<p>Ok so assuming I have average SAT scores and stuff but am an outstanding athlete with like 3.4 GPA would schools like UCLA or Ivy league accept me just because of my athletic ability? Do great schools accept athletes SOLELY for their athletic ability or do athletes only get accepted to schools like stanford if they are great athletes AND have high GPAs? Can someone who has been accepted for athletics of gotten scholarships for athletics tell me what GPA they had or anyone with information help me? </p>
<p>The question is about soccer or track at UCLA or ivy league</p>
<p>Your grades need to be almost as high as any other applicant. The sport is your hook to make them want you just slightly more than someone whose stats are just as good as yours.</p>
<p>If UCLA really wanted you as an athlete, they could push the envelope for admission. We do know someone who was recruited for track with a big scholarship at UCLA, but was very borderline with barely a 3.0 GPA. Even with heavy tutoring, he could not cut it academically and left after the first year. Just be sure to shoot for schools where you are competitive academically. As far as soccer goes, I don’t know your abilities but do know that their recruits are drawn from the top players in the country- you would have to be playing on a top team and rated very highly for them to even look at you. Good luck!</p>
<p>UCLA soccer has admitted players with exactly a 3.0 GPA and around a 1500 SAT. Cal soccer has done the same. </p>
<p>Harvard soccer has admitted at least one player with a 3.5 GPA and around a 1900 SAT. </p>
<p>3.4 with acceptable ACT/SAT scores is a no-brainer for UCLA athletic admits. They are only held to the standards of the PAC 10 conference and I am absolutely certain that there are many, many kids on the football and basketball teams that were admitted with those grades and lower. The Ivy League has higher athletic admission standards than the PAC 10, but 3.4 could do it if you’ve got decent test scores and you’re going to project as an immediate impact, probable 4 year starter. I’ve talked to my kids’ ivy coach about various high schoolers and have been told that ‘so and so is good enough to play, but not good enough to waste a spot on someone with those grades’. So I presume that some coaches can push the envelope with admissions for a player that will definitely make a big impact on the team. </p>
<p>Simply put what level are you thinking you can play? How good are you? Finally, how much juice does the coach have with his school sport or program.</p>
<p>I’ve seen football and basketball TALENTS WITH 2.00 AND 400 SAT’S,now the financial impact of adding that player resulted in half a stadium wearing his number, a bowl game, national championship run and they could do a 30 second interview after winning the event…by the same token I’ve seen fencers with 2250/4.16 turned down by FDU and Northwestern, only to accepted by Brown & Duke. Understand recruiting is need based and if you can be an impact player you have more leaway, if you are not than I would say be as academically strong as you can and athletically talented as you can also. </p>
<p>For Ivy league --as it is, actually a sports conference, academic requirements are based on the AI – academic index, a formula which takes class rank and test scores to generate a number. You can search this board, and generally, for more detail about where athletes’ AI must fall at different schools to give you a sense of how much wiggle room there is. </p>
<p>OP- if you are a sprinter with a national ranking, Ivy schools will bend a bit on scores. If you are a long distance ?CC type, you better have a 4.0 as there are tons of brainy distance runners. As mentioned above, all Ivy League financial aid is based on verified need, not athletics.</p>
<p>^Yes, one of my kids’ HS teachers told me that she loves getting CC kids in her classes, because as a rule they work harder and do well. One of my son’s running competitors got a 2400 on the SAT! He’s getting great times in college and making good grades at the same time. </p>
<p>It depends on the school. Some will nearly ignore the academic requirement to get top athletic talent. Others expect very similar results as the rest of the student body. It also depends upon how good the athlete is at their sport.</p>
<p>Without telling us what “average SAT scores and stuff” means, we can’t really say. I know a kid with a 3.0 GPA got accepted to Yale from my son’s school, to wrestle for them. Don’t know about his SAT. You say you have a 3.4 GPA, but are you taking honors and AP classes?</p>
<p>My son is just below 2000 on the SAT and his GPA is around 3.5. His AI is above 200, which is considered the second best category. Suggest you look up Tier One info on the academic index on this site, and run your AI.</p>
<p><a href=“Academic Index Calculator 2016 - Tier One Athletics”>http://www.tier1athletics.org/2012/10/01/academic-index-calculator-2012/</a></p>
<p>Also he is being recruited heavily by an Ivy League coach, and they have only said “keep your grades up” not “you have to improve to have us consider you”. Note that Ivies do not give scholarships, but if you have financial need, most will meet those requirements better than many schools.</p>
<p>You don’t mention what grade you are in, although if you took the SAT I assume you are at least a junior. You should contact coaches as soon as possible if you are a junior.</p>
