<p>Hey so, my friend was wondering something:
He is a great runner. He broke the school record for the mile and is probably one of the best runners in the state (last time I checked his mile time was 4:20 or something). He wants to go to Yale.</p>
<p>He is a very below average student. He takes no AP classes or honors classes. His GPA is 3.3 or 3.4. His SATs are around 1900-2000. By below average, I mean for Yale, of course. I am not quite sure what to say to him.</p>
<p>He has gotten the recruitment letter from Yale and has contacted the coach. But I'm not sure how far that will take him? He does nothing besides running and he plays the drums a little bit. I don't know what to tell him, so can anyone help? Does he have a good shot at Yale?</p>
<p>If he really wants to know, he should check out the Academic Index Calculator, which should give him a pretty good idea of his chances…I think there’s an explanation that goes with it for athletes.</p>
I know that a 4:20 is a very competitive time, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough to offset his academics. I think he needs to ask the coach himself if his academics will create problems getting recruited. Yale will recruit students with your friend’s stats, but I’m not positive just how strong of a runner your friend is. If they really want him, they’ll get him.</p>
<p>What I will tell you is this: student from my HS with a 3.7 GPA, ~2000 SAT, and 4:09 mile is now at Yale. Take from that as you will.</p>
<p>3.7 is a competitive GPA though. 3.3 or whatever he has is not. Especially considering he takes easy classes. So I’m not quite sure if he’s qualified. And 4:09 and 4:20 is a pretty big difference, so I’ll let him know.</p>
<p>I don’t know about track, but your stats don’t need to be that high to be recruited to an Ivy for a sport. The GPA also depends on your school; a 3.3 from my son’s private school is equitable to a 3.8-4.0 at our public. No honors or AP’s though, that would probably be a cause for concern. It’s not like he’s being recruited for hockey, where you might be able to get in with much lower stats.</p>
<p>I agree–not sure his track times are good enough to offset his mediocre academics. Is he a junior this fall or a senior? If he’s a senior, then chances are Yale has already pre-cleared him through admissions since it’s late in the game and time to be setting up official visits and finalizing recruiting lists. If he’s only a junior, have him send his transcript, school profile, this year’s schedule, and SAT scores to the coach and ask for an admissions pre-read. That will let him kow if he has a chance or not.</p>
Ivy League schools (for the most part): hard getting in, easy getting out. The people who really struggle with the academics at schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc. are those who really have no business at Ivy League schools regardless of how hooked they are (think sub 3.0 GPA with 1500-1600 on the SAT…yes, they do exist). Athletes like OP can easily survive the college curriculum by avoiding rigorous workloads. That’s how these schools all have 95+% graduation rates.</p>