I heard a rumor that the Ivy League is always looking for athletes. Is this true? Would someone with not-so- stellar stats be able to attend an Ivy because they are a stand out in their respective athletic field?
Yeah, always looking for nationally ranked athletes.
Yes, you can get in with lower scores (2000 SAT and 3.5 W GPA would probably do it). But they really need to want you - see point # 1 (nationally ranked).
More chance getting in on your grades and being a walk-on than being good enough to get in on your athletics.
Our experience, YMMV.
Well… how are your swim times? Would you make today’s teams? If not, then just having been an athlete won’t be any more than another person having been a clerk at Nordstroms
@rhandco thanks so much for the response! It was very helpful!
@T26E4 Thanks for the response! My times would allow me an opportunity to be apart of the team. Maybe not the #1 swimmer but quite possibly the 2nd-4th in my best events.
@T26E4 but I do have an entire year to improve
@ChillWill7 You might want to contact the swim coach to start getting on the radar if your times are in the ballpark. . . as noted above, it’s definitely a challenge to meet the academic and athletic requirements, but coaches are looking for student athletes that fit that profile.
Another thing to know is that there are a lot of NCAA rules about how and when coaches can contact athletes, so there are times when they can’t initiate contact with a potential recruit, but they may be able to pick up the phone if the student calls them.
At least for football, they will be most interested in the athlete who has the stats to get accepted anyway. My son had lots of interest from Ivy League football programs. He had the “stats” to gain acceptance into any Ivy League school, but of course many kids with the stats are rejected each year. So without football, who knows. Having the academic chops made a big impression on coaches, but the athletic skills were required. Even then, with coach support, there is only an increased chance of acceptance, but not a guarantee.
Hey @ChillWill7 I’m a fellow swimmer.
Yale is actually my top choice and I’m taking a recruiting trip there this fall. I’m sure I’ll fall in love with the campus and program and overall they have a lot of really great stuff going on there.
The coach reached out to me in January of my junior year… I think. The only stats he knew about me were those I had on my recruiting profiles, so even if they know very little about your academic success and they have an interest in you they will probably reach out to you. If they don’t, go ahead and fill out a questionnaire on the swimming website and they’ll review your stats and will probably shoot you an email if they’re interested.
To answer your question, yes; someone with not-so-stellar stats can attend an Ivy because they are good at athletics. Take me for an example. 34 ACT, 1980 SAT, AP scores: 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, straight A’s minus a few B’s. Yeah so I’m pretty strong academically, but for extracurriculars, school involvement and community service, I have literally nothing. (Keep in mind those three things are essential for non-athlete Yale applicants.) I’m not in any clubs. I’m not even a member of NHS. I have 19 hours of community service. I don’t even swim for my high school; I just do club. Despite all that, I know for a fact that I have a guaranteed spot and if I want it I just have to say so. The coach said that the only reason I wouldn’t get accepted at this point is because of poor teacher recommendations or poor essays on my application.
If your test scores aren’t high, don’t fret. I didn’t get a 34 until June—prior to that I was a 31 and the coach was still very interested in me. I’d say if you have higher than a 30 on your ACT and your transcript has mostly A’s, you’re in good shape.
That all being said, I am one of those sought-after athletes. Last year I was ranked #1 nationally for my age group in the 200 breaststroke. I was invited to National Select Camp at the Olympic Training Center in October. I got my Olympic Trials cut when I was 14. My current times would place me in the top 5 at the Ivy League Conference meet.
Don’t think you have to be the best in the nation to get recruited by Yale. It’s not Cal or Florida we’re talking about here. If you can make a contribution to the team they’ll make an effort to get you there.
Yale is a great choice. I was about to take them off my list a couple months ago, and I’m glad I didn’t. Definitely look into going there.
Not sure if the OP is still tracking this, but Yale and the other Ivies use the Academic Index for athletic recruits (there are AI calculators online). There are league rules about AI scores for recruited athletes relative to students as a whole, and more detailed rules for football with four AI bands and a certain number of recruits allowed in each.
At Yale (and Harvard and Princeton), estimated AI for athletic recruits overall is roughly 210, with obviously some recruits above that and some below. Each school can have its own internal rules to get to the overall numbers the league requires, e.g. allowing lower numbers in some sports and requiring higher numbers in others.
Admissions will do a pre-read on academics before athletes are invited out for official visits, but as mollycoddle says coaches will have a good idea of what it’s likely to take in their particular sport to be a viable candidate.