@politeperson You are correct, I may have heard that female recruits tend to have higher stats, not that they are held to higher standards. It’s a relief to know that my academics are fine as an athlete. In addition, do they take into account class difficulty? I have 2 Bs, but I take all honors and AP courses. From what everyone has said, it looks as if my academics are solid which will allow me to focus much more on athletics. Thanks for all your help!
@FutureCollegeAthlete, if you are asking whether recruited athletes at elite colleges can have lower than average GPAs and Board Scores, the answer is absolutely yes. Your individual situation, however, is unknowable because no one on this site knows whether you would be an impact player, nor do we know the average for academics in your sport. As @Politeperson suggests, you should just ask the Stanford coach. He or she will let you know where you stand.
I’m not 100 percent sure about the GPA, and I agree with @politeperson, except I think the 30 ACT is pretty important to them, at least for non-revenue.
I asked a coach on an unofficial visit what numbers were necessary for my son with his grades and athletic ability, and got very specific answers for the minimum and the preferred test scores. I’m guessing if you ask the coach he will tell you.
Agree with most of the above. When you get to the point of being seriously recruited, the coaches will tell you specific information about academic thresholds at all schools.
And I am positive you are correct that Stanford will in very general terms bend more than the Ivys. But you need to understand that for most sports, the athletic hurdle will be higher at Stanford as well, and a kid who may be a solid player at Stanford all of a sudden becomes a potential All Ivy player at Yale. So Yale may bend a little more because they are getting a relative athletic outlier, whereas Stanford may not because they have six kids rostered all ready at your level, and they are saving their “juice” for one or two potential All Pac 12 or All American level players. Basically, what one school does or doesn;t do in general is pretty useless information to you, because it is all going to depend on how desirable you are as an individual recruit.
You really need to think about this like a sliding scale. There are very bright line thresholds academically and athletically. But once you clear those thresholds, the more desirable you are athletically the more wiggle room on academics. And visa versa, of course.
@FutureCollegeAthlete one factor to getting recruited for your sport is looking at how many spots for your position will be open for your recruiting year. How many slots does Stanford need to fill for your particular position and how do you stack up against other recruits stats wise? Are you nationally ranked? A state champion? Also to consider is what do you plan to study at Stanford? Some majors might be too demanding for the practice and travel schedule of an athlete (architecture majors come to mind). Just some things to research.
I didn’t read all of these posts, but the advice seems pretty sound. The key point here is that your grades and test scores are fine if you’re a highly enough recruited athlete. But, of course, Stanford is at the apex of sports and academics in the US – so you have to be a top athlete to get the help you’d need to get into Stanford. Bottom line – if the coach wants you, he can certainly make it happen with your academic numbers.
Man, the Stanford love on this board is out of hand. I understand most of you live in California, but really?
^^Stanford has it all! Sunshine, academics, competitive teams in most sports, Greek life, In-N-Out burgers.
I live in the west (not California) and will admit kids look to California and Stanford first for college, especially if sports are involved, rather than the east coast schools (unless it is men’s lacrosse). The travel is easy, the sunshine plentiful, parents can visit and watch on the PAC 12 networks carried on cable.
I went to a big high school known for sports and high academics. Even back in the day, many more students went to Stanford (and Pepperdine, we were a big feed for Pepperdine) than to all the east coast elite schools. We also sent more to the AFA than to Navy or Army because it is closer, and that’s what people ‘know.’ That is still the case today --unless it is men’s lacrosse.
I will give you the In-N-Out burgers for sure, lol. I just would urge some caution, and note that the fact that Stanford has had a good run in football the last few years doesn’t make them some kind of athletic behemoth. A top basketball player with the academic chops is gonna look Duke first, and frankly a top football kid everywhere but the west coast probably still looks to ND first. But no doubt Stanford is near the top on a lot of lists.
No natural bias here in favor of Stanford. I’m a Hoosier living in Virginia with a son heading off to Williams College in the fall. My sister went to Notre Dame.
As for Stanford, I get your point about ND and, especially, Duke which is nearly tippy top. One argument in favor of Stanford is that --per one (perhaps flawed) source – Stanford dominates among cross admits (students admitted to both universities pick Stanford by better than 4:1). Yes, top academic bballers go to Duke. But Stanford supports 36 varsity sports and would win head-to-head with Duke in most of them. Also Stanford’s only real academic peers are top Ivies, and none of those can consistently compete with Stanford in any major sport.
But I concede that there is room for debate. 
This Cal Bear with a Harvard kid concedes NOTHING to Stanford. EVER. 
@SwimDad99
I wouldn’t count men’s rowing in that category…women’s? Yes, Men’s? No way…
Boola Boola
@FutureCollegeAthlete if you don’t hear from Stanford by July or at latest August the summer before you start your senior year then you probably aren’t high on their recruiting list. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have a chance. You should have at least reached out to the coach by now and see what his or her response is to your stats. I think your GPA and ACT score are fine but you still have to have a great essay and ECs to round out your application. Like another poster mentioned earlier, the Ivies utilize the academic index score for their recruits. My S had a 210 and is at an Ivy for his sport.
Wow, a mini Stanford backlash! My work here is done :)>-