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I would argue that recruited athletes maybe get a pass on being a “VIP lane.” Sure, college is about academics, but someone who spends a lot of time mastering

I would argue that recruited athletes maybe get a pass on being a “VIP lane.” Sure, college is about academics, but someone who spends a lot of time mastering a sport (and is gifted at it) isn’t that different from someone gifted at math and working at it. I feel like HN may disagree, but not all athletes are 2.0 GPA students who relied purely on height to get in somewhere and have never worked hard.

aleph_minus_one 3y ago
Nobody doubts that atheletes often had to train hard. But you actually posted the counterargument by yourself: > Sure, college is about academics Exactly: college is about academics and not sports, so athlets should only get a "VIP lane" for academic achievement/potential and not for athletic achievement/potential.
- mr_00ff00 3y ago
  I think the average accepted GPA at top business schools for MBAs is all the argument I need to see that academics has as much influence on career success as athletic achievement. The CEOs are the future are more people skills related than anything else. If Harvard was all purely academically driven people, it would just create professors. Not exactly the college goal.
  - aleph_minus_one 3y ago
    > If Harvard was all purely academically driven people, it would just create professors. Not exactly the college goal. I am rather used to the German academic culture, but from this perspective I rather say: this is by the self-understanding of universities exactly the central purpose of colleges/universities (the rest is considered to be side gigs).
- HDThoreaun 3y ago
  I really disagree that Harvard is about academics. Harvard is about creating the next generation of American elite. They're looking for students who will have successful careers. I don't have data but reasonable to assume that athletes at the top of their game will find success in other areas. Same reason they don't just accept the students with the highest test scores.
xienze 3y ago
> but someone who spends a lot of time mastering a sport (and is gifted at it) isn’t that different from someone gifted at math and working at it. Except in the stuff that actually matters in the context of going to school -- your schoolwork. > I feel like HN may disagree, but not all athletes are 2.0 GPA students Yeah it's not all of them but you might want to take a gander at football/basketball players at the P5 level. There are a huge number of them that are, shall we say, not exactly college material. The schools shove them in basket weaving majors and assign an army of tutors to keep them academically eligible.

aleph_minus_one 3y ago

Nobody doubts that atheletes often had to train hard. But you actually posted the counterargument by yourself: > Sure, college is about academics Exactly: college is about academics and not sports, so athlets should only get a "VIP lane" for academic achievement/potential and not for athletic achievement/potential.

mr_00ff00 3y ago
I think the average accepted GPA at top business schools for MBAs is all the argument I need to see that academics has as much influence on career success as athletic achievement. The CEOs are the future are more people skills related than anything else. If Harvard was all purely academically driven people, it would just create professors. Not exactly the college goal.
- aleph_minus_one 3y ago
  > If Harvard was all purely academically driven people, it would just create professors. Not exactly the college goal. I am rather used to the German academic culture, but from this perspective I rather say: this is by the self-understanding of universities exactly the central purpose of colleges/universities (the rest is considered to be side gigs).
HDThoreaun 3y ago
I really disagree that Harvard is about academics. Harvard is about creating the next generation of American elite. They're looking for students who will have successful careers. I don't have data but reasonable to assume that athletes at the top of their game will find success in other areas. Same reason they don't just accept the students with the highest test scores.

xienze 3y ago

> but someone who spends a lot of time mastering a sport (and is gifted at it) isn’t that different from someone gifted at math and working at it. Except in the stuff that actually matters in the context of going to school -- your schoolwork. > I feel like HN may disagree, but not all athletes are 2.0 GPA students Yeah it's not all of them but you might want to take a gander at football/basketball players at the P5 level. There are a huge number of them that are, shall we say, not exactly college material. The schools shove them in basket weaving majors and assign an army of tutors to keep them academically eligible.