<p>Great post, stemit.</p>
<p>Somehow, our kids/athletes have to get over feeling as though they have to apologize or downplay that part of their life and passion that has brought to the door of these elite schools. The schools are soliciting their interest and they are worthy.</p>
<p>The schools have lofty requirements, but they are interested in the recruited athlete because of the talent they have and the investment they have made in taking their skill to a level where the school has targeted them for a preferred place in their community.</p>
<p>Would one advise a premier dancer, an elite musician, or a math prodigy to ignore their passion and the insights and achievements they derive from pursuing excellence in their chosen endeavor? These admissions offices are building a class from their secret recipe, and athletic excellence has a seat at the table right along the academic excellence.</p>
<p>I am certain that with appropriate effort and talent (or lack thereof), a superior musician, artist, or dancer can create singular insights from their chosen pursuit or they can create an unmemorable and pedestrian commentary that is the bane of every admissions officer as they wade through their allotment of the 26,000+ essays.</p>
<p>Advice for the athlete. Use your passion for your sport in your essay if this is what moves you. Do it with care, intelligence, wit, insight, and skill, but do not be dissuaded by the “supposed” bias of an unknown admissions officer. Be true to yourself. And, remember, in most cases you were invited to the party and they want to admit you. At the least, the admissions officer who reads your essay will have to explain to someone (the coach sponsoring you, the balance of the committee) if they want to kill your application based on essay.</p>
<p>A closing observation. In Bowen and Shulman’s The Game of Life, based on their exhaustive research, they found:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Athletes are admitted to Ivies with lower credentials than non-athletes</p></li>
<li><p>While in school, the athletes perform at at slightly lower lever than the student body as whole</p></li>
<li><p>After graduating, athletes earn significantly higher incomes that the average graduate (many are clustered in the financial services sector)</p></li>
<li><p>These athletes give back to their alma mater’s at significantly higher levels than non-athlete graduates</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Why wouldn’t an elite school create a place for such a class of students and graduates when constructing their admissions profile?</p>