College admissions season can be a stressful time for high school juniors and seniors, and that often goes doubly so for prospective athletes, who are trying to get noticed and recruited by the best program that will take them.
A popular misconception of the athletic recruitment process in the Ivy League is that academic standards are sacrificed to promote the success of athletic programs. This sacrifice, however, does not occur at Dartmouth, according to Dan Parish, the director of Admissions Recruitment and Communication.
In order to be accepted, athletic recruits have to meet certain academic qualifications calculated by the academic index, a tool that uses a three-part formula to combine factors such as high school performance and testing into one number. All students that apply to the Ivy League are given a number according to this index, and athletes must hit a specific number to receive admission into Dartmouth.
"The goal is to ensure that the cohort of student-athletes is reflective of the student body at each Ivy," Parish said. "What is different about the Ivy League is that we don't consider athletic talent in isolation from academic credentials."
The admissions office collaborates with the athletic department to identify the number of students who can be accepted as recruits. The athletic department then works with coaches to determine the number of recruits each team will be allowed.
This number is based on the specific needs of each athletic program, especially with regard to filling spots left vacant by graduated athletes. It takes into account "what we need to make the program better," according to Parish.
The interaction between the admissions office and the athletic department also allows coaches to focus only on recruiting athletes who will be capable of hitting the average required by the academic index. Otherwise, the coaches could potentially waste time continuing contact with student-athletes who cannot meet Dartmouth's standards.
"By working with coaches early in the recruiting process and by providing feedback during the summer and fall, our goal is to ensure that the recruited athletes who apply early decision are those candidates who are well-positioned to be successful applicants to Dartmouth," Parish said. Such successful applicants, he explained, are those who can contribute their talents to the Dartmouth community and also thrive academically."
Though the Ivy League schools all use the academic index and have the same admissions standards for their athletic recruits, there are often wide disparities in the success of certain programs. For instance, one might question why the Dartmouth football team failed to win a game during the 2008 season while Harvard went 9-1 and Brown had a record of 7-3 overall.
Parish attributes the differences in the degree of success achieved by athletic teams at different Ivies to a multitude of other factors, such as school history, location and athletic facilities instead of varied recruitment policies.
The Ivy League athletic programs are also disadvantaged in comparison to other Division I schools because of the policy against giving athletic scholarships.
"It is an unbelievably difficult process to get someone to [pay to] come to Dartmouth when they are academically and athletically capable of getting into other schools for free," said Chris Wielgus, head coach of the women's basketball team. She also explained that, on the other hand, financial aid for athletes in need can help compensate for the lack of athletic scholarships and may be attractive to athletes who could otherwise only receive a partial scholarship at another school.
The effects of not being able to give out scholarships are felt in all of Dartmouth's sports programs, especially football, according to head football coach Buddy Teevens '79.
"Scholarships do impact our recruiting," he said. "Families must decide between paying for an education or having one paid for. We win some of these situations and lose others."
In a time of economic crisis, athletic scholarships may become even more attractive to prospective student athletes. Parish, however, said that if coaches advertise other beneficial aspects of Dartmouth, the recruitment process will not be affected as negatively.
"Being the only Division I athletic school that doesn't offer athletic scholarships, this changes the way we recruit," he said. "Coaches need to be strategic and need to communicate the value of a Dartmouth education."
Despite the prestige of the Dartmouth institution, paying a yearly tuition of around $50,000 dollars without financial aid is still a daunting premise for many.
Without the ability to offer an alluring scholarship, coaches prefer that prospective recruits apply early decision. A binding early decision acceptance stops athletes from later choosing to attend another institution that could offer a scholarship, and also allows coaches to keep up with the Division I recruiting timeline.
"Coaches have a roster that they have to fill, so if you apply early, they know months in advance who they are getting and what positions they still need to fill," Lauren Goodnow '12, a recruited track athlete said. "When I had recruits staying with me, they were all pressured to apply early decision."
Recruited athletes make up 30 to 35 percent of the students admitted early decision to Dartmouth, according to Parish. Also, 18 to 19 percent of each incoming class are recruited athletes.
Wielgus said that around 60 to 75 percent of her players applied early decision. The football team has eight early decision recruits in the incoming Class of 2013, according to Teevans.
This preference for early decision and the chaos of the recruitment process, however, may be an unwelcome pressure for some athletes.
"If the coaches put time in with you over the summer and fall of your senior year and you don't apply early, they might feel like they've wasted their time and that you aren't dedicated," Goodnow said, reflecting on her own recruiting process. "It's a game. I would never want to be re-recruited. It's too stressful."
Conversely, Adam Rice '12, recruited by the men's soccer team, reacted differently to the recruitment process. Rice said he found it comforting to know his admissions status early in his senior year of high school.
"There wasn't any overt pressure to apply early decision and it was in the best interest of everyone," he said. "By the time it came down to applying early, I had already decided Dartmouth was the place I wanted to be. So from that standpoint, I had nothing to lose by applying early."
Some students willingly engage in the intensive recruitment process yet decide to quit the team after matriculating at Dartmouth. Though these athletes seem to be taking up a spot that a coach could have filled with another recruit, Wielgus said that the athletes have every right to not play.
"If someone doesn't want to be on the team, it's good for the team that they can leave," she said. "At Dartmouth, athletics are not a job -- it's a passion".
When asked if she felt frustrated after losing a player, Wielgus explained that there is no binding agreement between the athlete and the team, because there are no athletic scholarships.
"That's the beauty of both playing and coaching in the Ivy League," she said. "If the student doesn't want to play, they don't have to. I respect them. It would frustrate me if they kept playing without wanting to."
Despite declaring some level of commitment and dedication to the coaches during the recruitment process, student athletes have no legal or financial obligation to play.
"Since Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, a recruited student athlete at an Ivy League school may decide to stop competing or playing for their team without risking any change in the composition of their need-based financial aid award," Parish said. He also explained that practically all Ivy League sports programs that recruit are unable to keep all of their athletes over all four years.
Though some claim that these athletes capitalize on recruitment to increase their odds in the extremely difficult admissions process, and then quit after achieving entrance Dartmouth, Parish emphasized that Ivy League programs will not admit a recruit unless he or she upholds certain academic standards determined by the academic index, and that recruit status cannot erase the fact that someone does not meet this standard.
After gaining acceptance to Dartmouth, student athletes must maintain academic eligibility to continue playing.
"All upper-class student-athletes must be in good academic standing and making satisfactory progress toward a degree to be eligible to represent Dartmouth in outside competitions," according to the Dartmouth website.
Eligibility is contingent on students earning at least six credits their first year, an additional eight during sophomore year and a total of 21 by the completion of junior year.
