Athletes are the real reason your kid can't get into the elite colleges

[Anonymous]

Nah, my kid is the reason he can't get into an elite college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a school like MIT, they do not lower the admissions standards for recruited athletes. But, if you meet their standards, and are recruited, you will be admitted.

As an example, I know someone who was recruited to elite schools. She got admitted and will be going....And, she used her skills to be admitted, but she had nearly all A's with nearly all honors and AP, and 1500+ on the SATs, and a National Merit Semifinialist. The thing is that is the average student at an elite school. And they could accept 100% 4.0 UW with 1600 SATs. The sport set her apart.

This is also true for CalTech - the bar is just as high for their athletes as it is for everyone else. Why do people think that athletes cannot be academic? My DC was a high performing athlete and also a National Merit Finalist. DC also had top grades and scored a 35 on the ACT as a sophomore. There are plenty of highly academic kids who also play sports at a competitive level. I'm not talking NBA/NFL/NHL level though - that's a completely different level of athleticism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT football has been pretty stellar the past couple of years.

And so what, why not take kids who excel in the classroom and on a field or court?

OP makes an assumption that recruited athletes are somehow lesser students.

Why assume URMs are lesser students?

Who said anything about URM's? Athletes come in all colors and genders.

They have clearly never seen MIT's football roster.

99% white boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah, my kid is the reason he can't get into an elite college.

+1

(or I could just blame "the system").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah, my kid is the reason he can't get into an elite college.

Amen. I love my kids, but they were not applying to MIT, waste of money and time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/06/12/varsity-athletes-admissions-enrollment-top-colleges/?utm_term=.282712c7fa13

The amazing stats that jumped out to me are that 23% of Caltech and 15% of MIT slots are reserved for recruited athletes! So much for their vaunted "pure" race-neutral meritocracy.

Wait, are you implying that all athletes are the same race?! So I really need to tell you that there are successful athletes of all races. A racist rant is. It what I expected of this header.

+1.

What is the proportion of recruited athletes who are black?

I suspect it's higher that the merit-based general student population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/06/12/varsity-athletes-admissions-enrollment-top-colleges/?utm_term=.282712c7fa13

The amazing stats that jumped out to me are that 23% of Caltech and 15% of MIT slots are reserved for recruited athletes! So much for their vaunted "pure" race-neutral meritocracy.

Wait, are you implying that all athletes are the same race?! So I really need to tell you that there are successful athletes of all races. A racist rant is. It what I expected of this header.

+1.

What is the proportion of recruited athletes who are black?

I suspect it's higher that the merit-based general student population.

About 2/3 of recruited athletes in the Ivy League are white. This is higher than the overall student population. This means whites are disproportionately benefiting from these lower admission standards.

[Anonymous]

I think schools just want talented students. Classroom, art, singing AND athletics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah, my kid is the reason he can't get into an elite college.

Amen. I love my kids, but they were not applying to MIT, waste of money and time.

+1 and if by some miracle my kid got in.... he wouldn't thrive there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah, my kid is the reason he can't get into an elite college.

Amen. I love my kids, but they were not applying to MIT, waste of money and time.

+1 and if by some miracle my kid got in.... he wouldn't thrive there.

--- just so we're clear. I was talking about my kid in the last sentence. I wouldn't presume to say anything about the abilities of either of your kids.

[Anonymous]

Some of you are lying, and are honestly obtuse. If you look at the CDS profile HYPSM takes a lot of students that score below 24 on the ACT and 600 on wither portion of the SAT. Some of you would see that and assume URMs are the culprit when in fact it's mostly athletes down there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/06/12/varsity-athletes-admissions-enrollment-top-colleges/?utm_term=.282712c7fa13

The amazing stats that jumped out to me are that 23% of Caltech and 15% of MIT slots are reserved for recruited athletes! So much for their vaunted "pure" race-neutral meritocracy.

Wait, are you implying that all athletes are the same race?! So I really need to tell you that there are successful athletes of all races. A racist rant is. It what I expected of this header.

+1.

What is the proportion of recruited athletes who are black?

I suspect it's higher that the merit-based general student population.

About 2/3 of recruited athletes in the Ivy League are white. This is higher than the overall student population. This means whites are disproportionately benefiting from these lower admission standards.

Nope, it's not higher --- remember the vast majority of Hispanics is racially white/ half white.

I'd like to see the actual stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It takes a ton of discipline and hard work to excel in athletics and academics. Why wouldn't a top school want someone like this rather than a student who only excelled in academics? As an employer, I would take the scholar/athlete over the scholar (with slightly higher stats) any day of the week because it's simply harder to be excellent at both than to be a little bit better at just academics.

This. The few elite athletes I know have been playing their sport since elementary school for many hours per week and to the exclusion of many other activities. Don't underestimate the drive it takes. That is something that should be considered in college admissions.

Both of the above are true. A person who can expend lots of physical energy in athletic pursuits and still excel academically stands out. Colleges know a student with that background is likely to be successful and a strong addition to their class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT football has been pretty stellar the past couple of years.

And so what, why not take kids who excel in the classroom and on a field or court?

OP makes an assumption that recruited athletes are somehow lesser students.

Why assume URMs are lesser students?

They usually are. Elite schools have a hard time making their quota with URMs with high stats.

Have you looked at the demographics of CalTech? Please try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/06/12/varsity-athletes-admissions-enrollment-top-colleges/?utm_term=.282712c7fa13

The amazing stats that jumped out to me are that 23% of Caltech and 15% of MIT slots are reserved for recruited athletes! So much for their vaunted "pure" race-neutral meritocracy.

Wait, are you implying that all athletes are the same race?! So I really need to tell you that there are successful athletes of all races. A racist rant is. It what I expected of this header.

+1.

What is the proportion of recruited athletes who are black?

I suspect it's higher that the merit-based general student population.

About 2/3 of recruited athletes in the Ivy League are white. This is higher than the overall student population. This means whites are disproportionately benefiting from these lower admission standards.

Nope, it's not higher --- remember the vast majority of Hispanics is racially white/ half white.

I'd like to see the actual stats.

The NCAA says 65% of Ivy League athletes are white. 71% of NECSAC athletes are white. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/10/college-sports-benefits-white-students/573688/