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<p>Everybody, no matter how qualified, rows on the “novice” team their first year. The vast majority of people have no experience before college. There really aren’t cuts. They just put more boats on the water. By the end of the semester, the gruelling practices will winnow the team down a lot. For the men, there were only like 2 boats (of eight) left by the end of the year.</p>
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<p>At one time, I could swear MIT claimed to have more than any other university. I know they have lost a couple of varsity sports, like wrestling for instance. Ironically, I think MIT and the ivies have more athletic programs then big time football schools. University of Michigan, for instance, has 27 varsity sports if you include men’s and women’s teams as separate sports. And they have somewhere near 40,000 undergrads in comparison with 4,000 at MIT. </p>
<p>If you recruited 5 people for each of MIT’s 32 teams, that would be 160 people in a class of 1000. I’m not sure you would want to devote that much space to athletes (I know athletic and academic stars aren’t mutually exclusive, but the best athletes with 700+ test scores are likely to not be as good as the top, top students.)</p>
<p>That is a stereotype that cannot be substantiated. Yes, athletes are seen as “dumbed” than their counterparts but nothing can verify that and it has never been substantiated. 160 spots for athletes is not uncommon among top schools (given those are usually Ivies). But it makes sense because you’ve gotta have new recruits. Look at the rosters for each sport on MITs athletics page. They will most definitely have athletes from EACH grade level, indicative of recruits for each entering class.</p>
<p>MIT is looking to admit the students that they believe will make the best use of an MIT education. Some of the personality traits that such a student would exhibit would be the desire and the drive to achieve, the ability to function within a team, etc. And while these traits are not restricted to just athletes, these are the traits that an athlete would need to be good at his/her sport. My experience as an MIT athlete is too long ago to be knowledgeable of the pull coaches have today, but what better recommendation could you ask for!!</p>
<p>At one time, in the 70’s (when I was a student there), MIT and I believe it was Dartmouth were tied as to who offered the most varsity sports. MIT offered every sport but football at that time. A number of years ago, MIT dropped several varsity sports due primarily to budget reasons. I would be very surprised if MIT could still boast as to having the most varsity sports any more.</p>
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There were 41 teams as of ~2008, and although I think three were demoted to club sport status in ~2010, I would be surprised if there were as few as 32.</p>
<p>^Could you post the link where you found that info? The reason I ask is because the NCAA only has 39 total sanctioned sports (<a href=“http://www.ncaa.com/[/url]”>http://www.ncaa.com/</a>)</p>
<p>This is the academic admissions bar for athletes in the ivy league:</p>
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<p>[Getting</a> in: Athletes? road to admission - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/12/01/27054/]Getting”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/12/01/27054/)</p>
<p>One standard deviation is pretty big. It means they can’t be in the bottom 15% of the class. Based on this standard, it’s reasonable to assume that the average athlete at an ivy league is not on par academically with the average student at said college. Btw, this was after they significantly raised standards for athletes about 10 years ago in the ivy league.</p>
<p>This is what happens when you start weighting athletics more heavily in admissions. </p>
<p>I don’t know what extent MIT does this, so I can’t make any definitive statements as to the academic qualifications of athletic recruits.</p>
<p>^ some sports such as Crew are not NCAA sports but schools still treat them as varsity sports</p>
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I didn’t find that information on the internet – I know it from having been a student at MIT. I am not sure that all 41 were NCAA-competing, just that they were varsity-level.</p>
<p>Ah, here, from The Tech, the campus newspaper, in April 2009 ([link](<a href=“http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N18/varsitysports.html]link[/url]):”>http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N18/varsitysports.html)):</a>
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<p>This thread is going off the original topic and I’ll continue that trend.</p>
<p>MIT has a lot of “varsity” sports. You do have to interpret the word “varsity”. The NCAA has listed 19 men’s sports and 20 women’s sports on their web site.</p>
<p>Some might consider only those sports for which compete in the NCAA to be varsity. That would leave out, for example, men’s crew (ie. Rowing) which, as a sport, has chosen not to join the NCAA. It instead has organized into various rowing associations. Women’s rowing, however, is part of the NCAA.</p>
<p>MIT, as the article that molliebatmit provided the link for, listed men’s ice hockey as a varsity sport back in 2009. The men’s hockey team, at that time, did not participate in either NCAA D1 or D3 but was in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) division 2. The ACHA is a club league so calling it “varsity” might not be technically correct. MIT, however, for many years did fund the men’s ice hockey team as though it were a varsity team. It was MIT’s best players out playing for the school which is what college athletics is about. That it was not truly a varsity team was one of the reasons it was dropped as a “varsity” sport by MIT a few years back. It still exists, just has to come up with it’s own money. (A further matter of history: MIT did have a NCAA varsity hockey team thru the 74-75 season. It wasn’t real competitive at the end and moved to the club league with the understanding that it would be funded and recognized by the school as their “varsity” team. I was a member of the team at that time.)</p>
<p>But all this “varsity” verses “not varsity” doesn’t really matter that much. Back in my day and with the MIT athletes I’ve met recently, there is a dedication to their sport, their teammates and themselves that would rival any NCAA D1 school. It is those personality traits that make them good athletes that matter in the long run in their lives and their professions. It is those personality traits that should be evident in their college applications.</p>
<p>I’m speaking from my experience from the early to mid-80s but sports at MIT drag you in. I was not involved in any sports in high school. My parents were probably on the verge of fainting when I called them to get money to buy running shoes because I had joined the crew team. Mind you, I didn’t know crew existed before I arrived in Cambridge. Then, a couple of months later, I called asking for ice skates because I was going to play D-League ice hockey. I knew what ice hockey was but, coming from the south, had never been on ice skates. So, I bought my skates and played in my first game the same day. D-League ice hockey is certainly entertaining, even if you’re the one using the hockey stick to stay upright. I fell in love with skating and was on the ice whenever I could. I really can’t think of anyone that wasn’t involved in a varsity, club or intramural sport.</p>