40% of Williams' classes are athletic recruits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And do they learn early on that they will be admitted? I think the bottom line is money. That's a shame.

Musicians get accepted ED to ivies -- I'm the mother of one, and I know some others (you meet these kids at awards ceremonies). And kids in the various arts who apply RD sometimes get likely letters, and we know one of these too.

That's "special" enough for me, but it doesn't seem "special" enough for you. It's as though you want absolute parity with the athletes. It's true, you don't see ivy arts department profs scouring area concert halls and youth theater performances. Then again, there are conservatories for many musicians and actors, and fine arts schools for the painters and sculptors.

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with absolute parity with the athletes?

[Anonymous]

Here's another trend that really makes you question whether student-athletes are students first or athletes first: the recruitment of high school freshman and sophomores. This is from a story from "Laxlessons.com":

"When Syosset (N.Y.) senior goaltender Ryan Feit verbally committed to Johns Hopkins in October, 2010, a decision first reported here at LaxLessons.com, it signaled the start of a trend.

One that was the talk of the lax world for months — until it was no longer unique.

Now, sophomore verbal commitments are almost commonplace.

But in the last month, the accelerated recruiting process has advanced one step further.

In late November, Forry Smith, an attackman at the Haverford School (Pa.), became the first freshman to verbal when rumors and speculation that trickled through social media were eventually confirmed that he had committed to Johns Hopkins.

Then, earlier this month, Jack Reilly (pictured here), a ninth-grade defender from nearby Conestoga (Pa.), committed to Virginia."

How can Johns Hopkins and Virginia pretend to care about an athlete's academics if they are recruiting him or her in the 9th or 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

Is lacrosse really a goldmine for colleges? Has it grown in scale that much since those Nineties days as a club sport?

If they are committing as ninth-graders then there must be some sort of contingency re: grades & test scores. Anyone aware of minimum NCAA SAT/ACT scores & GPA requirements for admission? Or does the criteria for admission vary from school to school? Or are the standards ENTIRELY different for student-athletes?

[Anonymous]

I suspect that the early commitments require the students to keep up their grades until senior year.

[Anonymous]

Lacrosse really is different from other sports. I think its the only sport where kids commit junior year. Swimmers, for example, generally make decisions be fall of senior year.

Plus, you still seem hung up on the idea that kids recruited for sports can't, by some definition in your own mind, be good at anything else. Tell that to the several NMSSFs I know who were recruited for sports this year. Others have also given you examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's wrong with absolute parity with the athletes?

Because alumns don't donate as much when an oboe soloist blows it out of the park. The market sometimes works in ways we wish it didn't. Yes, we all get indignant when Fuddruckers moves into the space that had been occupied by that cute little bistro, but we all realize that Fuddruckers and not the bistro will generate the volume to pay the rent, because lots of people have different taste from us. As a liberal I sometimes wish it weren't so, but as an economist I understand why it is so. Same goes for what spurs alum donations, and while you may think the alums have their priorities wrong, several PPs have pointed out to you that the whole college benefits from alum donations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that the early commitments require the students to keep up their grades until senior year.

True. Besides that, they are VERBAL commitments. A student cannot sign a binding letter of intent until 12th grade!

[Anonymous]

The kids I know who were recruited early were required to maintain a certain GPA and get a certain SAT score.

I believe there was a recent story about a kid who was recruited early who did not end up meeting the academic requirements and lost his offer. There is also a danger of injury. I know of one athlete who was being considered by Williams until she was sidelined by an injury. So until the admission letter is in hand there are some risks. Plus if you are at a D1 school and getting a scholarship you could lose your scholarship, although probably not your spot at the school, if you don't perform as an athlete.

[Anonymous]

This high preponderance of athletes among the student body has contributed to the rampant date-rape culture at Amherst. Be informed and beware.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids I know who were recruited early were required to maintain a certain GPA and get a certain SAT score.

I believe there was a recent story about a kid who was recruited early who did not end up meeting the academic requirements and lost his offer. There is also a danger of injury. I know of one athlete who was being considered by Williams until she was sidelined by an injury. So until the admission letter is in hand there are some risks. Plus if you are at a D1 school and getting a scholarship you could lose your scholarship, although probably not your spot at the school, if you don't perform as an athlete.

Ya, but guess what? Suddenly, the verbal commits drop out of the hard classes and coast in the low level ones. "Rigor" is no longer a factor, it's just GPA. A verbal taking 5 APs? Uh,no. The early commits get to coast through two or sometimes three years of high school.

I get this, maybe, for football or basketball. But lacrosse? Colleges don't make money on lacrosse. Nobody makes money on lacrosse. It's a boring game with incomprehensible rules played by privileged prepsters. "Oh Todd, have you seen my spoon? Ask father, you may have left it on the veranda.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it bothered me. That is why I turned down Amherst and Williams to go to Wesleyan.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to be on topic for a bit but DC just got a brochure in the mail from Williams that said that 35% of the students are in Varsity, JV and Club Sports. So figure that club and JV athletes are not recruited, and there will be some who walk on to varsity sports (we know some), so the actual percent of athletic recruits must be WAY lower than 40%. That makes more sense to me - at least 4-5 kids go there every year from DCs school and only one that I know of was an athletic recruit. She also happened to be an NMSF and a 4.0 student so I don't think she diluted the talent pool there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to be on topic for a bit but DC just got a brochure in the mail from Williams that said that 35% of the students are in Varsity, JV and Club Sports. So figure that club and JV athletes are not recruited, and there will be some who walk on to varsity sports (we know some), so the actual percent of athletic recruits must be WAY lower than 40%. That makes more sense to me - at least 4-5 kids go there every year from DCs school and only one that I know of was an athletic recruit. She also happened to be an NMSF and a 4.0 student so I don't think she diluted the talent pool there.

Thank you for this. The 40% number is absurd on its face. Williams has about 2,000 students at any given time. There's no way that 800 of those were "athletic recruits" in any meaningful sense. Because Williams offers no athletic scholarships, all of its varsity athletes are technically walk-ons. But even the number of student-athletes who are formally recruited in some way and given a preference in admissions is much lower than 40%. It's more on the order of 10-15%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it bothered me. That is why I turned down Amherst and Williams to go to Wesleyan.

Glad my DD turned down Williams and Wesleyan to go to Amherst.