<p>Would really appreciate anyone's input (who has had experience with
MIT athletics) regarding my academic profile and my chances as a
recruited athlete who has been invited to take an overnight visit and
who has been in contact with the coach.</p>
<p>Is it out of the question to pursue MIT with a B+ in Honors Biology, a
B+ in AB Calculus, and the following AP and SAT II scores? Took
regular Precalculus as a sophomore. A and A- in all other classes.</p>
<p>No major math/science extracurriculars/awards but strong other extra curriculars.</p>
<p>No, it’s not out of the question. But while athletic recruitment is a useful thing, and it certainly helps, it’s not a guarantee of admission by any means.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but I believe I read somewhere on here (that already tells you how valid it is) that at MIT specifically the coaches have far less influence over the decision on admitting an athlete than, say, Princeton because of the fact that they place little emphasis on their sports teams. But what do I know? I’m no admissions officer. Regardless, you look to be “in the range” for the school (your SAT is a little low, but not horribly low) and, depending on your athletic ability, could potentially be a recruit.</p>
<p>MIT doesn’t have open spots to fill that are reserved for sports. Getting “recruited” at MIT is basically getting an additional letter of recommendation that talks about a different side of you, which is what all additional letters of recommendation should do.</p>
<p>I believe that what Piper says is true, but I also believe that there is something additional I have noticed about being “recruited” at MIT that isn’t mentioned. Coaches talk about getting on a list of recruits that is sent to Admissions. Since you are a recruited athlete there is an excellent chance you will end up on that list. I believe that the coaches top recruits have a better chance of getting accepted than those that are not as desirable to the coaches. This is probably not an earth shattering speculation, but it is not mentioned by Admissions or the coaches as far as I know.</p>
<p>Now Admissions still has all the power here and the top recruit can still be denied and many are. Also I bet a coach will not tell you if you are one of the top recruits. If, however, you can gauge your desirability versus the other recruits you meet during the overnight visit, you may get a better feel for your chances.</p>
<p>My S was recruited by MIT several years ago for baseball. His scores, grades, etc were on par with regular non-athletic admits. (Your stats are decent, but his were better). The coaches send a list to admissions, and there are no guarantees, no Likely Letter, or any indication of your acceptance/rejection until decision day for all applicants.</p>
<p>He was told of the player who turned down a baseball scholarship offer at a PAC-12 school to come to MIT. All was fine, until the recruit was rejected. </p>
<p>S chose to pass on MIT and went with a school and program that provided admission certainty (via a Likely Letter).</p>
<p>The long and the short is being recruited by MIT has no meaning until you get the acceptance/rejection letter. If you get a rejection, it’s often too late to find a school to play. In the Ivy League, recruits know where they stand shortly after submitting an app (by getting a Likely Letter); at scholarship D1s, NLIs insure admission.</p>
<p>If you decide to apply to MIT, have a very viable back-up plan which allows you to find an appropriate athletic and academic environment in case of a rejectin.</p>
This is absolutely true. Princeton is a member of the Ivy League, which is a division I sports league, while MIT is division III. Division I and division III have different rules for recruitment and admission of athletes, and coaches have considerably less sway at division III schools in general, and at MIT in particular.</p>
<p>A quote from Matt McGann that I dig up every time we talk about athletic recruitment here:
<p>My nephew was an athletic recruit at MIT last year. He was invited to spend several days on campus, working out with the team, etc. Academically his stats were very competitive and he came from a special math/science high school. Fantastic EC’s and accomplishments. He was warned repeatedly by the coach though that coaches just don’t have the pull with admissions that coaches at other schools do. I don’t think he quite believed it and was crushed when he was waitlisted. I would also recommend that you not set your heart on this school but look for other schools where you’d be happy as well. You might get accepted, but MIT is a long-shot for even the best of students.</p>
<p>No, see, this is precisely what is wrong with recruitment threads. They don’t have to accept a certain number of athletes to fulfill some quota. You’re not being compared to the other athlete recruits. You’re being compared to the entire pool.</p>
<p>It’s an additional item for your resume. Just like sending in a piano piece or getting an additional letter of recommendation from your robotics team mentor. It is not a separate pool.</p>
<p>OP: I agree with the above posters. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on one’s view of “athletic recruitment” many of the applicants to MIT who are NOT athletes feel it is more MERITOCRATIC than the other DIV-1 schools…that athletics is seen in the same light as a musical prodigy or software design prodigy, etc…without one weighing more than another…</p>
<p>…it is interesting to note that the only 3 schools that are highly ranked and DIV-3 are MIT, Chicago, and Caltech…and all three have historically been very ACADEMICALLY FOCUSED schools…and I know in recent years, all three are trying to lighten up that image somewhat…Caltech, less so…</p>
<p>Piper, I believe the pull for an athlete that is on the list the coach provides to Admissions is more than just an additional item on the student’s resume. When my son was recruited he found that more than 50% of the recruited athletes in his sport were admitted. As far as he could tell the percentage admitted this year was not as high but still way, way above what the general percentage is.</p>
<p>I agree there is no separate pool for athletes. But MIT does have to reject so many students every year that they would love to admit. If you fall in that category and you are a recruited athlete, then your chances go up significantly.</p>
<p>My guess is that if 1 in 12 applicants are accepted and all 12 have very similar SAT/ACT scores, grades, academic achievements, etc., you would stand out to admissions as adding diversity to the community if your unique talent happens to be in athletics, if you are a very high level athlete compared to someone with the same academic credentials and no other unique/different ec’s. My guess is that the same would be true if you bring some other talent to the community such as acting, writing, cheerleading, as long as you have the same academic credentials. I know the Ivy’s cut corners on admissions for athletes but time and time again you have seen and heard that MIT will not cut you a break on the academics for admission if you are an athlete. But if you are a good athlete and have also accomplished what those other 11 people have academically, well…</p>
Significantly, yes. But not as significantly as people like to imply. </p>
<p>A few years ago, MITChris posted statistics indicating that about 30% of art, music, and athletics “stars” (as identified by art/music faculty and athletic coaches) were admitted. So it’s a great thing! But almost three-quarters of recruited athletes are still being rejected.</p>
<p>Ok being recruited by MIT means fairly little until you get that acceptance. I talked to the coach about possibly being recruited by MIT a few years ago and he sent me a long email. I ended up deleting it because I crossed MIT off my list. I didn’t want to go to MIT after I did more research about what I want to be. Here are some of things he noted. </p>
<p>-You need to have high SAT scores, preferably over a 700 in each section.
-You need to have high SAT subject scores, again preferably over 700.
-You need to be around the top 5% of your class. </p>
<p>Those were just the academic requirements. He stated that even with those marks, the decision is not up to him; it’s up to admissions. That 30% mark that another poster stated is true. The coach told me that a lot of the athletes that he recruits end up getting rejected or waitlisted.</p>