The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a study of admissions qualifications for athletes in many Division I universities. The findings at some schools are rather disturbing. In the PAC 10, for example, football players at UCLA and UC Berkeley had SAT scores (math + reading) that averaged well over 300 points lower than non-athletes. In the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Georgia Tech, Virginia and North Carolina had similar score differences.
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The issues surrounding college athletics, of course, are complex. The colleges with the biggest point gaps are the ones with the highest admissions bars, and it is likely that they could not field competitive Division I teams if they held athletes to the same standards as other applicants. Also, while it's easy to view different admissions standards as unfair, it's also true that athletes have specific skills that bring money and prestige to a university.
What are your thoughts on the issue? Should admissions standards be the same for athletes and non-athletes? Share your ideas below, and vote in the poll at the left. |
Comments
As a former D1 athlete I need to defend this topic. The average does not count for the lowest or highest score. There is a range of scores that surround that average. As long as those students are in that range then it is completely fair. If they are outside of that range then it becomes unfair.
Also athletics arent the only thing that can get you into college; Art, Drama, Music, and even diversity quotas can help.
As mother to both an intellectually gifted son who scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT/SAT and now attends a highly selective college, AND a very talented student-athlete who has played above his H.S. freshman level, I approve of differing college admissions criteria. My student-athlete also scores in the 98th percentile on standardized tests and is on his high school honor roll; however, the time and energy required to achieve and maintain a top position in his sport leaves little room for devoted study, and we recognize that the current duality he now enjoys will become increasingly harder to maintain. Excellence in any field results from both raw talent and its purposeful development. Colleges do already recognize this synergy, setting standards to best match students to potential career options, ie, requiring especially strong math skills for engineering programs, etc. To do otherwise would put students in all disciplines at risk of failure. This same wisdom leads to students ultimately declaring a major or specialization in a field of their choice, where their individual talents may be refined into a satisfying, useful career. Most colleges, in our experience, proactively seek to build a community that includes a wide variety of talent and personality types. While they may set their preferred or allowable academic range somewhat higher than other schools, even the top rated schools seek to infuse their classrooms with students who want to do more than study exclusively. Recognizing, respecting and allowing for differences within the student population provides a more stimulating school environment, promoting the dignified understanding and sophisticated interactions that are the hallmarks of a truly educated person.
College was designed and is billed as an institute of higher learning. The college should never waive the minimum requirements for admission. If a certain ACT or SAT score is needed, then that is what is needed for enrollment. An athelte chooses to be an athlete and in doing so must understand that it can have an effect on their ability to gain the education needed to achive the minimum score need for entrance to that particular college on the SAT and/or ACT.
Many people enjoy college sporting events, myself included. The QB of the football brings a special talent, but what about the other children that maybe equally talented but not in sports? We need to focus our efforts as a country on the minds of the generations that will replace us. We are where we are as a country because of the education of the past generations. They had no controversy of whether there should be a college football playoff system or who actually was the National Champion in college football. We need to get mad about the education our children are and can recieve vice March Madness!
Athletes also get more money for school, more guidance and special priviledges and many never graduate.
DJ im sorry your kids are not athletes. I have recieved a money to play college sports and I can tell you, it is easier to sit on your couch and study then it is to sweat your heart and sole out in the heat, lifting hard in the weightroom, and then after all that go home at 8 to go start studying… Sports teach kids how to communicate with other people and utilize their time, not just how to study and memorize something for a test.
u took the wards right out off my mouth bj