Though Jan. 8's team reinstatement ended 45 days of agony for Dartmouth's swimmers and divers, recruited prospective students are still struggling in its aftermath.
This year only five recruited swimmers and divers were accepted early, down from the 12 to 14 early acceptances granted in years past. The decrease poses a substantial difficulty for the class of 2007 swimmers, since the majority of athletic recruiting in the Ivy League is conducted via early admission.
When the team was cut, the admissions department was unable to give as much weight to swimming recruits, causing more recruits to be deferred than normal.
"We just couldn't give as much weight, or priority to swimmers as we normally would," Karl Furstenberg, Dean of Admissions, said. "We tried to find a middle ground, recognizing that these students had been recruited, but we simply could not admit the same numbers if we had no swim team."
When swim coaches Jim Wilson and Joann Brislin compiled their list of recruited swimmers to give to the admissions office in November, they were each expecting to see around six early acceptances. However, when the teams were cut, they received far fewer recruits than they would have liked and drastically slowed their recruiting efforts.
"We had stopped recruiting when the teams were cut, and now we are trying to cram two months of recruiting into two weeks," Wilson said. "We definitely lost some top recruits. The top guys are always the first to go because they have the most to lose."
When the teams were cut, the admissions department was faced with the difficult situation of having received binding applications from swimming recruits who could no longer be guaranteed a team when they arrived on campus. Consequently, Furstenberg decided to allow swimming recruits who applied early to withdraw their applications at any point during the process.
Though Wilson said that "at least a few" recruits that submitted their early applications opted out before decisions were rendered, Furstenberg pointed out that no swimmers who were accepted chose to opt out of their binding agreement.
"We allowed the recruits who applied early to opt out and change their mind and none did," Furstenberg said. "They said, 'Dartmouth is where I want to be.'"
Of those recruits who remained in the early application pool but who were not offered admission early, "a number were deferred, and some were denied," Furstenberg said. "Those denied, however, would have been denied either way."
Another consideration made by the admissions office was to extend the regular decision deadline for swim recruits who wanted to apply once the swimming teams were reinstated.
"Admissions relaxed the deadline so that swimmers who we had talked to before, and were considering Dartmouth but had decided against it because of the swim team cuts, could have the opportunity to quickly assemble their application and get it in for regular decision consideration," Wilson said.
On the women's side alone, five swimming recruits took advantage of the extended regular decision deadline to submit their applications once the teams had been reinstated, according to Brislin.
Kevin Arthofer, a swim recruit from Illinois who applied early and was deferred, said he thought going in that his chances of being accepted were pretty good.
"Coach Wilson had said that he was fairly confident I would get in," Arthofer said, though he pointed out that Wilson was hesitant to make any guarantees. "I had thought about Dartmouth swimming since June. I though I could really fit in there."
When the teams were cut Arthofer considered his other options, but decided to keep his application in the early application pool, because Dartmouth was still a school where he wanted to end up, even if there was no swim team.
"I told Coach Wilson it was my number one choice for a reason," Arthofer said. "Even without swimming it was still high on my list. I would still like to go there."
Peter Laidlaw, a recruit from the D.C. area who was accepted early found his decision just as difficult. After he got in, he was forced to decide between Dartmouth and swimming.
"Dartmouth was really the place I wanted to be," Laidlaw said. "I knew I would have to give up swimming sometime, and I was prepared to give it up and go to Dartmouth anyways."
Wilson appreciated the assistance and understanding from the admissions department.
"Admissions is being great. They are helping us out in a tough situation, and being great letting kids apply past deadline," Wilson said. "They may have let fewer in, but at least they deferred those with a chance so they can give them another look now."
Though the cutting of the swimming and diving teams became a national story, Furstenberg said it did not affect the numbers of applications received. Early admissions applications were up over last year, but overall the admissions office "can't discern any major impact on the number of applicants we've seen this year," Furstenberg said.
