile easily meets the schools criteria…
and Success rates of low AI index vs high was interesting. Evidently more high AI students quit over time than low…
Consider this–there is no scholarship to keep at an ivy. The sport is for the passion, not for $.</p>
<p>I found the book and the whole issue of athletes being singled out in criticism of the process in the ivies for tips interesting because the musicians, artists, mathletes, chess players…who ever–also got hand picked for their giftings.</p>
<p>I guess after reading the book and realizing the criticism of the ivy league, athletics vs the balance of the truth in the statistics , as well as other schools’ divisions etc…
I have come to realize what an “art” it is to adcoms picking communities for the incoming year…and each will reflect the particular institutions ethos…</p>
<p>and the bias on athletes may be mis-placed.</p>
<p>“Consider this–there is no scholarship to keep at an ivy. The sport is for the passion, not for $.” - This is the very reason that my D hopes to represent her sport at an Ivy in college</p>
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Not to keep picking on Caltech - it is one of the finest universities in the world - but its athletic teams are competing against other D3, small schools and are still losing by wide margins.</p>
<p>Inner-Ivy League games might still be interesting, but if the Ivy League were to remain D1, it would get crushed.</p>
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<p>It’s actually a 1.7.</p>
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<p>My son and several of his teammates have/are looking at Ivies. The buzz is that an 1800 SAT will do the trick. Naviance Data for our school showed a 3.2 average GPA for admitted students to one of the Ivies (not naming the school). However, it is a prep school, so that GPA gets a “bump”.</p>
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<p>Well of course–think about it–a good football team needs a lot of huge people–check out the size of the linemen on any Ivy roster. There aren’t that many huge (and coordinated) people in the country. There’s also the issue of how big the rosters are–rosters of 100 aren’t unusual at the Ivy’s. So not only does a good football team need kids with unusual physical characteristics, it needs a lot of them. </p>
<p>And sure lots of Ivy athletes fully met the admissions standards, even some football players. I don’t think the preduice problem we are talking about her relates to those wild and crazy guys on the cross country team. And thats because, there’s a lot more good cross country runners in the country with full Ivy academic qualifications than there are 6-5 280 pound football linemen. </p>
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<p>Musicians and artists do not get anywhere near the admissions boost athletes do. That’s because there are many talented musicians and artists that bring the whole academic package to the table. Their talent differentiates them from other fully qualifiied applicants.</p>