<p>interesting stuff ... a couple thoughts ... </p>
<p>I'd love to see the athletics stats split between football and non-football kids (or maybe football and basketball) ... in general, those are the two sports that bring in the most recruits that would not have been accepted otherwise. I know in my experience, my college coach was very proud of the XC and track teams having higher GPAs than the school average ... that is pretty typical in the minor sports ... the kids are excellent students also (perhaps focus and discipline carrying over to studying).</p>
<p>
[quote]
So far, 4 kids from my school (public) have been recruited to Ivy League schools- Cornell (tennis), Dartmouth (ski), Yalex2 (diving, soccer). None of them, except <em>maybe maybe possibly</em> Dartmouth, would have gotten in otherwise.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I do not recommend jumping to conclusions about why kids got accepted ... the Ivy league has set rules about how many athletic recruits can be accepted at varying degrees from the typical admit ... and in general those few slots do not get used up on minor sports such as tennis, diving, and skiiing (although Dartmouth may go to the mat for a skiier as they are a national power in skiiing) ... in general the bigger sports such as football and basketball (and hockey) draw most of the athletic recriuts who got a push beyond breaking a tie with another applicant.</p>