<p>I agree with StickerShock. I say this having one kid who was in three varsity sports in HS and ALSO did several areas of performing arts and now is on o Div. I athletic team at college. But I also have another kid heavily involved in performing arts...both in HS and now in college. The dedication and commitment involved are just as great, and actually greater in terms of the hours. One of these areas is not a bigger commitment or involving more hard work. Both do, from my direct observation.</p>
<p>XIGGI - I think I have to agree with you regarding the OP's info posted - Those scores could not meet the AI of the Ivies - then or now - and NO athletic ''merit'' aid exists in the Ivy's. Certainly wonder what ''top 5 Ivy'' they are referring to. And YES - the IVY's DO recruit!!</p>
<p>............Academic Index, a formula that compares the academic profile of admitted athletes with the profile of students at large. The index is computed for every school within the league and then shared with the group of presidents. ................</p>
<p>This is a basic explaination of the AI and how it is calculated..............
<a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm</a></p>
<p>One of the things that can certainly effect the AI is the class rank piece - especially for those schools that don't rank - but give a percentile - it can be figured as the 50% of the top 10 - which is 5th - or it can be calculated as the lowest of the top 10 - which is 10th - so that could certainly creat a difficult situation for a student.</p>
<p>If the student can't meet the minimum AI required - no matter how good the athlete - they are not getting accepted to an IVY! Bet that 'full ride' - if it really happened - had lots of loans involved too.</p>
<p>^thank this is very helpful.
thanks everyone for your input. its been interesting reading your comments, even the semi-rude ones.</p>
<p>ANd the top 5 ivy i was referring to was U Penn. I was trying to keep some info about the situation disclosed but because there are ppl on the board who didn't believe my store and wanted to know (they have a right to) i decided to post it.</p>
<p>BSB not meaning to offend you - just the info you presented is not complete - that would qualify your friend for an Ivy academically - so the missing info may be the key - sorry if I was one of the semi-rude ones :D</p>
<p>I wrote a letter of rec for an athlete to Harvard. The student let me know it apparently didn't really matter - just had to go through the app process. It was a standard letter of rec, nothing wonderful, and I am sure that my belief that the student wasn't H material came through. She is now a jr. at H. It didn't matter. She was recruited. And I still say the student wasn't real H material. However, the student is passing, but certainly NOT excelling. But of course the mentor and tutors help a lot.</p>
<p>"Ivies are indeed interested in top level artistically talented kids, as well, in terms of admissions."</p>
<p>My daughter found that to be true at Princeton where she was just admitted ED. She auditioned in person, sent a cd of vocal pieces she had submitted to NFAA and had been named a finalist for. She was qualified academically but it was her vocal talents that made her distinctive.</p>
<p>I know of two cases of artistic kids who had substantial weaknesses in their record, one with test scores, the other with GPA/class rank, who were admitted to an elite college, and whose admission applications included some evidence of their talent (portfolio, etc.) I have NO evidence whatsoever that nonathletes are uniformly subject to a higher academic standard.... except the assumption of these boards that the median score ranges are somehow to be interpreted as setting a minimum, and the equally baseless assumption that the bottom half or quartile of all admitted students consists entirely of athletes, URM's, & legacies. </p>
<p>I think that if a kid stands out in some nonacademic way -- whether it is athletics, arts, or some other unique experience or accomplishment -- it is a big boost for admission. If all the kid has to offer is academics, then the competition is pretty tough -- which is why bookish kids from northeastern states really need to excel academically. A recruited athlete has a bigger hook than a performing artist who merely opts to submit a sample of her work, since coaches have more pull than college theater directors -- but the point is, both the athlete and the artist may get in with weaker "stats" than many other kids who are turned away.</p>
<p>Surprised no one has mentioned the one subset of Ivy students who do get a full ride -- Music School students at Yale. No tuition required. </p>
<p>Yes?</p>
<p>I believe it is only a graduate school- Yale music.</p>
<p>^^thats awesome. i may have to consider that for grad school. is that really true?</p>
<p>In our community, predominantly middle class, highly educated (state capital), "good" schools, etc., virtually the only ones ever admitted to HYP are athletes. Doesn't matter if they have 2400 SATs, are vals or sals, built houses in New Guinea, opera singers, etc., if they aren't athletes, with very, very rare exceptions they just don't get in.</p>
<p>In our community, mostly middle class, mostly not highly educated families, and barely adequate schools, I can't think of one Ivy admit who was an athlete since my kids were in the hs. Actually, I know of only one HYP admit, last year's val, and he was not an athlete (was into computers, robotics, etc.)</p>
<p>I wonder if the difference is geography. (Though we have very highly educated families.) But the reality is that these schools admit very, very few middle class ($40-$92k) kids (and likely a plurality of those ARE athletes.)</p>
<p>mini:</p>
<p>are they recruited athletes, or did they just play sports in HS?</p>
<p>In the cases of the ones I know (which is a very small sample), recruited athletes - one football, two crew, one female crosscountry, one tennis. To be fair, the tennis one comes from a wealthy family.</p>
<p>In our community of mostly middle income public HS students who are not athletes quite a few are admitted to HPYS. In my S's year 16 to Stanford, 3 MIT, 3 Harvard, 2 Yale, 1 Princeton, and about 50 or more to the other Ivies and top 15 USNWR schools. This is repeated most every year. Few are standout national award winners, no Intel winners, etc., and few have dramatic EC's. Most of the kids are not highly competitive nor, for the most part, do they hire outside consultants and go through an elaborate preparation process. Few, if any, are legacies. They are not recruited, but seem to do okay. But, why leave it to chance? After reading this, I'm having my youngest, very athletic, son join the Lacrosse team! :)</p>
<p>idad -- squash is better for admission (smaller competitive pool.) ;)</p>
<p>idad:</p>
<p>go for speed work on the track -- if your S can get his 40 yard time to 4.4 seconds, the football coaches will be drooling, regardless of his size.</p>
<p>I'm going out and buying a stopwatch. And, I must admit, I've never seen a squash game.</p>