interesting article in The Atlantic about athletics in college admissions

MODERATOR’S NOTE:

Let’s not get off-topic; she was not an athletic recruit.

Yes, but at least for Ivy League schools, one needs to first get an offer. It does not matter how much Tommy Amaker or Tim Murphy wants a player - if he does not pass the Harvard admissions pre-read, he’s not getting in. Period. End of story.

“Upper crust” might be too strong, but it is an expensive sport, even before costs of coaching/travelling come into play. Skates for an elite player can run $1000; a stick and a helmet another $300 each.

“Nobody gets “guaranteed admission”…just doesn’t work like that at the Ivies.”

Not true, in our HS we have had three athletes offered 100% admission to Harvard as juniors. All were national-level athletes (two were ranked 1-2 in their sport and the third top twenty). Two had SAT < 1200 and GPAs in the 80s! The other had very respectable academic credentials.

Hockey is not a cheap sport. It requires expensive gear and ice time, plus the coaching/admin that many other sports have. And it’s rare to see in public high schools except in certain areas so is a club/travel sport for most (also for HS who have it since most need to play out of season to be recruitable).

http://time.com/4913284/kids-sports-cost/

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/youth-hockey-for-the-masses-the-brainchild-of-a-hedge-fund-retiree/

https://www.flipgive.com/stories/the-rising-cost-of-hockey-driving-families-away

top schools are going to require a pre-read before admission for athletic recruits. it is not particular to ivies fyi

That was my point, a commitable offer means you have a spot on the team and in the class as you’ve cleared admissions. A conditional offer by Tommy Amaker would mean you have to clear admissions or they’ve prioritized another player and are waiting on him/her.

Again, all offers in the Ivy league are considered ‘committing to the process’ until application and admission by the admissions office (might get a likely letter before actual admissions letter). The coaches may have done this hundreds of times and know who will get in and who won’t, but there is no sure thing until that admission letter arrives.

At other schools, even ND and Michigan and Duke, the coaches know the standards and who will get in but there are always surprises and some kid who had been committed since he was 15 doesn’t get admitted because of grades or missing an admission requirement or doesn’t get an NCAA acceptable ACT or SAT score. Some have even signed NLI but later learn they have not be accepted academically.

Did you invent this “committing to the process” term? I have never heard this from Ivy coaches.

No, the coaches use it and the recruits use it to say they are early commits to Yale, Harvard, etc.

^^ Exactly- @twoinanddone is very well versed in athletic recruiting. That’s exactly what those early commits are doing - committing to a process.

There is so much misinformation and judgement in this thread.

When my daughter was being recruited at a non HYP Ivy, the coach told her the likely letter was just that-it was likely she’d get in but in no way guaranteed as it still had to go through the admissions committee.

Lots of sharing of opinion here so I will share mine. I am far more supportive of the admissions boost provided for athletes than I am for that boost given to legacies. Athletes are getting the boost for their own individual accomplishments (although surely aided by parental resources), while legacies are benefiting from their parent’s accomplishments, not their own.

Others have made this second point that I will reiterate - it would be completely impossible to field competitive teams without that boost in admissions. Gaining admission into so-called elite colleges is so low odds that it is nearly random. Without the ability to recruit and promise those academically qualified recruits that they will be admitted, how could a soccer coach ever know if she will have a goalkeeper or a striker? How could the football team be assured of having a quarterback? Arguing against the admissions boost is akin to arguing for the elimination of varsity sports. Not a problem if that is someone’s opinion. It’s just best to be clear.

Ivy bound HS juniors/sophomores will announce that they have "committed to the admissions process at [Ivy School]. At non-Ivy schools, the announcement is that the kid has “committed” to play at [University].

Every early commit (at Ivies and elsewhere) body does not get in, but the overwhelming majority do. While other schools are free to continue to recruit those “early commits” until the official NCAA signing date, the early commit usually ends up going to the commit school. And even the signed NCAA NLI contains conditions that have to be met in the future – like graduating from HS.

The Likely Letters are from the admissions committee, not from a coach (at least in the Ivy League).

Really all commitments are to the process at all schools, but the Ivies make it clear that the coaches can’t offer admissions and many other schools don’t do that. Nothing binding until that NLI is signed, and even then it is only binding on playing the sport and the student can still go to any other school he wants to, just can’t play for a year and can’t take athletic money. Also nothing requiring the school to admit the committed recruit even after the NLI is signed.

@twoinanddone you’re right- the coach actually said she was supporting my daughter’s application but it wasn’t a guaranteed thing. The admissions dept sent the likely letter.

The Ivy recruiting process will be a vastly different experience depending on the athletic level of the recruit, available athletic talent pool (competition), academic stats and financial situation. For many recruits the process is highly deterministic.

As I type this I am parked at Harvard, and will be for 3 hours, while my 14 year old son practices. There are multiple age groups practicing. One player on the field currently is headed to Harvard next year and a 17 year old is in process. Both are very strong academically.

Don’t tell me sport don’t get you into IVYs.

n=3

Local kid, top grades, plays in a big time sport, most definitely offered a bunch of Ivys, but probable full pay. One coach had the full speech about how great the Ivy was for the rest of his life.
Turned them all down to play really really big time sports somewhere else at a great school. (Don’t want to give any specifics)

Another kid is at MIT playing a sport. Can’t really complain since he was the Val and is legit STEM major. He is the only kid to get into MIT in at least the past 9 years from our H.S.

Finally a State champ athlete our family knows. Ivy with some kind of named academic scholarship. I’m not even sure how this happened since I’m pretty sure his parents make too much, but who knows what they really make. Maybe they had a bad year.

A competitive athletic team brings exposure to colleges and universities. Not that Ivies need any more exposure but other tier schools benefit. It’s a trade off. Admitting athletes with lower stats in exchange for their participation in their athletic program is a win for both parties. If the team does well,especially if they win, they attract new recruits. It raises the profile of the school. Universities and colleges like to have the whole package to attract a diverse student body. Is it fair? Probably not but the school is trading one thing for another.

“Finally a State champ athlete our family knows. Ivy with some kind of named academic scholarship. I’m not even sure how this happened since I’m pretty sure his parents make too much, but who knows what they really make. Maybe they had a bad year.”

You’ve got your info wrong here. Part of the problem with “I know a kid…”
Ivies DO NOT DO academic scholarships! Period! It’s NEED BASEdD aid only. Same with athletic scholarships…they don’t exist there!

Really frustrating that folks continue to get this wrong.

the formula is going to vary at different schools and it’s going to be a trade off of athletics vs academics in many cases.

top tier athletes are gunning for FBS DIv 1 Power 5 conference schools for the most part. Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel types (probably have good academics) and Christian McCaffery with mediocre academics. the common denominator is athletic prowess at this level… if you don’t make the cut no amount of solid academics is going to get you in period.

below that are athletes maybe not at the top of their sport nationally with solid academics that use it as a hook to get into top non-fbs div 1 schools.

there are probably lower academic thresholds for sports such as football and basketball that hold true at all schools except for a place like Caltech