<p>No, it’s not, bears and dogs.</p>
<p>Gadad, we once stayed at a B&B where the couple (one of whom had attended Wharton) was starting a goat farm and producing milk. The farm started doing better than the B&B and so they relocated to another farm and expanded. The woman now runs a successful high-end artisanal goat cheese business with her herd of 200+.</p>
<p>I’ve been helping a friend whose son is being actively recruited by most of the elite schools (tho not MIT or Caltech, as math SAT<700) as he is one of tops in his sport. The sport is not football or BB, so initially I was surprised. A few schools want immediate response, so I suggested he get son to revisit these schools ASAP and think about where he’s like to be (1 urban, another suburban, 1 rural), and get more info on the coaches. They’ve been wined & dined everywhere, but never focussed on curriculum or atmosphere. I researched the medium SAT scores. I ask questions about tutoring, what happens if he can no longer play, etc. i wonder about his future after college, how hard it could be to do well in college when so much time is devoted to a sport, will playing a sport compensate for being a lower performing student,…Anyway, he’ll confirm an offer by next week. </p>
<p>Its such a different world to have a child who is a recruited athlete.</p>
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<p>Clearly they didn’t get the memo that the only important things to do in life are to do sciencey stuff in labs or work on Wall Street.</p>
<p>Bookworm - what are the school choices? I don’t believe MIT or Caltech actually have seats reserved for athletes but I know a freshman Athlete wined and dined by several Ivies. However, they started the process after confirming that she is acceptable academically.</p>
<p>YK, for all the whining about the unqualified legacies / URM’s / athletes taking the spots away from the True Deserving Kids, it’s of note that legacies and URM’s still have to go through an admissions process, unlike recruited athletes who sidestep the whole thing. I have zero problem with a school choosing to look favorably on athletics as an EC, but I think the whole recruitment thing is ludicrous, since schools don’t recruit chemistry majors or piano players that way.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl - finally I see you disagreeing with something schools do! :p</p>
<p>texaspg,Even Dlll schools like Caltech and MIT have some level of athletic recruiting going on.</p>
<p>The difference is, though - I don’t care for it and if I ran the world, there wouldn’t be athletic recruiting outside the admission process, but I can’t say I truly “object.” One of my kids’ schools does do athletic recruiting, the other doesn’t. A true objection would be if I objected strongly enough to stop my kid from applying and / or refuse to spend my hard-earned money there. I also wouldn’t ever think that a recruited athlete “took my kid’s spot” or begrudge the kid or the university.</p>
<p>sevmom - anyone recruited with <700 in subject Math that you know of at MIT or Caltech? On MIT thread for this year, they are specific about not having any athletic admits.</p>
<p>Texaspg - I also recognize that if I DID object so strongly to athletic recruiting, well, no one held a gun to my son’s head and made him apply to a school that does athletic recruiting. Yet for those who bemoan the “unfairness” that they see - they simultaneously seem to act as though they still absolutely have to apply to those schools.</p>
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<p>The athletic recruiting that goes on with HYPS includes the exact same admissions process as other applicants, it just tends to move on a different timeline.</p>
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<p>If we must pit the athletes against the legacies and URMs, then at least one can argue that the athlete offers a specialized, advanced-level skill to the campus. This is not the case for straight legacy and URM admits.</p>
<p>Well, that’s what I mean. Not sure why athletes are so super-duper special that they have to be locked in earlier, but whatever. I think it’s silly, but I don’t begrudge it, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>Texas, I cannot say specifically what schools. </p>
<p>I was trying to communicate that my fear would be to send my child someplace where his/her GPA and SATs were in low range, then expect the student to spend hours at the sport, and somehow have enough time for academics and sleep and a social life. I suppose many jobs care about where one graduated and how one was an athlete, and are less concerned with the GPA and type of courses taken. This is such a personal opinion. </p>
<p>Believe me, there is no jealousy. The worm was accepted into great grad schools from a polar opposite route. My friend’s son is just starting on his journey, and is a great kid. My son just spent a weekend with this family. I just marvel at the different paths. </p>
<p>Oh yes, if I lived in the NE, I’d probably become a fan of this sport and follow this boy’s progress.</p>
<p>re Caltech and MIT,I have no idea, texaspg, I doubt they have athletic slots per se, but you can fill out recruiting forms,etc . on their websites. Not sure how much clout a coach has and I’m sure you would need to be a good student to have a shot. My kid had 800 Math Sat2,780 math SAT(he was a little annoyed at that), 5’s on AP physics,BC calc,etc. Places like MIT and Caltech were just not his cup of tea. His top 2 choices for school were UVa and Duke-he is more a bigger sports scene kind of guy(and clearly not recruitable for a big program like that). Instate for UVa and did ED so we were done. Had the time of his life. He did have some vb interest briefly from Princeton but he didn’t really pursue it.This was in 2005 before the middle class financial initiatives started with some of these schools. Glad,really,because Virginia really was the best fit for him and if these initiatives had been in place ,he may have gotten sidetracked .UVa really was a great school for him.</p>
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<p>IF you value a high-spectator-sport culture. I personally don’t, even though my alma mater is going more and more in that direction these days. But I don’t think of athletes as being pitted against legacies and URM’s, if that makes sense. It would never occur to me in a million years to think “that football player took my kid’s spot” any more than I’d think “that URM took my kid’s spot” or (in the case of D) “that legacy took my kid’s spot.” The notion of anyone “taking my kid’s spot” just doesn’t compute for me.</p>
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<p>It really doesn’t matter why, because if a team roster needs to be filled, it is going to be filled regardless of time, and doesn’t impact non-athlete applicants at all.</p>
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<p>Neither Caltech or MIT have a slot system. And at Caltech, I don’t think athletics has any weight at all on admissions. They may recruit only the sense that a coach may write to them and say that we want you to apply. </p>
<p>HYPS and most other schools have a slot system. I don’t know how exactly it works, but I’ve heard it amounts to clearing a certain academic index. Maybe this index varies depending on how prized an athletic recruit you are. Regardless, it appears to be different than the normal admissions process.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the ivy league collectively decided to raise the academic standards of their athletes in the past 10 years. I read a press release on it. The fact the ivy league itself considered this a viable issue suggests that the issue is not above debate. I don’t know if the academic index required for admission has changed, but I think the average college GPA required for a team to be eligible has increased. It’s been a number of years since I read the article, so I don’t remember the exact details.</p>
<p>Have a close family member that just went through the HYP process. He did apply EA. I like the way Bay put it-the roster is going to be filled and it really doesn’t impact non-athletes.I am very excited for him. He worked very hard in his sport while balancing a full high school academic schedule. Did he have 2400 on his SAT’s? No. Will he contribute to his school’s community by representing his school in athletics.No doubt.</p>