Noticed that some d3 schools along with the ivies wanted to keep athletics strong but some student-athletes fell below school standards.
They can, yes, but you’ll have to be more specific with your question if you want a more detailed answer.
I just wanted to get a look at the stats of some slotted recruits with say a 3.3 1400 SAT with an athletic slot at a LAC like Bowdoin or Bates and see how they fared in admissions since they fall below the bandwidth of the school’s profile.
Your best best is to ask your coach – what is his experience with students with your stats. At Bowdoin or Bates, the priority given that sport, and other variables, will be different. Just ask the Grinnell coach what his experience is with your range of stats.
Ivy AI has more flexibility than D3 NESCAC banding.
I think it also depends on the sport. In team sports, certain position players may get more preference than individual timed sports. My friend’s son is playing baseball at a NESCAC with stats below their average, but not as low as a 3.3. I know several football players for both Ivy and high academic D3 with around 3.5 or lower gpa.
Yes, of course. This is not a secret. Colleges have different admission standards for various categories of applicants that they would like to have at the school (e.g., first generation college).
Not sure where you are in the process. The traction you get or (or don’t get) from coaches will inform the process. A preread will let you know if you fall into the group of athletes that is admissible but fall below average stats for admissions.
As far as Bates and Bowdoin go, search the internet archives. The Bowdoin Orient had a three part series a couple years back about recruiting that will tell you everything you want to know. The Bates paper had a much shorter article about the same issue.
Someone with very few honors classes at my son’s high school, who is nowhere near the top of the class, made it into a top NESCAC as an athletic recruit. My son is not close with him so we do not know his SAT for sure, and can only speculate, which may be unfair… but students we know in similar classes as the boy are in the fifth decile by GPA at his high school. This student’s statistics are likely to be remarkably below those of other students in his high school who were denied from similar schools last year. The boy is, however, probably the top athlete in their high school. And he is a good enough student— a few honors classes— that he is likely to succeed at college. After all, many more students could manage the work at these colleges than actually get admitted.
I will preserve the person’s privacy by not naming his sport or college.
But the clear conclusion is, if you are a TRULY great athlete, who will make a BIG IMPACT on the team, you stand a chance with statistics that are decidedly below the mean for the college.
The following information is quoted from Tier1athletics.org, and corresponds with the same band data I saw on ephblog. I have no idea if this is a reliable source or not.
“What is a band?
NESCAC institutions use a banding system that the athletic and admissions departments use to rank players who seek admission. The banding breaks players up based on GPA, Class Rank, SAT (or ACT) and SAT 2 and then categorizes them as A Band, B Band or C Band. Over a 4 year period, schools slot a certain amount of players per band. The system allows for more flexibility than the Ivy’s Academic Index but limits weaker academic applicants. Schools are generally given 4-7 slots per year. At a school like [a most competitive NESCAC], the class may be made up of 4 A Band students and 2 B Band students. The same B Band student at [a most competitive NESCAC] could be considered an A Band student at a slightly less selective school like [a less competitive NESCAC].
So here is a general outline of A, B and C Bands for NESCAC schools.
A Band
SAT Scores 700+ average all above 670
SAT II 710
GPA: 92+ GPA, Almost All As
Class Rank: Top 5%
Courses: 4+ APs, Honors Classes
B Band
SAT scores 650+ average, all above 620
SAT II 640
GPA: 88+ GPA, Mix of As, Bs
Class Rank: Top 15%
Courses: Few AP Courses, Honors
C Band
SAT scores 630+ average, all above 590
SAT II 600
GPA: 85+ GPA, Mix of As, Bs, occasional Cs
Class Rank: Top 20%
Courses: Honors.”
^I looked for a reliable source. This is from a New York Times article from 2005:
“Athletes at Amherst were admitted in academic categories called bands. A certain number of recruited athletes (19 in the current freshman class) are permitted to fall into the lowest band, for students with strong high school records in challenging courses and with scores of 1,250 to 1,310 on the two-part College Board exam. The next-highest band required a very strong record and course load and SAT scores from 1,320 to 1,430.
Bates: http://www.thebatesstudent.com/2015/04/athlete-recruitment-complicated-confidential-process/
If you look in the way back machine, you’ll find the Bowdoin series. I have had trouble finding it in the Bowdoin Orient archives. This link to this editorial refers to the three part series: http://bowdoinorient.com/bonus/article/9150
Thanks for the very valuable information everyone. I have used certain online calculators and found my academic index to be 210 and I heard 220 was the mean at an IVY league school. Hoping my early read at Grinnell goes well with the coach’s slot.
The part about me that is different is my SAT score of 1450, 780 math and 670 reading would be considered in the A band however, my 3.2 GPA 3.71 (W) would probably put me in the C band. In terms of the coach’s support he has offered me full support(Slot) and is getting an early read from admissions right now.
And when reviewing the NYT article from 2005 that @TheGreyKing posted, it’s fair to assume that the NESCAC bands have moved up inline with the overall student population profile.
So, if the overall mean at Amherst in 2005 was 1448 with student-athletes below that at 1380, then in 2017 with a overall mean of 1500 student athletes are at 1440 - a very smart bunch.
A 3.2 GPA would be problematic for a lot of high ranking D3 LAC’s, even if you are an outstanding athlete. There are always exceptions, if something else about your application is extraordinary. Bottom line is that a lot of those colleges are pretty rigorous, and that they don’t want to admit someone who might not be able to keep up academically.
Oh ok but based on academic index(mine is 210) wouldn’t I fall into the 1 standard deviation from the mean of 220? So I would be admissable right?
May I ask what sport you hope to play at Grinnell? Good luck to you!
honestly, contact the coach there! show your interest, and you can bring up your chances of admission. he/she can give you an estimate. idk if all schools do this but I got a preread done, which is when the coach sends your gpa and test scores over to the admissions liaison, and the admissions people will in turn tell the coach if you are likely to be admitted.
I hope to play basketball, I understand it’s a high profile sport and the coach has indicated high need
A student with numbers that low will have a hard time academically and honestly probably won’t get in
I know an athlete that got into Grinnell with a 3.7 and a 1370 SAT