<p>I know Harvard says that they don't flag applications and the only way that athletics can help you get in is if you get an athletic likely, but this doesn't makes sense to me. They give out about 200 athletic likelies per year, and there is obviously a significantly larger amount of varsity athletes at the school. That said, do they just accept a qualified class and hope they have athletes? I know that sounds like a stupid question, but how else would their policy make sense?</p>
<p>I would guess that there would be a few walk-ons that make the varsity sports, but perhaps you’re not considering the fact that there are sophomore, junior, and senior athletes at Harvard, too. About 200 likelies * 4 classes = somewhere around 800 total recruited athletes. Add in the walk-ons, and the number seems close to 1000. That’s enough, wouldn’t you say?</p>
<p>Harvard must field 39 Division I varsity teams a year. If not they will lose Division I standing and no longer compete in the Ivy league, think about that.</p>
<p>Nearly 50% of students are varsity athletes. Athletics is one of the holistic variables that makes the Ivies unique. Brain and Braun, mental and physical, its all about balance…</p>
<p>Chocho - I think you’re confusing the absence of athletic scholarships with the absence of athletic recruiting. All the varsity athletic programs recruit extensively, and recruited athletes do get an advantage in admissions. The wiggle-room policy on recruited athletes in the Ivy League is that the Academic Index of each team’s roster must be within a half a standard deviation of the whole student body’s.</p>
<p>Okay. Thanks, all of that is stuff I hadn’t thought about. I was just wondering because the baseball coach contacted me a while back and we talked about Harvard baseball, but I didn’t get a likely or anything and he didn’t mention anything about baseball helping me in the admissions process. I just hope that (along with the rest of my application of course) that it could be an important factor.</p>
<p>If the coach did not explicitly say you are on his “list” (the one he gives to admissions specifying his top recruits) then the baseball effect would be negligent. If he has said “I will support” your application (tell admissions he’d like to have you on the team but he will not use one of his coveted “slots” for you, then your sport can be a little boost, assuming you have the academics of other top applicants.</p>
<p>If the coach has said nothing, well, you will be reviewed as a normal applicant, but the baseball will not be a boost, and you will need other great ECs to appeal to the adcom.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks.</p>