<p>Does anyone have any experience or insight on whether college students who achieve relatively high grades while competing on varsity athletic teams have an advantage when applying to graduate school or for employment?</p>
<p>absolutely, grad schools and especially employers recognize the level of time and commitment it takes to be a scholar athlete with high grades. and if they don't make sure you make them aware...all part of successfully marketing yourself!</p>
<p>i've read somewhere that student athletes that have graduated from college have higher salaries on average once in the workplace. sorry....... i don't recall where i read it. </p>
<p>you might try posting this question on a sports board too. someone there might have some info. too on the subject.</p>
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i've read somewhere that college grad student athletes have higher salaries on average. sorry i don't recall where i read it.
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I believe that in the book 'The Game of Life' the author says that many athletes major in economics and go into investment type jobs, which could account for the higher average salaries.</p>
<p>As I have never had a child apply to grad school yet (oy, do I have to start thinking about yet another admissions process????), I had read here previously that grad schools do not consider ECs and so I assumed they would not care, for example, that my D was a varsity sport athlete or Academic All American, etc. Do the grad school apps ask for ECs? If so, well, that's nice because then they'll get the full picture of the student's college life and can put academic achievement in context of the student also having handled many other commitments. I didn't realize grad schools would learn of it because somewhere I got the impression that ECs don't count for grad school. If they do, I'm glad. Clearly, my D is not doing ECs to get into grad school and this topic has never come up. She's doing them cause she loves 'em, whether or not she ever were to apply to grad school.</p>
<p>Eric Heiden had no trouble getting into med school. Seriously, I think it helps some--more for business school.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, LOL...my kid is no Eric Heiden...he is an Olympic gold medal winner and is a "name". My kid is clearly not in that league!!!!!</p>
<p>Very good college athletes get a thumb on the scale. But they still have to be in the ballpark for admission to competitive graduate schools. And I agree B-school is where it will be valued most. Law schools value it very little. </p>
<p>Put another way, - athletics are not a panacea for a mediocre academic record. Even an All American football player at Football Factory Univ. is not going to waltzing into a competitive grad school with a 3.0 in recreation studies.</p>
<p>A friend of mine that is a football and baseball coach at a top 20 LAC told me that he gets many calls from prospective employers asking for names of potential employees from his athletes.</p>
<p>This coach said he gets more calls than even the career counseling office as employers know that most athletes who graduate from a top school know how to manage time and have qualities related to teamwork, drive and perserverence. These are the types of qualities companies are looking for</p>
<p>Assuming academic credentials are in the ballpark (lol), big city law firms love to hire new lawyers(male and female) who played sports in college. It's a good schmoozing thing with clients and the big city law firms like to win against other firms in the lawyer intramural sports leagues. I have seen it happen many times.</p>
<p>Bring in the Ringer!</p>
<p>2010 - I can assure big city law firms care not one whit about sports. They care only about credentials, and one's capacity to bill long hours. Law schools may view it on the margins as a helpful thing. </p>
<p>And I don't understand your attempt at humor.</p>
<p>Yep, I know a lawyer who was hired into a top firm soley because he could be a center on their firm's basketball team</p>
<p>D will be starting the applications process this fall for grad school/law school combo programs, so maybe something will come out of that process that will tell me. But she's heard from various sources at her school that athletics will NOT give applicants a boost in the process - I do not know how credible the sources are however.</p>
<p>Slightly off topic for graduate school, but my hubby got through everyone but the CEO with flying colors when he was interviewing for a job in high tech. The CEO asked him point blank "Do you golf?" My hubby replied that he had golfed a few times but considered himself at best a happy hacker. The CEO "Too bad, I need someone to go out with me and X, our biggest client. That's why we have his business. I'm sorry, I can't hire you."</p>
<p>mam, you can't possibly know that all big city law firms are not swayed by a candidate's sports career. The hiring decisions are not all about credentials. Emotional connections are necessary for hiring. Otherwise, the interview would not be a part of the process. We'd all hire from a cv or resume.</p>
<p>A firm can only bill hours if a client hires the firm first. The sports connection, the championship ring, the sports banter......all go a long way in reeling in clients. And keeping them.</p>
<p>hiker: I used golf in my career advancement. All the female managers in my company were annoyed that the men would sneak out & claim to be working off site on "Progect G." The women retaliated by sneaking out for "Project M," which was a manicure. I knew that my golf game (while not great) would help me get noticed, so I spent time at the driving range. It worked. A few long drives at the management golf outings turned heads. Opened up dialog, and once I was a familiar face to senior VPs as the "girl golfer who could hit it a ton," they sought out details of my work performance. Promotions quickly followed. None of them cared that I didn't have manicured nails.</p>
<p>Ugh. Maybe this is why my neighbors (surgeon/lawyer) just had a pro basketball court built on their property, 24 " from my yard, for their 3, 6 and 9 yr. old boys. Oh, and they're already teaching them baseball and golf.</p>
<p>Oldest DD is in the midst of applying for grad school- vet school. On our state's vet school app there is a specific section dedicated just for EC's, which mentions varsity collegiate athletics. There is a point breakdown of the value of each section on the app, and it is not a small value. School is also where she is receiving her undergrad and it is a big D1 sports school. Also seems to be of value on UNC's med, law and B-school's apps, for that matter Duke's as well.</p>
<p>At our neighboorhood "pig pickin" last weekend, neighbors were more interested in what sport son would be continuing in college than what major he was thinking about at Princeton, or that he was attending P at all. Said they would have a hard time watching him play ball if he was "deep in Yankee territory". Said the same thing about older son and his sister, she's 3000 miles away, "why didn't they just go to State or Carolina" and everybody would still be happy!!!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Personally, I question the view that firms call athletic departments for recruits because they value the athletes' time management skills. I would vote for the skills of "slap you on the rear and talk sports", or the even higher valued skill of "Yes, I'm THAT George Smith who won the Heisman", etc.</p>
<p>And for those of you who may believe that firms do not hire for athletic ability - and the bragging rights they get when their sports team wins the "Paperclip and metal fasteners industry golf open" or whatever - consider this: A case that went before a state supreme court was the case brought by an employee who alleged he was hired for his athletic ability, then fired after he broke a bone and could no longer play. The courts found in his favor. [For you lawyers out there, the basis of the case was implied contract of the employment manual.]</p>