My son is down to the final two

ChargerFans · 10-27-2009, 07:44 PM

My son was told by an Ivy league coach that he is one of two to receive a likely letter. It seems that the other candidate has near perfect grades and near perfect SAT scores. My son has perfect grades and great scores. It seems that my son't academic index is in the low 220s and obviously I don't know the numbers of the other candidate.

My son has received national recognition and has won many awardsk, again both nationally and locally. The other candidate is more of an average athlete, doesn't start for high school etc.

My question is, due to the Academic Index difference, which trumps the other? My son seems to be in the top band but below the other candidate. What do you think? My son loved the school and wants to go there. He will be very disappointed if he's not the one to get the likely letter.

Thoughts?

riverrunner · 10-27-2009, 07:53 PM

So the coach is saying only one of the two will get a letter? Yikes! If I were the coach, I'd be asking for your son, because the coach's job is to build the best team possible from the small pool of academically qualified athletes. I don't know how admissions will see this....my perception, limited as it is, is that HYP admissions is somewhat more selective about this than the rest of the Ivies. Don't get me wrong: they all place an extremely high value on academic quality, but HYP seem to scrutinize a bit harder.

ihs76 · 10-27-2009, 07:57 PM

AI in the 220's is excellent, I think. The only scenario might be if the coach has a low AI super athlete that he wants to bring on board and needs a higher AI elsewhere to balance that. I think the entire team AI has to meet certain criteria relative to the schools AI.

Wow, tough position. Can't believe the coach would say that out front but maybe I'm naive.

ChargerFans · 10-27-2009, 08:27 PM

He has been very honest. The only thing he's told us is that my son is in competition. I am basing the calculations from informtion I've received as it relates to calculating the AI. But I do know the other kid has perfect scores and grades. I'm just glad he's in the final two. We'll see how it goes.

keylyme · 10-27-2009, 11:49 PM

What sport? That is a very high AI; they don't require more than an 1800 SAT for some of the high profile sports.

ChargerFans · 10-28-2009, 10:31 AM

It's not a high profile sport. My son has a 31 ACT and 770 and 720 on his Subject Tests. Has a 4.25/4.00 GPA as his school doens't have a 5 point scale on Honors classes. His school doesn't rank. He will have taken seven AP classes by graduation and 6 honors classes. Hopefully his athletic skills will be enough to be the choice. He is one of two for his position that will be offered a likely letter. The overall team gets a few more.

FauxNom · 10-28-2009, 11:34 AM

If your son is clearly the better athlete, I'd wager that he gets the likely letter despite the lower AI. His AI is great anyway, and the coach wants to build a competitive team with the best athletes. The rule now about AI's is that they look at the athletes as a cohort, not by team. Gone are the days of taking the highest AI just to balance lower AI's on the same team.

Congrats on getting this far, and keep us posted!

ChargerFans · 10-28-2009, 11:46 AM

Wow that is good to know. My main concern was that if they needed to balance a lower AI for another recruit. We'll see how it turns out.

fauve · 10-29-2009, 01:09 PM

I agree with FauxNom, the coach will likely choose the better athlete (your son.) The coach will also weigh how the two candidates blended socially with the team and the "coachability" (i.e. cooperativeness) of the student. Best of luck to your son!!

ChargerFans · 10-29-2009, 01:23 PM

Thanks. Will know soon. A D3 school is recruiting both boys as well. The D3 coach said my son is his #1 overall recruit. So that is encouraging. At least the process is almost finished.

sherpa · 10-29-2009, 03:45 PM

I agree with the other posters that the coach will want the better athlete, not a slightly higher AI. Hearing he is coach's overall #1 recruit is great news. Those words are golden.
Good luck to your son and hang in there.

MaineLonghorn · 10-29-2009, 07:29 PM

Congrats, Charger! I wish we were as close. Still a ways to go for S.

OldbatesieDoc · 10-29-2009, 08:06 PM

Go Charger!Keep us posted!I agree with the community, but we aren't the coach.

3togo · 10-29-2009, 08:16 PM

Quote:

only scenario might be if the coach has a low AI super athlete that he wants to bring on board and needs a higher AI elsewhere to balance that.

I do not believe the IVY deals with athletic recruits using an AI "average". My understanding is each school is given a number or athletic recruit slots in AI bands away from typcial admits (essentially standard deviations from the mean) ... more slots near the mean and less slots far away ... the school then decides how to use these AI slots across the sports it offers. The AIs pretty far below average are used for impact players in high profile sports (think FB QB or basketball team center ... as opposed to the 4th miler on the track team). Recruiting a low AI athlete uses a slot ... bringing in a higher AI athlete does not balance out the recruit using a slot.

For the OP the only scenario where AIs would affect the situation I could think of is where their son might need a AI slot below average and the other student did not ... but their son is such a good student (high AI) that doesn't seem to be the case.