Reply to athletic pre-read asking for writing sample

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "athletic pre-read asking for writing sample"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I am surprised at how small of advantage being a good athlete at most Div. 3 schools confers on a student.  Hence the pre-reads, and a commitment to applying early decision if it works out.  I suspect that this is likely how things "should be" in terms of putting athletics into proper perspective.

My own experience at a Power 5 D1 school on scholarship - a very highly ranked one - is that while I was no great shakes I was above the mean in scores and grades, and did not run across another scholarship athlete on my team who has the academic chops to do really well in the classroom. My roommate was so far behind the curve academically he suffered depression. He should have transferred to a much better fit.  Insanely talented at athletics, but never could perform as he was simply overwhelmed.  I might add I worked pretty hard for a 3/7  gpa - never again have I ever worked so hard, even at a top ranked grad school.  Our walk-ons, however, were great students and used the competitive nature of sports to amplify their classroom performance. It is perhaps the hardest D1 school to get into east of the Mississippi. The walk-ons were great role models because they used their time wisely.  This was then the "best" of D1 academically.

My brother, also on athletic scholarship and a multiple All American, was the only member of his team to do well academically.  He went to a well known athletic factory in again a Power 5 conference. He wanted the travel schedule and the resources.  The school is not easy to get into out of state, so of course the school finds a way to admit his then unqualified girlfriend.   He had a 4.0 in math, and was Phi Beta Kappa.  Well known Phd in Econ now.  About half his team had GPA's below 2.0, with some having ACT scores in the range of 9-11.  They were good athletes, I might add - more than just good.  Very nice guys too, just not students.  I received an email from one of his All American teammates a while back telling me he was destined to flunk out but my brother taught him to study, enabling him to finish with a 2.5. I was a guest at his training table one Sunday - steak and lobster if the football team won - beans and franks if they lost - yes - it was that absurd - and while enjoying the steak and lobster with a guest pass I saw a future NFL Hall of Famer - maybe the best defensive player ever- shove a soda machine off a balcony to crash below.  it was a whole different world.

If this makes you feel better about the integrity of DIII athletics, well, it should. DIII is the best model for athletics. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics