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So...just exactly how many people in the US do you think there are who have a 4.0 GPA, score 1550 (out of 1600) on the SAT and are a D1 talent athlete? You are arguing with yourself.
Not many, but there are some. You also missed the point which is if you have the scores and grades and are an exceptional athlete a coach can get you in. I just used that criteria because I know that will get you into MIT. I had no problems getting into certain schools because my GPA and SAT scores were above the criteria, but would not have gotten into MIT. The point is that if you look at the criteria for a given year and you fit into that criteria and you are an athlete near the top of the coach's wishlist for a sport they care about you will have no issue getting in. If you fall short in any of those things it becomes harder.
I personally knew of (know of ) a few that are 3.7+ with 1400+ on SAT. The Ivy League is filled with kids that might have qualified to play at MIT but chose to go the IVY route for a number of reasons. D1 talent does not mean playing football at Alabama. It can mean playing football at the 200th ranked D1 school but would excel in D3.
Oh and I was one of those 3.7, 1400+ and I had no chance to play at a top D1 school but could have played lower level and met other kids in the same boat.
And again, there are enough people who have been recruited by MIT that tell their story that had a similar experience.
I have been making 2 points:
1) Frisco Reedy is an excellent school whose test scores are better than Plano West’s (and beat Plano West in football with 1/3 the students), and even in Reedy’s first year, MIT found Reedy a good enough school to admit one of its students even though he was not in the top 10.
2) My son received no special consideration to get into MIT.
Some of the students my son has identified as fellow freshmen at MIT include:
1) One of his roommates who was on Forbes list of “30 under 30 (i.e. top 30 people under the age of 30) in Technology”;
2) Miss Venezuela;
3) Jeff Bezos’ son.
We’re talking about MIT!
Do you really thing the MIT admissions committee saw my son’s application and said: “WOW, this kid played high school football! We have to include him on our list of the limited number of students we can accept even if his academics do not meet MIT’s standards.”
Do you really think an MIT coach’s job depends on winning games? Have you ever seen an MIT football game? Take a look at what MIT’s Steinbrenner “Stadium” looks like. (MIT does well in sports because the school is able to attract good coaches and good athletes and, as the former football coach noted in one of the videos, the school is full of overachievers who do their best no matter what they do. MIT also has had an award-winning athletic director.)
I agree with Overdog – your post makes no sense. They are illogical. But the point is, an MIT coach cannot guaranty anyone that they will get past the MIT admission committee, it doesn’t matter what your own experience was with other schools.
And it does not matter what happens at Ivy League schools. Ivy League schools get allotted a number of slots for academically unqualified applicants, and they have plenty of easy liberal arts majors they can put those students in – not to mention the grade inflation at Ivy League schools. (Our guide at our MIT tour - a Frisco Centennial graduate - told us that, because students at MIT and Harvard were free to take courses at each other school, MIT student would take courses at Harvard just to take advantage of the grade inflation.)
If students have good GPAs and high standardized test scores, then they past the first hurdle by being academically qualified to succeed at the school. If they are very good at a sport, that can be something that satisfies the second test of showing that they have the drive and dedication to be successful in a career. The same is true with being excellent on a musical instrument or starting a non-profit while still in high school. Athletes may also contribute something special for the school in helping a sports team.
If students have excellent standardized test scores and their transcripts showed they challenged themselves to the max in high school, along with other pluses, the coaches can be very encouraging because they believe the student can get past the admissions committee. But they always end conversations noting they cannot guarantee the student would be accepted. That is my experience.
This is my last response. You people just have to face up to the fact that Frisco Reedy is an excellent choice for a high school in our area because of its academics and athletics - and with is small class size, offers a student a better chance to have meaningful participation in activities of her or his choice and more personal attention. It is also in Frisco, which Money Magazine named at the “Best Place in America to Live.”
I have been making 2 points:
1) Frisco Reedy is an excellent school whose test scores are better than Plano West’s (and beat Plano West in football with 1/3 the students), and even in Reedy’s first year, MIT found Reedy a good enough school to admit one of its students even though he was not in the top 10.
2) My son received no special consideration to get into MIT.
Where did the Top 10 at Reedy end up? Not sure of the point you keep making about Reedy. If Reedy was exceptional school, it would have disproportionate acceptance to HYPMS schools. Your son was certainly exceptional (mix of academic and athlete) but that does not imply overall attractiveness of top 10 at Reedy to most selective schools.
Getting recognized for being good academically and being a good athlete is not special consideration it is part of the holistic review that makes it easier to shortlist. MIT can fill its class many times over with students with perfect GPA and test scores. So they use non-academic measures to fill different roles within the entering class (like math competition winners and football players) to select from academically qualified pool. So being athlete helps distinguish once you are in the top x%.
I have been making 2 points:
1) Frisco Reedy is an excellent school whose test scores are better than Plano West’s (and beat Plano West in football with 1/3 the students), and even in Reedy’s first year, MIT found Reedy a good enough school to admit one of its students even though he was not in the top 10.
2) My son received no special consideration to get into MIT.
Some of the students my son has identified as fellow freshmen at MIT include:
1) One of his roommates who was on Forbes list of “30 under 30 (i.e. top 30 people under the age of 30) in Technology”;
2) Miss Venezuela;
3) Jeff Bezos’ son.
We’re talking about MIT!
Do you really thing the MIT admissions committee saw my son’s application and said: “WOW, this kid played high school football! We have to include him on our list of the limited number of students we can accept even if his academics do not meet MIT’s standards.”
Do you really think an MIT coach’s job depends on winning games? Have you ever seen an MIT football game? Take a look at what MIT’s Steinbrenner “Stadium” looks like. (MIT does well in sports because the school is able to attract good coaches and good athletes and, as the former football coach noted in one of the videos, the school is full of overachievers who do their best no matter what they do. MIT also has had an award-winning athletic director.)
