<p>I read on the Harvard board that sports are counted in its own category. Is this true? I always thought that EC's are looked at as a whole, not in individual subcategories. I don't play any sports because music takes up a lot of my time. Does this hurt me?</p>
<p>Not playing a sport does not take away from your candidacy; however, I believe what Harvard and most ivy-league institutes tend to do is lower their academic standards for atheletes because they do not offer scholarships; thus, the more they admit the more they are likely to actually enroll. Playing sports helps, but it is not a factor that will hurt you if you are strong in other areas.</p>
<p>You said that they lower their academic standards for athletes. Do you mean recruited athletes, or all athletes? I know that recruited athletes can get in practically regardless of their academic stats. However, I wasn't aware that every sport-playing applicant gets a special bonus in his/her academic credentials.</p>
<p>Let me set the message straight on athletes. The (sport) coach put her name on a list to send to admissions. Her SATs were 1400, she is in top 10%, 14 honors/or ap classes, 4.0 weighted GPA. She played in national tournaments, captain of her team, Varsity letters, 150 hrs. community services, class officer, NHS, etc. She was deferred. Please don't say that athlete's numbers don't count. They do. And the defferal hurt.</p>
<p>From what I've seen, athlete's are not in any way less intelligent than most of the people at ivy league schools. Granted, there are some elite athletes that are let in with 1200s and scores that would be viewed as sub-par for these institutions. However, on average, I've found that athletes are often some of the hardest working, intelligent people on campus.</p>
<p>MommyPain --</p>
<p>Suggest you refer to the JohnTReed website mentioned by several parents on this forum for an explanation of academic "banding". It is illuminating. </p>
<p>Overall, I would agree with PimpDaddy, although I am sure there are exceptions to any rule.</p>