An Interesting Challenge for Student Athletes
Taking one for the team
One of my colleagues asked our group a question that, after over thirty years in the college space, sounded ridiculous to me:
Has anyone else experienced this with athletic recruits? I have a student who is committed to playing volleyball at Dartmouth. She was told her scores needed to align with her high school averages —around a 1368 SAT or 29 ACT. She’s taken the ACT multiple times and now has a superscore of 31. But her mom just shared that the admissions office told them all athletes are being asked to test one more time ‘to show academic commitment.’
Asking an applicant to take the SAT or ACT more times than needed to show commitment seems implausible, if not impossible. Believe it or not, though, it really happens.
Apparently, certain ultra-selective schools will ask athletes—even commits—to keep testing. Why? Many of these teams have a certain number of slots for students whose Academic Indexes fall in different bands, which is to say that they can only accept so many students presenting lower combinations of grades and test scores. GPA can’t be substantially improved at the 11th hour, but test scores certainly can with the right attitude, ability, and prep. If a committed athlete can earn a higher score, they open up a slot for a lower academic performer behind them.
So, if you’re applying to both study and compete at schools like Dartmouth, U. Penn, Georgetown, Harvard, Emory, or Johns Hopkins, testing won’t be done until they say you’re done. You may be asked to take one for the team!
QUICK NOTES
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