<p>Okay, Chardo, I just read your original post but don’t have time to read all of this thread… Forgive me if I say something already said. The admissions process at the top universities is so arbitrary. I have three children, my youngest applied to college this year, and I still can’t figure it out. Every year some top kid gets denied while another “lesser” student gets accepted. I can’t make sense of it and I don’t think anyone should try. My youngest has a 4.8, is Scholar of Scholars, is a National AP Scholar with 14 AP’s (5’s on all but two where he received 4’s, don’t know about this year’s yet), 35 on the ACT, the whole tennis deal, etc. He ended up receiving admission to all of our top state universities (we live in California) and Harvey Mudd but he was waitlisted at Columbia and MIT. The guy who finished #2 at his school had perfect ACT scores and an 800 on his Math Level II with multiple EC’s and leadership positions. He was denied at MIT but is going to UPenn. It is just crazy. Best advice is to just tell your son to do his best and pursue things that truly interest him. There is no perfect packaging for the Ivies. Just do your best and consider other schools besides the Ivies. There are so many options out there for excellent students. My son decided to go to Berkeley for Engineering. He is happy as can be…</p>
<p>" My son took this to heart. He’s a competitive tennis player and he didn’t have time for tons of EC’s. So he was very successful in tennis (nationally ranked) and was a member in NHS and CSF. That’s it."</p>
<p>Being a nationally ranked athlete is a very big deal. Being a nationally ranked athlete with high stats would make one have far better than normal chances at places like Ivies.</p>
<p>Not everyone who dives into their passions has the talent to do that well. But, whether or not a student who dives into their passion gets into a top college, they still will have developed skills and experience that will pay off for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>I see what you are saying. It’s just that in tennis, especially boys tennis, there are so few scholarships. All the scholarships go to only the very very highest ranked Americans and many foreign players. As a result, kids who are “only nationally ranked” don’t think of it as a very big deal. This is where my son falls. He was top 400 in the nation and was a recruited athlete but he wanted to attend one of the best universities in the nation. Only the very best play at the best universities (with the exception of MIT where he is still waiting!). I don’t mean to minimize his accomplishments. We had just heard that the top schools didn’t care much about athletics. I guess that was incorrect information though because he did not get any denials. I just assumed that this was because of his grades/scores and that the tennis didn’t matter much. Even though I’ve been doing the whole college thing for a long time, I guess I still have much to learn. I do think you are correct in the importance of their skill development. It’s not just about getting into a good college. My son loves playing tennis and that is why he worked so hard and became so good in his sport.</p>
<p>
What is this? Just curious. I’ve been reading here for about a year and for a while I was reading about something new every day. But I thought at this point I had heard all possible awards there were. Obviously I was mistaken.</p>
<p>Scholarships are a different story. Only the nationwide elite get the athletic scholarships (or even get to play at the college level). However, “only nationally ranked” still shows the passion and dedication that we all hear admissions likes to see.</p>
<p>Oh, haha… My son’s district in California recognizes all students with a 4.0 or over as Valedictorians. The Scholar of Scholars is the student with the highest GPA. Basically, it’s what a Valedictorian used to be in the old days. Glad I added something new to the table. :-)</p>
<p>Yes, Scholarships are very different. There was much angst in my house because my son has a Blue Chip mind but is not a Blue Chip player. He decided to use his mind to get the best education possible but it was not easy leaving tennis behind. Luckily Berkeley has a Club Team that just won the national championships. I am certain my son will do that and that he will enjoy much success compete for the Bears at that level.</p>
<p>“We had just heard that the top schools didn’t care much about athletics.”</p>
<p>You got wrong info. The top schools like Ivies do care about athletics, but they don’t give athletic scholarship. However, if someone has high stats and is an extraordinary athlete, that person is golden for top schools. For instance, Harvard has more NCAA division 1 teams --41 – than does any other college, and needs to find athletes to fill those teams and who also will graduate from Harvard.</p>
<p>Yeah, but they don’t fill their tennis rosters with anyone but recruited players. Tennis is an entirely different animal, esp for the men. I can still remember being at a national tourney with my young son (12) and having the director ask those of us who thought our kids would play in college to raise their hands. Then he said, “If you are a parent of a boy, forget about it unless you are the very top in the nation. You better work on those grades.” My son didn’t want to go to an Ivy only to be told he couldn’t walk on the team. To be honest, my son really wasn’t interested in the Ivies with the exception of Columbia and MIT. Those were the only two he applied to. He had a very specific undergraduate experience in mind and the Ivy League didn’t meet his requirements for the fit of the institution. I don’t think he really wanted to go that far away from home for his undergrad work. He wanted to study engineering and it came down to Berkeley and Harvey Mudd. He was a recruited athlete at Mudd and received lots of aid (almost a full ride) but he walked away from it because it wasn’t the experience that he wanted. Interesting boy, my son…</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd–a fine institution for sure, but that name’s gotta go.</p>
<p>Hahahaha… Part of the problem for my son. He just couldn’t see himself as a “Mudder.” Hmmmm… Let’s see… Claremont, student body smaller than my son’s high school, “unique” vibe, underground classrooms, but a great tennis coach and very highly competitive DIII team or San Francisco, Football baby, culture, diversity, top engineering program, and a beautiful campus. Not much of a contest for me son!</p>
<p>I find it ridiculous that anyone would think less of an institution because of its name.</p>
<p>(A general statement, not directed towards anyone.)</p>
<p>That’ okay… It wasn’t the determining factor, obviously, or he wouldn’t have applied… It’s a top notch institution. It just wasn’t the right fit for my son.</p>
<p>
I can’t distinguish between all the different rankings systems. In one system, the NYC specialty schools and Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax are excluded because they have entrance exams. On the list of high schools which include them, Thomas Jefferson is the top of the heap. Some rankings (Newsweek?) include percentage of students who take AP or IB courses (what they score on the exams is irrelevant).</p>
<p>We have no entrance exam, no admission requirement besides residency. Just a regular public school. If you live here, this is your school. Of course, there’s the insane property tax…</p>
<p>
I don’t know, they endeared themselves to me with the first mailing we got from them - big bold letters:<br>
** “Our name is Mudd”.**</p>
<p>Hahaha… And my son loved the black and gold folder that came with his acceptance. Even though he decided not to attend, he thought the folder was really cool.</p>