<p>It’s been a few months since I myself came out of admissions season, of course. But I wonder if there are some incoming seniors who also imagine that those 16-year-old medallists are thinking, “Yes! Now I can get into any college I want!” even as their national anthem plays while they stand on the podium.</p>
<p>An olympic athlete is most likely a highly recruitable athlete and asl long as they meet the NCCA threshold for their sport, depending on the need school to to fill a spot in a certain sport, it could happen.</p>
<p>hey, Joey Cheek had an olympic gold medal but did not get into Harvard. </p>
<p>[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: Sports :: GET A LODHA THIS: Joey’s Cheek Not Enough to Win Over Byerly Hall](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=511743]The”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=511743)</p>
<p>However, he is currently attending Princeton :)</p>
<p>well to become an olympic medalists. You wouldhave to be really talented as well as devote a lot of time to the sport. So if you grade aren’t as high as everyone else’s its nuderstandable. Colleges tend to want talented and achieved people at their school. It makes the school more attractive to new applicants.</p>
<p>They won’t accept you unless they know you can handle the work…They do specialize in throwing a lot of resources at you to keep you up with the coursework. Like your own advisors, your own dedicated student tutors that help you study and help you with your HW, and ppl who take notes for you in class.</p>
<p>The university takes care of you.</p>
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<p>You guys seem to be presuming that the athlete in question is actually going to compete for an Olympic medal in that sport while in or after college, yet the OP seems to be asking about those who have already won medals and who may have no intention of competing in the Olympics ever again. After all, why would a university throw resources at a former athlete who isn’t actively competing anymore? </p>
<p>The other assumption is that the school even offers that sport in question at all. I don’t know about you guys, but I suspect there aren’t exactly a whole lot of colleges that offer, say, varsity BMX cycling or varsity snowboarding. Hence, I doubt that a lot of colleges are really going to offer special resources to athletes in those sports even if they are going to be future Olympic contenders.</p>
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<p>While this doesn’t answer your direct question, I would point out that Michelle Kwan holds both a silver and bronze medal, and yet ended up at the University of Denver (after transferring from UCLA). Nancy Kerrigan, also a holder of a silver and bronze medal, ended up at Emmanuel College. Dominique Dawes won the gold medal in team gymnastics, and then later went to the University of Maryland. Dominique Moceanu went to John Carroll University. Amanda Borden went to Arizona State. Shannon Miller went to the University of Houston. Current individual gold medalist Nastia Luikin is a a student at Southern Methodist University. </p>
<p>Now, to be fair, none of this absolutely disproves the notion that these Olympic medalists were guaranteed admits for individual cases; for example, maybe some of them really did go to their first-choice school. But I have a hard time believing that this is true of all of them. For example, somewhere in that list and the numerous other medalists I can dig up, I strongly suspect that there probably are quite a few people who wanted to go to another school and simply didn’t get in.</p>
<p>Also, You can’t compete at the collegiate level after you turn pro…So your pro experience wouldn’t neccessarily bring anything to the sports program unless you aim to lead it.</p>
<p>It bring some margin of notoriety and fame to the school, for sure.</p>
<p>It is still a unique thing to bring to the admissions table and I have to think it carries A LOT of weight, especially for those who will be competing at the NCAA level.</p>
<p>I think many of the college choices listed above for Olympians is a function of wanting to be near their training facilities. For instance, Nastia trains in Plano, so SMU makes sense. She wants to continue to train in order to compete at next year’s world championships. I doubt that she couldn’t get in other places or that it’s her dream college. It’s more a matter of convenience.</p>
<p>Colleges brag about their Olympians (present and alumni) on their websites and newsletters, so obviously it is important to them to admit them.</p>
<p>Yes, but there’s a difference between bragging about the person who went to the school who then later became an Olympian, vs the already-medalled Olympian you just admitted, in which case it’s not a reflection on the school.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine the breakout of Olympian athletes who want to go to the tippy-top schools is all that different from the general population. It’s not as though every Olympian athlete has the brains for, or the desire for, HYPS et al in the first place. Hard to believe here on CC - but many people just want to go to their state flagship or similar school and that’s perfectly fine and all the ambition they need.</p>
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<p>There may be a difference in your mind, but at UCLA at least, they list and take credit for even the Olympic athletes who have committed to attend but have not yet matriculated. In its press release, UCLA includes in its list of 38 current Olympians:</p>
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<p>“Yes, but there’s a difference between bragging about the person who went to the school who then later became an Olympian, vs the already-medalled Olympian you just admitted, in which case it’s not a reflection on the school.”</p>
<p>While this may be true, Pizzagirl, the same thing can be said for those Seimens and Intel winners who get big boosts in their admissions simply because of their accomplished win prior to their acceptance. I think Olympic medallists deserve a boost in any school s/he wishes to attend. Just like those Brain Bowl winners or the people who published scientific reasearh, those Olympic winners made it pro at such a young age, which is a HUGE accomplishment.</p>
<p>if I recall, a couple of gold medalists from Athens & Sydney did NOT get into their first choice colleges, but yet ended up at highly selective colleges (so grades had to be ok). So, donating $10 million is still a surer bet for admissions.</p>
<p>Sarah Hughes got into Yale after she won her gold.:)</p>
<p>Do colleges differentiate that much when evaluating a medallist between gold and bronze? Suppose if the same medallist also was an IB student who did reasonably well, then either medal would be a shoe-in, right?</p>
<p>Yes, but there’s a difference between bragging about the person who went to the school who then later became an Olympian, vs the already-medalled Olympian you just admitted, in which case it’s not a reflection on the school."</p>
<p>“While this may be true, Pizzagirl, the same thing can be said for those Seimens and Intel winners who get big boosts in their admissions simply because of their accomplished win prior to their acceptance.”</p>
<p>Winning Siemens, Intel, etc. is directly related to the academic mission of a university. Winning an Olympic medal, however laudable and as much of an accomplishment it undoubtedly is, isn’t.</p>
<p>“Do colleges differentiate that much when evaluating a medallist between gold and bronze? Suppose if the same medallist also was an IB student who did reasonably well, then either medal would be a shoe-in, right?”</p>
<p>You’re talking so few people a year I think it’s nonsensical for them to distinguish between gold and bronze. Everyone knows they are all amazing accomplishments. Only on CC-land would people distinguish between gold, silver and bronze, just like only on CC-land do people rank Ivies. @@</p>
<p>I remember an interview when Janet Evans was 15 or 16 and in her first Olympics, she told the interviewer she wanted to go to Stanford and the interviewer made some comment like well, I bet they want you too…and I thought that was so cool to be 15 and have your future all set. I think she actually did go to Stanford, but transferred to somewhere else.</p>