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Comment by mathattack | Hacker News Reader

Don't even get me started on the sports, it's an outrage how US schools have become sports franchises.

This pisses me off too. It's why I don't give money to my Sports Franchise undergrad.

I remember my mother speaking to some college admissions person at a semi-prestigious school in Pennsylvania, many years back when I was in the throws of applying. When speaking to some admissions confusion with respect to my high school, the guy said, "Well frankly, it's not called the Ivy League because of its academics." That's always stuck with me. Athletic scholarships? You betcha. Academic scholarships? What are those?

Actually though, no schools in the Ivy League give athletic scholarships [1], and most college sports are revenue neutral.

1: http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/information/psa/index

They do have systems of marking applications of prospective students approved by a coach.

This. Not outright. Not Ivy League, but I know Stanford does.

Ivies give so much need based scholarships that athletic scholarships aren't required. If someone's parents and poor, the school finds a way for them to graduate debt-free. (This is a big plus for them)

As for sports having an impact... They may not let in a 900 SAT football player, but 1200 may be enough for an Olympic rower.

That they are revenue neutral makes it even worse.

Pedantic, I know, but it should be "throes of."

Noted.

>"Well frankly, it's not called the Ivy League because of its academics." That's always stuck with me. Athletic scholarships? You betcha. Academic scholarships? What are those?

What are you talking about? Ivy League schools do not offer athletic money and all (now, not when I was applying) are need-blind, giving tons of money to those who need it.

I never said anything about them not giving money to students who need it. Not once. I simply stated what was told to me about athletics. There's a difference between financial aid, and academic scholarship. Recruiting for academic purposes occurs much more so in post-undergrad situations. Whether or not you want to believe that athletics play a role in admissions and awards is up to you.

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