In College Admissions, Athletes Are the Problem

Michele Hernandez is Chairman of Hernandez College Consulting and Application Training Camp. Based on her experience as admission officer at Dartmouth University, she wrote four books on university admission.

Regardless of whether you prefer it or not, 40% of most top university classes are reserved for "fascinating" children - the largest group is usually recruitment player (up to 20%), the rest Is a heritage, underrepresentative group, development case (donor) and VIP (celebrity children). Because facts are the fact that the process is unfair and the property occupies only a small percentage (usually 10%) of property, I can hardly say that legacy preferences are unfair.

What is their propaganda? Generally it is only 2 to 4 times the general admission probability. From this point of view, at schools with an admission rate of 15%, inheritance may reach 35%, but recruits are close to 80% and ethnic minorities are close to 90% (at least African Americans and Native Americans). word)

Recruitment players occupy 20% of the classes, many of which are far below school standards

As a graduate of Dartmouth College and former admission officer, I understand why it is beneficial to create heritage from an institutional point of view. They nurture family pride and tradition, school spirit and increase donations through full-time graduates. It's time. I have more questions about the number of athletes I have adopted. In my opinion, 20% of the class is too high - football is mainly due to its huge lineup. In addition, the recruitment for many "helmet sports" is far below school standards. If you like playing football or ice hockey, you can enter Harvard University with a score of C or 500 SAT.

The university is unlikely to eliminate preferences. The best way we hope is to create a larger space for "free" students. Heritage is neither the group that occupies the widest space nor the group that is far below the academic standards.

Regardless of the recruitment staff of the university or the enthusiasm of the student athlete's coach, admission decision is made by the university entrance examiner. No matter how excellent a high school student is, simply satisfying the academic requirements of NCAA may not be enough to qualify for university entrance.

Athletics can be a powerful clue for university entrance but how strong it depends on the level of sports, school and applicant's talent. Obviously, football players who wish to participate in the SEC will not have trouble entering the school of SEC as long as he or she is employed, but in this case, Before I know his skill level process. start. In a very selective entrance examination, athletics are dependent on the extent to which university coaches want to recruit newcomers and what policy the entrance secretariat will take to recruit athletes. In the Ivy League, all the athletes adopted are included in the index, so personal education is very important. People under school are more expensive on average than their coach whose educational background matches the image of the school. According to the prestige of school sports, the specific school policy also differs.

The university offers entrance fees and generous sports scholarships for talent and abundant high school students. But the competition is intense. Student's athletic ability in high school may have a big influence on admission to the school that you desire. And this may affect the rest of your life. Sally, a third grader high school student is a promising long-distance swimmer and whenever her practice and improvement continues, she told her that she can become a teaching material for the summer Olympic Games. But the key to get there is to bring it to the famous university swimming team. Sally knew that it would be necessary to impress recruiters if they wanted to accept the university of their choosing. Her current distance is not enough for the school she wants, but if she is not accepted, she may lose the dream of the Olympic Games.