<p>I am in 4 AP classes at a very competitive high school and will graduate in 2010. I have a 3.9 GPA and have scored 2250 on my SAT. Like many students with my grades and scores, I am interested in attending an Ivy or LAC such as Williams, Amherst, Tufts, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Johns Hopkins, etc. I know my chances are pretty good...but certainly not guaranteed anywhere</p>
<p>I just got back from spring break and I heard about some kid in my school who has a 3.2 GPA and scored 1800 on his SATs. He said that he has already met with football coaches at several of the colleges I listed above and that each coach has already told him that if he chooses their school and applies early decision, he is guaranteed admission.</p>
<p>I find this to be ridiculously unfair. I mean this kid is a nice kid and all but he does not work hard at all in the classroom. How does this make any sense? I really would like to know.</p>
<p>What do you guys think of this? (I know he is telling the truth because I heard his parents were saying the same thing.)</p>
<p>yeah, it might be unfair, but thats life. worry about yourself.</p>
<p>if each of those lacs has a freshman class of 300 (purposely underestimated), and maybe 1/3 of those are people with athletic abilities or connections, youve still got 200 spots to fight over. so what if they get in? just work hard and youll get in yourself.</p>
<p>(and no, im not a legacy anywhere and im not athletic)</p>
<p>Any of the LACs listed, coaches often do not have as big a sway as they think. I have seen many a thread on CC about a kid who was promised admission and then was rejected. Most D3 schools do not put a lot of emphasis on sports and while athletics add to the app and can oftentimes help a lot, the student needs to still be within the average score/gpa range for the school.</p>
<p>Not one of those schools can guarantee anything… especially if it’s a nescac school. Your friend is, in a word, exaggerating. At worst, he is inflating his own ego. Now he may well be the bomb as a player, but not one of those schools will take you if you don’t make their minimums, which might not be the same as required for you with no “hook” - legacy ,urm, athlete. I don’t know what the min is exactly, but when it comes to the ACT I know for Amherst, for example, they want to see their athletes have at least a 31 (out of 36). They are probably asking your friend to get his scores up at a minimum. Seriously, you cannot affect what happens with this other kid and too, this is definitely the flirting stage of the process when it comes to football. Keep your grades up, maybe ask your teachers if they would be willing to write you recommendations next fall (get a leg up on the competition of asks) and spend the summer working on applications. THEN when fall runs around, get a little perspective and edit and rewrite.</p>
<p>Trust me when I say that perhaps athletes have a slight advantage in some of these schools, but the better odds of actually getting in come from a strong application and solid work.</p>
<p>Why do you think this is unfair? Universities have had football and other sports teams for decades, certainly from before you were born, and have been recruiting players for just as long. This is not an admissions secret. It is an advantage that anyone can vie for. Why didn’t you play and excel in a sport?</p>
<p>I can only hope my full diploma IB candidate with 8 APs by the end of junior year, an excellent SAT score and football player to boot will have a decent shot at some of those schools. He is not counting on football to get him in. </p>
<p>Everyone claims the standards are lowered for athletes (esp. in football/basketball) – it will be interesting to see how S does next spring. Those selective schools want their students to graduate – if a student can’t do the work, it does the student a disservice and makes the school look bad. (That said, I went to a football mecca for college and know that some schools use the players as revenue producers and don’t give a %$#@ about the student getting an education. However, at the D-III LAC level, I suspect the integrity of the academics holds a bit more sway.)</p>
<p>I’m really sick of people b****ing about athletes.</p>
<p>Yes the admissions standards are lower, but I don’t see anyone else here committing to spend 20+ hours a week doing something other than schoolwork, eating, and sleeping…</p>
<p>You have a great record and no doubt will be admitted to at least some of the schools on your list. In any case, chances are great that you will be admitted to a great school at which you will thrive and grow.</p>
<p>However, this athlete also has solid stats (an 1800 is nothing to sneeze at) and is probably quite a bright kid. Sports form an important niche group in LACs, and just like an LAC needs a 3.9-2250-superstar genius kid like you, they also need their athletes. Swimguy and some of the others have a point. Athletes put a tremendous amount of time into their sport and for him to do that and still maintain a good GPA and SAT scores, he’s likely to play well for the school and still perform well at the LAC.</p>
<p>Plus, coaches will say anything to get their favorite prospects to apply to a school. As far as I know, most of those schools are division III schools and don’t even give scholarships to athletes.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about him. Just worry about yourself. His “guaranteed” admissions doesn’t have anything to do with your admissions</p>
<p>I guess I should have asked my question in two parts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do you think that this guy in my class(the football player) is telling the truth?</p></li>
<li><p>If he is telling the truth, why do these colleges lower their standards so much for athletes?? You’d think that they would at least require a 2000 SAT since no one with a 2000 ever gets into these schools anyway. I can’t believe an 1800 makes it in! I thought only the pot smokers scored that low!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I mean come on…at best I might get 2 or 3 of these schools…and this oaf gets to choose which one he goes to??? Something needs to be done about this.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that your classmate may have taken the encouragement from these coaches to mean more than it really means. At some schools, coaches do get a certain (small) number of guaranteed admits to help build their team roster–but at others, all the coach can really do is put in a good word.</p>
<p>Colleges know that they will get a more diverse and robust set of applicants if they have varsity sports that don’t suck. They’ll also get more financial support from alumni who are crazy about sports if the sports teams don’t suck. So there is a component of self-interest for the college in helping recruit students who are outstanding in a variety of things not directly related to academics. It’s about marketing, and about having a student body that’s more than just a bunch of people who score well on standardized tests.</p>
<p>Judging from your academic performance, you were born with the gift of intelligence and have had the drive to harness that gift to effort and achievement. Count your blessings–those qualities will take you far in the world long after your friend has given up competitive football.</p>
<p>Also: somebody who can maintain a solid B average while excelling at a competitive sport is not an “oaf”. He’s a person with a different skill set and different priorities than yours. He may figure his odds at scholarships are much higher if he’s a football star, which means he’s a smart cookie for knowing his strengths.</p>
<p>Applicants with your stats are a dime a dozen. College-calibre football players are rare, especially at the Div 1 level, which the Ivies are. You should have excelled at a sport.</p>
<p>OP - I think you have an unhealthy attitude towards SAT scores. 1800 is usually not Ivy-material, but it’s not terrible either. It can probably get you into a good school if your other stats are good. Also, I’m not understanding the drug reference - why would anyone’s personal habits interfere with their test score? Unless a) they were high during the test or b) the police found pot at their house during the test and pulled them out, causing them to not finish the SAT…in conclusion, generalizations are bad! (Yes, I realize this is a generalization in itself…)</p>
<p>Second, I couldn’t agree with you more. Personally, I think college should be about education, not sports. I know some crazy smart athletes who deserve a spot on an Ivy League sports team, but I also know a completely non-studious and intelligent-but-not-brilliant kid who got recruited for Dartmouth football. This is completely unfair, because there are tons of more deserving kids with more impressive stats, like me, who get rejected or waitlisted at similar schools. You will probably experience this as well. You and I would be willing and enthusiastic to do the demanding work at these places, but will never have the chance.</p>
<p>This is a sad fact of life that will hopefully change if, in the future, our society values intellectualism and education more than competition.</p>
<p>I don’t think telling the OP she should have “excelled at a sport” is the way to go. It can be hard to juggle academics + extracurricular clubs and activities, PLUS a sport. At my school, last year, the class valedictorian, 4.4 with a 2200+ SAT score got rejected from Princeton, while a football player with around a 1700 SAT score, and even lower GPA got in (this year). Just because he can football. And sure, 4.4’s and 2200s are a dime a dozen when it comes to the ivies and whatnot, but he had a lot of very interesting, distinguishable ECs to go a long with that. All Applicant B had was football. There’s no way he’ll survive a courseload at Princeton. And I’m not saying this with a speculative eye either; I know him and his gf pretty well (and she agrees with this). He’s far from stupid, but not ivy league material.</p>
<p>I’m not saying it’s not important for school’s to strengthen their teams and generate school spirit and whatnot, but when it comes to that type of favoritism it’s a little disheartening for people who care about it.</p>