<p>Depends. if you are THAT good at an NCAA school, you can look up the min requirements to be recruited. But few people are THAT good. So it depends upon the school, the sport, the coach. You need to talk to the coach and athletic director about these things. </p>
<p>I personally know a kid with a 2.5 average UW and not quite 1150 on the two part SATs get accepted at PENN and Amherst. But that is an exception. Right sport and he was very, very good. </p>
<p>All the kids I know who were recruited to the Ivies and top schools had great GPAs and SATs, and having won or placed in national championships in their sport was their hook to stand out from all the other great students or valedictorians or NMSFs. So if you’re exceptionally good at your sport, you have a chance. But personally, I think trying to get into a college you’re not academically suited for is not a good idea. As rhandco implied, 3.4 in a course load of AP Calculus and Physics is different from a 3.4 in Health and Home Ec. We discovered, for example, that many top schools (Stanford, Cornell, Brown we know for sure) expect you to take 4 years of a foreign language in HS for them to consider you a proper candidate. </p>
<p>It definitely depends on the school. We know a state champion female with a 21 ACT , sub-3.5 GPA and no AP coursework who is now competing at the most elite SEC school. She was told by Notre Dame that there was no way she would be accepted with those stats, despite her athletic acheivements. So it definitely depends on the school and probably the sport and how important academics are to them.</p>
<p>And it matters what a school needs at a particular time. If it is a team sport, and you play a position that they have a bunch of current freshman and sophomores in, you’re out of luck. </p>
<p>rhandco - that is really interesting that with a just under 2000 SAT and 3.5 gpa your son has an over 200 AI. My son had very similar statistics and we were told by an Ivy coach that he was in the 2nd to lowest band with an AI only in the 180s. I wish they made this math more predictable for parents.</p>
<p>I used the Tier One spreadsheet, but also he is being heavily recruited by an Ivy coach who knows his grades so I believe he is in good shape. He also gets tons of mail and email from other Ivies. </p>
<p>Just to see where that coach’s head is at, I put in 600’s across the board (each SAT and two subject tests), a 3.3 weighted and 3.0 unweighted GPA, and got 187 as the AI. There are five bands, the lowest is under 176 and can’t be given a spot. The ranges are 177 - 190, 191 - 200, 201 - 210, and over 210. </p>
<p>The easiest way to get more points is to study for and keep taking the standardized tests, in my opinion. And to my previous point, it is clear that the Ivy coach is recruiting my son’s position. If my son were a midfielder, he’d be SOL as they tend to be recruited earlier and heavier than forwards.</p>
<p>However: just because TierOne has that spreadsheet up there, doesn’t mean that other factors don’t come into play. Certain schools may have other criteria that they are adding in as plusses and minuses. Like adding 5 points if the student has a tough program (mostly AP and honors).</p>
<p>There are a number of things to consider. My son plays soccer at an Ivy League school, and graduated valedictorian of his public high school with a 5.0 (AP credits included). He had a 31 on the ACT, and around 2000 on the SAT. The coach encouraged him to retake the SAT, and he was able to get it up to 2140, which satisfied the coach. The coach has to meet or exceed a certain average for the academic index of recruits; so, if there are players that he really wants for the team, and you’re a so-so player, you’ll need a high AI to help him hurdle the AI average threshold for his recruits that year. If you’re both smart AND a really good athlete, your chances are really good. </p>
<p>The bigger questions I’d ask are:
- Do you like the coach?
- Do you like the team?
- Do they play in a style you’re used to?
- Does the college you’re considering offer the major you’re interested in? Is the program any good?
- Do you really want to live there?
- Are you willing to make the sacrifice to play your sport in season while taking very difficult classes at a very competitive and prestigious university?</p>
<p>If you can answer “yes” to all those questions, then you might have a good fit; but I’d visit and think through it thoroughly before making a decision. Remember, too, that since Ivy League schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, there’s no need to “verbally commit.” Don’t let the coach pressure you to do something you don’t need to do unless you’re absolutely sure. Enjoy some paid visits if you can. Committing too soon may keep you from considering other schools that DO offer athletic scholarships, such as Stanford, et. al.</p>
<p>The big “if” regarding Ivies and D3 schools is that most want you to apply ED to secure your spot. And you usually can only apply ED to one place.</p>
<p>My son is now leaning towards applying to a D3 school ED and forgetting about the Ivy. Whether or not his scores are okay (he upped his SAT to near 2100), the question about him taking a tough major and wanting to do a co-op are making him lean towards D3. He’s just above 50th percentile on most stats for the D3 school, so shouldn’t have a problem ED with the coach’s support.</p>
<p>No cost-savings for us, but he needs to be happy. Still hoping one of our others will go to our alma mater. These next three or four months will hopefully settle things out.</p>