Reply to Wesleyan University drops Legacy Preferences in Admissions Decisions

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A recruited athlete has shown merit to a school, which isn't like a legacy or someone given a preference for something they can't change (like where they were born or their racial category). 
You may want schools to limit their teams or even eliminate sports (keeping some of the ultra-elite ones is questionable at best but ask Stanford about trying to get rid of them) but you should recognize there is a clear difference when someone has an actual skill that has been developed that is valued by American colleges.

Doesn't the fact that athletes graduate at high rates from the most elite schools (like most everyone else does too) make people think the purely academic portion of applicant profiles really should play less of a role in admissions decisions? Schools should be doing more in admissions for standouts in the top few % nationally and internationally in areas like debate, orchestra, band, dance and art rather than less for athletes (though I do think the number of sports should go down at most schools). Those people can impact the campus community too and offer a lot post-graduation with some of the same EQ and team building you get as an athlete. The recruited athlete discussion here misses a lot.[/quote]

It’s zero sum. They aren’t admitting as many of those kids because 25% of the class is taken up by athletes. It leads to less diversity in the broadest sense. That isn’t lost on anyone. It’s a massive problem. [/quote]

Is 25% too much? If so, why? There would still be plenty of room for the standouts from those other non-sports activities, right? Giving more real admissions preference would make the singing, robotics, debate, dancing, and art better too! Having more people involved in real campus activities would be great. That strong attachment would be good for the school too since they want donors! What I saw was too many of were people who basically did nothing once they got to college. Getting in was like the actual accomplishment rather than the start of the journey. They did fine since just about everyone graduates but didn't add much beyond the few that were truly passionate about particular subject areas. [/quote]

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