I agree with Overdog – your post makes no sense. They are illogical. But the point is, an MIT coach cannot guaranty anyone that they will get past the MIT admission committee, it doesn’t matter what your own experience was with other schools.
And it does not matter what happens at Ivy League schools. Ivy League schools get allotted a number of slots for academically unqualified applicants, and they have plenty of easy liberal arts majors they can put those students in – not to mention the grade inflation at Ivy League schools. (Our guide at our MIT tour - a Frisco Centennial graduate - told us that, because students at MIT and Harvard were free to take courses at each other school, MIT student would take courses at Harvard just to take advantage of the grade inflation.)
If students have good GPAs and high standardized test scores, then they past the first hurdle by being academically qualified to succeed at the school. If they are very good at a sport, that can be something that satisfies the second test of showing that they have the drive and dedication to be successful in a career. The same is true with being excellent on a musical instrument or starting a non-profit while still in high school. Athletes may also contribute something special for the school in helping a sports team.
If students have excellent standardized test scores and their transcripts showed they challenged themselves to the max in high school, along with other pluses, the coaches can be very encouraging because they believe the student can get past the admissions committee. But they always end conversations noting they cannot guarantee the student would be accepted. That is my experience.
This is my last response. You people just have to face up to the fact that Frisco Reedy is an excellent choice for a high school in our area because of its academics and athletics - and with is small class size, offers a student a better chance to have meaningful participation in activities of her or his choice and more personal attention. It is also in Frisco, which Money Magazine named at the “Best Place in America to Live.”
I think certain sports matter to MIT more than others. I think winning matters to any coach that coaches at the collegiate level. An MIT coach cannot guarantee admission when he sees an athlete because he does not know his scores and grades necessarily. Once he decides he wants an athlete (per numerous posts all over the internet if you search)and that athlete has the grades and scores he can make it happen. Not all athletes will be treated the same.
I really don't care if this is your first or last response as I know what happens in the real world and I have seen it. Of course you can keep your head buried and think what happens at every other single university doesn't happen at MIT. 3 months ago if I had said people pay to have their test scores doctored or that fake athlete profiles are created to get into some IVY's you would have said I was a fool then and well we know how that turned out.
I have nothing to say about Frisco Reedy as I know noting about it, but I do know how admissions work for athletes. I lived in Frisco and have only good things to say about it. I am not anti Frisco like many here. If you want to continue and think every single thing is on the up and up and that every single student got into MIT with no funny business ever going on by all means continue to do so. Let me know when you want to join us in the real world.
While MIT is great and I didn't graduate from there I made more in starting salary than probably 95% of their graduates who graduated the same year I did and probably more than 99% of those same graduates now so while you may be impressed with MIT it is simply a good college and nothing more. The fact that they don't teach the vast majority of these kids to monetize what they actually learn is pretty worthless to me.
BTW if you don't think Bezos son and Ms Venezuela weren't given special consideration along with a number of other students there and just got in on merit alone you are fooling yourself. If you think Bezos' son went through the same admission process as your son you are naive. I actually am more impressed with your son getting in there more than those other kids being there. Having said that if your son doesn't learn to monetize what he learns and knows then that was a complete waste of time and money.
I know you want to think it is rainbows and unicorns there, but it is not.
To finish there are numerous stories of people on the internet who actually went to MIT that flat out said they were admitted and given special consideration by coaches and admissions because of their athletics but you are probably right in that you know better than the people who actually experienced this. There are football players who have been admitted recently who scored in the lower 600s in a subject on the SATs. SMDH at how naive people are.
ETA: When the coach took over the football team he could only dress about 40 players and miraculously a few years later they were able to start dressing 70 players year in and year out and started winning, but this probably was because they just taught kids how to play football one day and not from focusing on building a football program.
Coaches quote “There was a good core of talent when I got here,” Martinovich said. “There just wasn’t enough of it.”
How do you think he fixed that?
The coach also said "Recruiting and the consistency of our philosophy have played a big role in the culture change. We have worked hard each year to bring in recruits that are highly motivated and want to excel both in the class room and on the football field. "
You think that happens by chance and by not admitting football players who focused on football? Hope your son does due diligence better than you do.
For years MIT accepted about 700 kids and each year they could only dress about 40 for football, but somehow recently they still only accept 700 and miraculously have far more talented kids and can dress 70 per year. Amazing how they just lucked into randomly selecting really good football players and kids who happen to want to play football. Furthermore with about 9000 applicants per year it would be statistically impossible to year after year just happen to let really good football players in
What makes this football player so special that MIT would give him a spot over all those other math wiz kids that they pass on? After all that is what they're known for. It's not uncommon for them to admit the math genius even if his verbal score isn't great. Of course that kid probably won a bunch of state and national math or science competitions. Which comes back to all those top Plano kids who got rejected by MIT and yet they won those local, regional, state and even national competitions. But, they don't need another Jimmy Choo if all he can do is program the code to increase optimal yield of qualified applicants who can also pull from the left guard position. They already got 100s of Jim Patel and Jim Chens who can do that. Just like Harvard they need that left guard or tackle so the alumni will warm up their checkbooks Saturday night or Monday morning.
Schools like Yale take it to a whole nother level. Much of the undergrads party the whole time, they don't worry about studying. They have year long Quidditch and other tournaments where all the undergrads can participate. They gotta enjoy their time there and fill up the fond memories for that checkbook down the road. Well, someone's gotta pay for all the Jims to do all the academic stuff.
Last edited by Peter5457; 04-23-2019 at 08:26 PM..
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