That’s interesting perspective al2simon.
One comment on the Crimson survey - certainly it’s a student newspaper project not an academic paper, but assuming there are no biases in who chooses to answer versus not, it’s more than enough for a statistically representative sample . . . if we assume a class of 1,675, it would only take 442 for 95% confidence at +/- 4%, and this survey got 760.
Unfortunately, the sampling error is quite a bit worse because they’re reporting proportions of subpopulations (such as varsity athletes), so N can be much less than 1675. On the other hand, p ain’t .5 either. For example, the 95% confidence interval for the fraction of athletes who go into consulting is (roughly) 23% +/- 5.5% versus 13% +/- 2% for non-athletes.
Regardless, the biggest problem with all these survey things is response bias and ensuring honesty. Sampling error is usually further down the list of things to worry about.
At the risk of overdoing data from the Crimson, here’s another survey for the Harvard class of 2018 that reports that recruited athletes have higher family incomes on average than others in the class.
http://features.thecrimson.com/2014/freshman-survey/makeup/
I don’t know how applicable this, the other Crimson article on first jobs, and the Bowen research would be for athletes outside the Ivy League and similar schools. With the Ivy League recruiting rules based on Academic Index, athletes at these schools have academic backgrounds that are very strong in terms of SAT percentiles etc., even if some are below median on these metrics within their (extremely high scoring) schools.
Everyone wants elite but then many want to deny that they want it or that it has an impact, or that the reasons they want it has anything to do with the fact that it is elite. What percentage of threads on the site end up having something to do with eliteness? And how interesting is it that this thread follows the one on anxiety, where some also tried to deny that there is a link to the drive for elite landing spots and elite results, and instead talked of chemical imbalances?
Way to set up an impossibility to try to prove a negative.
A fellow psychologist should understand how that makes sense 
The other thing that astounded me is the “trophies for all” suggestion. We have NEVER lived in a more competitive era. The “trophies for all” song is one of great mistruths of the decade.
Is that a surprise, since achieving elite level performance in a sport in high school can be helped by parents willing to pay for travel games, sports equipment, additional lessons and training, etc., and/or attending a high school with better coaching and facilities for the sport (often a high end private or a public in a high SES area)?
It is not too different from achieving elite level academic performance. Sure, some very high ability and motivation students reach the elite level in academics and/or athletics despite growing up in disadvantageous situations, but growing up in an advantaged situation tends to make it easier for someone to achieve at a higher level (in terms of what college admissions and athletic recruiting looks at).
Not necessarily true about athletics for football and basketball. Nike sponsors basketball teams , for instance, for basketball. My nephew was on one of them and had lots of expenses paid despite his parents having plenty of money.He
played for an HYP school but a couple of his Nike teammates went to the NBA by the age of 19 or 20 after starting at basketball powerhouses. Football guys get developed in college. One of my kids played basketball in HS with a guy who also played football. He bulked up in college and has a Super Bowl ring. Nice, determined guy from single parent family-has come back to hometown the last couple of years for successful fundraisers for the community.
And a sport like crew , rowing (that elite schools seem to like wiill be able to develop their athletes . They look for
height, strength, athleticism,etc.
Everyone does not want elite. But claiming so and then expecting someone to refute it is a pointless exercise.
@sevmom, granted, football has a lot of players, but there are far more non-revenue sports than revenue sports, and in many of those, it’s the athletes who’s parents can invest in them who have an edge.
Also, I doubt crew and rowing coaches are using their recruiting slots on non-rowers.
This basically nailed it.
Going to an “elite” school symbolizes that you’re a good 'ol boi (who they can go drink with on Friday and play golf with on Saturday). Employers are people too, and being good 'ol bois, they want more good 'ol bois. Also known as “alumni connections.” Especially true of IB.
For rising through the ranks at prestigious workplaces, or getting funding for a startup (through VCs and what I’m interested) being like a good ol boi is even more valuable.
This is also why so Asians care so much about their children getting into “elite” schools, they view it as the final acceptance into the elite of American society.
Agree, PurpleTitan, That a coach is not going to waste a recruiting slot on a non rower (and I believe men’s rowing is not an NCAA sport, unlike women’s rowing). Many men’s teams are IRA or club teams. But , walkons with men are not uncommon. I randomly found this about UCLA by googling. http://www.uclamensrowing.org/recruiting.tpl My 6’6" son, who played a couple different varsity sports in HS was approached by some rowers and the rowing coach about becoming a rower for UVa. He declined because of the time commitment but it does happen that coaches are looking for generally athletic guys that can be trained, even if they have no prior rowing experience.
Rowing is an interesting one because, for women’s rowing anyway, there are more college rowers than high school rowers, at least in terms of school teams. Rowing teams have a lot of people and women’s varsity teams help schools with Title IX compliance. There are around 8,000 women rowing in college and only around 4,000 on high school teams.
So there is room for good athletes who are interested in picking up rowing, especially if they’re tall. Especially if it’s someone who has a background in swimming, volleyball, basketball etc. and for some reason is not pursuing that in college.
This is different than most other sports, where around 1-2% of high school athletes end up competing in college D1.
Yes, Title IX opened up lots of opportunity for women in rowing. Same with volleyball. There are very few men’s vb programs in comparison to the women since Title IX.
And yes, walk-ons in women’s rowing are also not that uncommon. Lots of boats to fill! Strong, athletic , tall will go a long way in something like rowing.
To @LucieTheLakie and @Pizzagirl - ah, yes, the days when I was largely anonymous;). I have other readers who still ask for those posts, I try to gird my loins and oblige. As you can imagine, I don’t mind when readers say they hate my hair, but when they excoriate my personal confessions and resultant approach to life, it stings. However, you might like my recent post on a visit to Filoli, with a brief mention of Wendover, the estate where my father spent his summers as a child and teenager. In that piece I made references to a fading family fortune, oblique, but noticeable if you know where to look. I actually put together an entire outline for a book about the High WASP culture, one I decided not to write. My plan is to post the outline on the blog, and then write posts in place of what would have been chapters - but shorter, of course. Thanks for saying hello.
Write the book, @Alumother! I volunteer to copy edit if you need a second set of eyes!
It may be that the athletes at Harvard also tend to have higher incomes because the potential recruits from middle income families took athletic scholarships elsewhere.
Good point Hunt and one that would apply to all the Ivies, and Division III schools as well. Especially for upper middle class folks who might not get need-based aid at some of these schools, but are not so rich that 65k/year is neglible.
I attended a second tier law school, have parents that did not attend college and grandparents who dropped out of school to survive the depression in East Texas. My family knew no lawyers, had no connections, and were not upper crust. I think if you attend UT Law School or Harvard Law School you have an advantage in getting a job and you also have a better chance of a high GPA. My scrappy law school taught me to fight. It taught me to be a litigator. My values come from being raised by good parents who value hard work. I was not looked at by large firms but am now a judge. I think that where you go to college is important but once you get that first job, it is more important that you show up on time, work hard and show you are worth your salary. I now have lawyers who did not hire me appearing in court before me and it has been interesting to say the least.