<p>How do you think schools (mainly the Ivies) rank sports compared to other ECs like speech and debate and so on? Do they carry the same weight and value? Does an athelete on a winning team look better than one on an average team? How valuable is a leadership award on a sports team? What if you do nothing but sports, yet get good grades, take APs and score well on tests, how would that look?</p>
<p>I am doing football, basketball and maybe track or volleyball. I wanted to do Speech + Debate but could not since I had football practice everyday.
Note: I do not want to do these to look good for college but am just wondering what impact it has on it.</p>
<p>For what I know, only very high level (recruitable) sports give some weight. Even recruited athletes have to demonstrate academic qualities suitable for the Ivies (of course, there might be some give-or-take for helmet sports). For instance, DD's friend, a recruitable swimmer, needed to have min 650 on each section of the SATs and national cuts to be considered for Yale swim team.</p>
<p>I suggest picking your ECs based on what you really like to do, not by the "I think the Ivies will like this" criteria.</p>
<p>Just so you know, there are a few people from my school who have graduated and gone to Ivies. Granted my school is a highly respected prep school that sends 5-10 kids to almost every Ivy each year, I've know some athletes with extremely questionable statistics get into these schools and receive scholarships. The Ivies certainly require higher standards for their student-athletes, but if you are extremely good at a sport(the girls I'm talking about were all-americans), they are not that different from any other DI recruiting program.
Also, I think that there are degrees of EC. For example, it would be better to be a four-year letterman for the football team and team captain senior year than it would be to do speech and debate for 2 years without any real leadership or accomplishments. Its all about passion. If you are a truly talented football player, then it makes sense that it takes precedent over any other EC. The Ivies care a lot about EC, but also that you are very involved in what you do outside the classroom. Its better to have 2/3 EC that you are involved in depth in. Try to get a teacher rec from someone who was involved in a EC.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Granted my school is a highly respected prep school that sends 5-10 kids to almost every Ivy each year, I've know some athletes with extremely questionable statistics get into these schools and receive scholarships.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is a common misconception. The Ivy League does NOT offer athletic scholarships. All aid is strictly need-based.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I've know some athletes with extremely questionable statistics get into these schools and receive scholarships
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'd like to hear the facts to back up this claim. What exactly are those extremely questionable statistics? Which sports? Which schools?</p>
<p>The Ivy League offers neither athletic nor academic scholarships to any applicants. Only need-based aid is offered. I have heard unverified claims that "need" might be interpreted more liberally for highly-sought-after athletes. Do you have any solid information on this, rowerchicka?</p>
<p>by 'academic scholarships' i meant LOTS of "need-based" aid- much more than for non-athletes. so i think we are right on track.</p>
<p>one guy that went to harvard last year and a girl that went to princeton the year from my school before for sports were both awarded EXTREMELY high financial aid packages. and they were not poor.</p>
<p>by 'academic scholarships' i meant VERY generous "need-based" aid. one guy from my school who went to Harvard and a girl who went to Princeton for sports both were awarded extremely good financial aid packages- neither was poor; on the contrary, both were upper-middle class to lower-upper-class.</p>
<p>Again, I have often heard these stories of "VERY generous" need-based aid being offered to Ivy athletes, but I have yet to see any real numbers. Are we talking $40k? $20k? 10k?</p>
<p>vpontis
It depends on how good you are. Many kids at Ivies have done sports and it has helped get them in. But as others have said all over this forum, you need to demonstrate passion about whatever your EC's are. Not just have a ton of them.</p>
<p>Once again, I am not basing what I do on what will get me into the Ivies.</p>
<p>To clarify, I am not too good at sports. Not all-american (yet) and I probably will not play in college (not sure). But, I have leadership positions on my teams.</p>
<p>vpontis: believe there is a significant difference btw "recruited athlete" and high school athletics as an EC. Can't really comment about how admissions views participation in high school sports(though team captains show leadership), but recruits have a significant advantage in admissions. I've gone through this with two kids. Everyone will reiterate that coaches CANNOT grant admisions. BUT, coaches we have experienced know pretty much what SATs/ grades make a kid admittable. With younger D, coaches made it clear that they needed 600s on all sections of SATs. with that , as long as grades where good, she was "admittable". And the coaches we experienced have an ongoing relationship with admissions. maybe we were lucky, but coaches kept on going dialogue with admissions about their recruits. The absolute key is to be ON recruiting list. Have heard stories of kids who hear "support" when coaches invite them to walk on IF they get in and some angry feelings after admission decisions are made.</p>
<p>Ivy verbals are being made earlier than ever(junior year) . I guess you would call these "verbal agreements to apply" , not acceptace. The agreement is to apply early and coach gives comittment to reserve spot on his or her list. STILL need to make it through admissions. BUT , if a coach has been at an institution for some time, I really think coach has a pretty good idea about admitability of recruit. certainy not foolproof but probably a pretty good bet.
(by the way, I have never heard of a coach saying I have x spots, I am going to submit 10 candidates for those spots and see who gets in. My experince, the recruit list was THE list)</p>
<p>While coaches can't grant admissions, they can (and do) go to admissions on behalf of athletes. Once admissions has an athlete's application, they can send a likely letter if the strength of the application, and the athlete's ability warrant one. I only have anecdotal evidence, but in our circle of Ivy recruited athletes, a likely letter has been a guarantee of admission. The same person who signed the likely, signed the admission offer. The timeline for likely letters to athletes is early: before November 1st, in many cases.</p>