5 ms·

Athletic scholarships is one of those very foreign concepts, for us outside the US. Seems like a uniquely (North) American thing?

BurningFrog 4y ago
That and the institution of the "college application essay". Does any other country have that?
- marcosdumay 4y ago
  I think it is common everywhere to require essays during the college evaluation process, but I don't understand well enough what is the US's "college application essay" to compare.
  - lazyasciiart 4y ago
    In the US you write an essay to send to the college with your application, about why you should be accepted. I don’t know of anywhere else that has anything like it. Edit: examples https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-04-24/college-essay-examples-how-to-write-your-story https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019...
    - marcosdumay 4y ago
      Wow, no, I have never seen anything like that before. Is it really a literary resume for people that didn't have the time to accomplish anything yet? I just found a niche for chatGPT!
    - whimsicalism 4y ago
      Oxford certainly has it when i applied.
      - astura 4y ago
        And my college in the US didn't require one, and I didn't write one. It was optional.
- krigath 4y ago
  College application essays for undergraduate degrees vary a lot by country. The UK UCAS admission system used for all undergraduate admissions requires an application text. It is much freer in its form than how I understand the US system with a very specific prompt. As for Norway, to pick another random example, there is no requirement to submit any piece of writing to explain your motivation. Your grades do all the talking for you, so to speak.
  - whimsicalism 4y ago
    The difference between UCAS and US system is that UCAS is universal essay whereas US “common app” has both universal and school specific essays. Honestly i much prefer the US system to my exposure to the british system, much easier to apply to multiple schools in the US
    - arlort 4y ago
      > much easier to apply to multiple schools in the US I think discouraging blanket applications to multiple universities is the point of the UCAS system in the UK
- bjourne 4y ago
  China has it...
  - whimsicalism 4y ago
    I thought the gaokao was all that mattered
    - Leary 4y ago
      Chinese colleges have sports majors that use athletic performance as part of their admissions.
gramie 4y ago
Canada has them, but fewer, smaller, and students still need the academics. We don't have the religious fervour around university sports that we see in the U.S.
jalla 4y ago
Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College in the UK admit students and provide benefits, scholarships and bursaries to people that are considered world class rowing talent, quietly and unofficially. Many European countries have special programs for sports talents to develop and receive economic benefits whilst serving military service and/or seeking higher education. Most people don't know anything about these programs as they are not advertised or generally published.
- jstx1 4y ago
  Also because they aren't nearly as common. Just because this exists in some form outside of the US doesnt mean that it happens at the same scale.
- whakim 4y ago
  Having competed in The Boat Race, this is unequivocally false at Oxford and Cambridge.
  - fsckboy 4y ago
    I know nothing about crew, who wins, etc. but: it may be the case that the wealth and elitism of "growing up rowing", like "growing up sailing, horseback riding, and playing polo and squash" is sufficient to to keep out the riffraff and the highly athletic boats crewed with also academically gifted rowers; but humans both group identify and are athletically highly competitive, even as spectators, and there's no way you can have world class talent in a sport without either combing the hustings for talent, or keeping "those people" out altogether. Oxford and Cambridge are not magically different than every other place in the world, they are magically the same. If they are good at it, then there's an explanation for it, and it's not "being good at fluid dynamics turns out to make you a great rower". For example, the Ivy League in American sports is not the elite level of sports in any sport that matters economically, but only because they're only willing to bend the academic rules so far and they restrict competition to other like minded opponents (but they do bend the rules because they care enough to do so). So either: Oxford and Cambridge aren't world class at rowing; nobody rows outside Oxford Cambridge and some other similarly elitist schools; or they're bending some rules to obtain elite talent.

BurningFrog 4y ago

That and the institution of the "college application essay". Does any other country have that?

marcosdumay 4y ago
I think it is common everywhere to require essays during the college evaluation process, but I don't understand well enough what is the US's "college application essay" to compare.
- lazyasciiart 4y ago
  In the US you write an essay to send to the college with your application, about why you should be accepted. I don’t know of anywhere else that has anything like it. Edit: examples https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-04-24/college-essay-examples-how-to-write-your-story https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019...
  - marcosdumay 4y ago
    Wow, no, I have never seen anything like that before. Is it really a literary resume for people that didn't have the time to accomplish anything yet? I just found a niche for chatGPT!
  - whimsicalism 4y ago
    Oxford certainly has it when i applied.
    - astura 4y ago
      And my college in the US didn't require one, and I didn't write one. It was optional.
krigath 4y ago
College application essays for undergraduate degrees vary a lot by country. The UK UCAS admission system used for all undergraduate admissions requires an application text. It is much freer in its form than how I understand the US system with a very specific prompt. As for Norway, to pick another random example, there is no requirement to submit any piece of writing to explain your motivation. Your grades do all the talking for you, so to speak.
- whimsicalism 4y ago
  The difference between UCAS and US system is that UCAS is universal essay whereas US “common app” has both universal and school specific essays. Honestly i much prefer the US system to my exposure to the british system, much easier to apply to multiple schools in the US
  - arlort 4y ago
    > much easier to apply to multiple schools in the US I think discouraging blanket applications to multiple universities is the point of the UCAS system in the UK
bjourne 4y ago
China has it...
- whimsicalism 4y ago
  I thought the gaokao was all that mattered
  - Leary 4y ago
    Chinese colleges have sports majors that use athletic performance as part of their admissions.

gramie 4y ago

Canada has them, but fewer, smaller, and students still need the academics. We don't have the religious fervour around university sports that we see in the U.S.

jalla 4y ago

Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College in the UK admit students and provide benefits, scholarships and bursaries to people that are considered world class rowing talent, quietly and unofficially. Many European countries have special programs for sports talents to develop and receive economic benefits whilst serving military service and/or seeking higher education. Most people don't know anything about these programs as they are not advertised or generally published.

jstx1 4y ago
Also because they aren't nearly as common. Just because this exists in some form outside of the US doesnt mean that it happens at the same scale.
whakim 4y ago
Having competed in The Boat Race, this is unequivocally false at Oxford and Cambridge.
- fsckboy 4y ago
  I know nothing about crew, who wins, etc. but: it may be the case that the wealth and elitism of "growing up rowing", like "growing up sailing, horseback riding, and playing polo and squash" is sufficient to to keep out the riffraff and the highly athletic boats crewed with also academically gifted rowers; but humans both group identify and are athletically highly competitive, even as spectators, and there's no way you can have world class talent in a sport without either combing the hustings for talent, or keeping "those people" out altogether. Oxford and Cambridge are not magically different than every other place in the world, they are magically the same. If they are good at it, then there's an explanation for it, and it's not "being good at fluid dynamics turns out to make you a great rower". For example, the Ivy League in American sports is not the elite level of sports in any sport that matters economically, but only because they're only willing to bend the academic rules so far and they restrict competition to other like minded opponents (but they do bend the rules because they care enough to do so). So either: Oxford and Cambridge aren't world class at rowing; nobody rows outside Oxford Cambridge and some other similarly elitist schools; or they're bending some rules to obtain elite talent.