Amherst College Paper Article on Athletic Recruiting.

[Anonymous]

Reasonably balanced article on athletic recruiting at Amherst. The process will be similar at all of the top NESCAC schools, it's harder than people believe.

https://amherststudent.com/article/a-look-into-amhersts-athletic-admissions-process/

[Anonymous]

We've just been through it. Yes, it's harder than many people believe. It adds an extra layer of stress and uncertainty to an already difficult process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've just been through it. Yes, it's harder than many people believe. It adds an extra layer of stress and uncertainty to an already difficult process.

Problem solved:
Laura Daniels ’28, a member of the softball team, agreed that the athletic recruitment process felt unfair. “You really don’t hear about [athletes] not getting in very often. I think it should be harder; if that means we have worse teams, then we have worse teams,” she said.

[Anonymous]

Recruited athletes who think that they are held to the same academic standards are fooling themselves.

A non-athlete applying to Amherst with a 790 M/690 V will be scrutinized as “unbalanced.” A 4.3 weighted GPA will be devalued because the kid took geometry as a sophomore.

Recruited athletes just have to demonstrate that they are capable of graduating as Econ or psychology majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've just been through it. Yes, it's harder than many people believe. It adds an extra layer of stress and uncertainty to an already difficult process.

Problem solved:
Laura Daniels ’28, a member of the softball team, agreed that the athletic recruitment process felt unfair. “You really don’t hear about [athletes] not getting in very often. I think it should be harder; if that means we have worse teams, then we have worse teams,” she said.

Better Answer:
For others, such as Professor of American Studies Robert Hayashi, dismantling the stereotypes associated with athletics is crucial to addressing its issues. In the past, Hayashi noted that discussions have felt divisive and accusatory, rather than constructive. “What’s been disappointing to me is that a lot of this has been framed as athletics versus academics, professors versus the coaches. That’s a false narrative that I would push [back] on,” he said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recruited athletes who think that they are held to the same academic standards are fooling themselves.

A non-athlete applying to Amherst with a 790 M/690 V will be scrutinized as “unbalanced.” A 4.3 weighted GPA will be devalued because the kid took geometry as a sophomore.

Recruited athletes just have to demonstrate that they are capable of graduating as Econ or psychology majors.

The article just pointed out that they are evaluated on the same rubric as everyone else. Why do you refuse to accept this?

[Anonymous]

The article was anti recruiting athletes. As an experiment Amherst should just forgo recruiting athletes and fill all of their varsity sports with walk-ons. I suspect that they would lose very game, Donations would plummet, and school spirit would die.

[Anonymous]

Also every so often these slac schools use sports to increase their chances of gettting a top student.

My kids has 1580 SAT, 4.7 GPA, and will have 15 AP courses after senior year. Great leadership in a few different other areas besides the sport. Great service. Definitely a narrative. Ivy legacy.

But the kid wants to play the sport so it is looking like NESCAC or UAA league as not good enough to play at the Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article was anti recruiting athletes. As an experiment Amherst should just forgo recruiting athletes and fill all of their varsity sports with walk-ons. I suspect that they would lose very game, Donations would plummet, and school spirit would die.

You think Amherst donations depend on the performance of the Amherst baseball team? Yeah ok.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article was anti recruiting athletes. As an experiment Amherst should just forgo recruiting athletes and fill all of their varsity sports with walk-ons. I suspect that they would lose very game, Donations would plummet, and school spirit would die.

Few students attend athletic events, so I really don't think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also every so often these slac schools use sports to increase their chances of gettting a top student.

My kids has 1580 SAT, 4.7 GPA, and will have 15 AP courses after senior year. Great leadership in a few different other areas besides the sport. Great service. Definitely a narrative. Ivy legacy.

But the kid wants to play the sport so it is looking like NESCAC or UAA league as not good enough to play at the Ivy.

This happens, but I doubt that often. More anecdata: a student-athlete classmate was talking about their 32 ACT and 3s on AP exams, in the context of saying how well prepared they felt for Amherst. Shortly after, they dropped the upper-level science class both had signed up for. My kid was a little perplexed about how the classmate was admitted in the first place. I had to explain athletes aren't necessarily held to the same standard they were. This was not a FGLI or URM.

[Anonymous]

“My coach told me, ‘Don't get any Cs and you'll probably be fine’

Sure, same standard. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also every so often these slac schools use sports to increase their chances of gettting a top student.

My kids has 1580 SAT, 4.7 GPA, and will have 15 AP courses after senior year. Great leadership in a few different other areas besides the sport. Great service. Definitely a narrative. Ivy legacy.

But the kid wants to play the sport so it is looking like NESCAC or UAA league as not good enough to play at the Ivy.

It’s rarer…understand the NESCAC and UAA coaches think the same as Ivy coaches. They want to win games and will probably use their influence on the 1350 kid they really want and may tell your kid they have a roster spot if they are accepted on their own.

It almost counts against you if you are too strong on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also every so often these slac schools use sports to increase their chances of gettting a top student.

My kids has 1580 SAT, 4.7 GPA, and will have 15 AP courses after senior year. Great leadership in a few different other areas besides the sport. Great service. Definitely a narrative. Ivy legacy.

But the kid wants to play the sport so it is looking like NESCAC or UAA league as not good enough to play at the Ivy.

It’s rarer…understand the NESCAC and UAA coaches think the same as Ivy coaches. They want to win games and will probably use their influence on the 1350 kid they really want and may tell your kid they have a roster spot if they are accepted on their own.

It almost counts against you if you are too strong on your own.

Good point. Though I wouldn't say high stats count against you per se, just that coaches will prioritize superior athletic talent over stats. That's exactly how this works. If you're not among the most competitive recruits, you're just one of the many high stats kids applying.