d1 Tennis Question

[wispeed]

Hey everybody,
I have been reading on these forums for a long time now but this is my first post. I have a pretty good understanding of how Division 1 tennis works as far as the level required and getting scholarships and what not. What I was wondering is how much the tennis coach can do to help you get into the school. What I mean by this is can tennis help you get into a good academic school even if you dont have the proper grades? And if so how much can it help you? I am sure that the students playing tennis at Stanford dont have the grades that a non athlete at stanford would require. Any insight is much appreciated, thank you.

 

[Automator]

It depends on the school. You are correct that the top schools will often permit scholarship athletes into school that might have a transcript that doesn't match the average student, but each school has minimum standards that players have to meet no matter what. For some schools, it's the minimum NCAA qualifying standards. I know Virginia's standards are slightly different than the NCAA's in terms of the number of years of math you need to have completed in high school.

What it boils down to is that the school doesn't want to admit students that cannot do the work, no matter how talented they are athletically.

 

[Towerofpower205]

They make it a little easier but the kids at Stanford, Harvard, duke are very close to the average student. It's just a little more of a chance to get in if you are going to be a stellar athlete

 

[jaggy]

Most schools have special admits for students who do not meet institutional standards and football and basketball make up most of this group at many schools.

 

[Misterbill]

It depends on the school. You are correct that the top schools will often permit scholarship athletes into school that might have a transcript that doesn't match the average student, but each school has minimum standards that players have to meet no matter what. For some schools, it's the minimum NCAA qualifying standards. I know Virginia's standards are slightly different than the NCAA's in terms of the number of years of math you need to have completed in high school.

What it boils down to is that the school doesn't want to admit students that cannot do the work, no matter how talented they are athletically.

Well said. If a school is interested in an athlete, and the athlete meets the minimum standards of the admissions office (or the Academic Index calculation for the Ivies), the coach will have a certain number of "slots" where influence can be exercised.

These slots usually equal available scholarships, or in the case of non-athletic scholarship schools, maybe 2 or 3 per year for tennis.

 

[Automator]

They make it a little easier but the kids at Stanford, Harvard, duke are very close to the average student.

That might be true in tennis, but it's not true for all sports. Another component is "Who's asking?". Simply put, if you're the coach of a non-revenue sport that gets little publicity, you're probably going to find it hard to get an athlete with a poor transcript into school. Coaches that develop a track record of keeping players on track to graduate will get more leeway in the future. Coaches of revenue sports will always get more leeway because they fund the enterprise.

To the point, if you think Coach K can't get any player he wants into Duke, you're deluding yourself.

 

[bluetrain4]

I believe that being a highly recruited athlete can help a student get into a particular school.

In many instances (though certainly not all the time), athletes are admitted to a school with grades and test scores which are lower than the typical student. However, schools still have their own minimum standards, as someone already pointed out, and those minimum standards can be quite high depending on the school. I knew some athletes when I attended Northwestern who would have been borderline admits or simply not been accepted had they simply been general students. But, it wasn't like their grades and test scores were light years below the general student body average. They were still academically gifted, and nearly all graduated.

What I want to know is if the "minimum standard" that a school sets is different for different sports. Probably easier to find 6 or 7 tennis players who either (a) actually could be admitted even if they weren't athletes, or (b) meet the schools minimum standards than it is to find 90 football players who meet the same criteria.

 

[mikej]

That might be true in tennis, but it's not true for all sports. Another component is "Who's asking?". Simply put, if you're the coach of a non-revenue sport that gets little publicity, you're probably going to find it hard to get an athlete with a poor transcript into school. Coaches that develop a track record of keeping players on track to graduate will get more leeway in the future. Coaches of revenue sports will always get more leeway because they fund the enterprise.

To the point, if you think Coach K can't get any player he wants into Duke, you're deluding yourself.

Absolutely depends on the sport - coach k can get Sean dockery in who had trouble meeting NCAA SAT minimum - same isn't true for tennis, where you have to be a pretty solid student - doesn't mean you would have stood a chance of getting in without tennis coach support, but means they think you're plenty smart to handle the work while putting in tons of athletics time

I think for just about any school - if you're top quarter of your high school class with As and Bs coach will be able to get you in if your tennis is what he's looking for

 

[wispeed]

Thank you for the answers guys.

 

[tennismom42]

A couple more things to think about. BTW, my kid was academically challenged in High School too. We're hoping for the 5th year of college to get him thru.

The college coach can file a petition on a player's behalf to the Entrance Board of the College. The coach might state some extenuating circumstances the player had while in high School. Perhaps the High School is a high-caliber, difficult school, for example, or family issues.

The University wants to admit students who have an excellent chance to graduate. Find your reasons, accommodations & tell them your path to success (study hall, tutor, learning disability eval, summer school). I heard D3 makes things happen. A scholarship can be named academic when it's actually for athletic talent.

Have you done a search thru collegeboard.com to narrow down the school choices? In-state or sister-states for first two years helps a ton!