Reply to 40% of Williams' classes are athletic recruits

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Reply to "40% of Williams' classes are athletic recruits"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As the parent of 2 kids in college – one athlete and one non-athlete – this is the typical paranoid “my kid is at a competitive disadvantage” mumbo jumbo that always arises when the acceptance/rejection letters start getting sent out.  Folks use any excuse as to why their kids did not get accepted into where they wanted.  “Must be the athletes.”  “Must be the minorities.”  “Must be the legacies.” Ok, I will give you the last one.

Harvard University has a basketball team in the Division 1 Top 25.  I have not heard anyone complain about the overall quality of Harvard graduates.  Stanford has one of the top athletic programs across the board in NCAA Division 1.  No complaints about overall quality of graduates. Heck, among the NCAA Division 3 schools, Amherst and Williams have athletic and arts programs near the top.  Anybody have any complaints about the quality of their grads?

Oh, we are not “losing” to China because of the presence of athletes in college.  We are “losing” because our MS and HS math and science programs lag behind and, in Chnia, only the best and brightest receive a high level formal education.

Personally, I just think the whole premise of this thread creates an unfair perception of ahtletes at top academic schools.  
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I think some people miss the point about athletes. I supervise/work with a lot of highly talented young people and it's easier than you would expect to identify the ones who played sports. Just like employers, colleges are looking for that drive to succeed, the work ethic that truly sets people apart as they are advancing professionally. Athletes -- more than most other teenagers -- have learned to juggle and prioritize and confront tough competition along with their own limitations. They may not be as brilliant as the stereotypical nerd, but they often possess life skills that help them succeed in college and beyond. I would imagine that college admissions officers at Williams and elsewhere figured this out long ago.[/quote]

My DD's at the 'herst many of her teammates are premed.  I'm sure that both Amherst and Williams have a few athletes who may have entered as academically not as qualified as the majority; however, both schools have the resources to develop any "gaps" that they may have arrived with.  Both schools are academically quite rigorous and their athletes are aware that their education comes first.  I love that my DD is both an elite athlete and is academically gifted. She loves her well-rounded school experience and doesn't feel the pressure to choose sports over academics.      [/quote]

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