Date Posted:10:25:51 03/23/04 Tue Author: kesiwick Subject: Re: You asked the question and I answered. In reply to:
HChockeyalum
's message, "Re: You asked the question and I answered." on 10:14:09 03/23/04 Tue
" top 20 ranking and the homogenization that inevitably comes with that status" just curious -- why is it "inevitable" -- HC is more competitive now and less homogenous than it was 20 years ago -- if anything, our financial aid policy/resources are our biggest impediment to a more diversified student body -- we often lose students to other top 20 schools/ivy because they offer better aid packages -- but I think we may be reversing this trend a bit with the latest admissions' numbers
SAT scores are used to predict how well a student will do on the college level. While an 890 could survive at HC it would be the exception rather than the rule. There is evidence to support this fact and that is why schools use the SAT.. The difficulty stems from the fact the 890 student at schools like HC would probably be in the 1st percentile (if that) and will be in the same classes competing with students with much more academic ability. Subtract the time spent in sport from the time available for study and it gets worse. The student likely would end up on academic probation or flunk out. That harms the student and the school. That would be okay if you want just an average college. But, then you could just go to a large state school that tries to accomodate all students and costs much less. Keep in mind the good students are more challenged at HC. The football teams at the big time football schools have a cadre of tutors that sometimes even travel with the team. UMass has about 15 tutors for its team. Even with the tutors the graduation rate for players is low. I believe Colgate has the one of the highest, if not the highest, graduation rates for Div. I varsity athletes and they don't major in things like Recreation or PE. I'm sure HC has a high grad rate, too. In the end you have to choose if you want a high quality or average academic school.
If you are comfortable with accepting just average students (or in the case of an 890 student, one who is 110 points below average in the US) then HC will become just one of thousands of colleges in the US with no particular claim to fame and soon all its standards will fall. Seems to me the goal should be to strive to be the best you can, create a challenging academic and sports environment and add value to the tradition and history of HC.
" The football teams at the big time football schools have a cadre of tutors that sometimes even travel with the team. UMass has about 15 tutors for its team. "
http://www.umass.edu/sas/html/staff.html
Doesn't appear that Umass has 15 people on staff let alone 15 dedicated tutors in this program reserved solely for the football team.
Qualified STUDENTS are indeed sought to work as part-time tutors under the supervision of the senior staff in this department. They are NOT permitted to travel with any varsity team on road trips. It is not unusual for a senior staff official to occasionally travel with a varsity team on those rare occasions when a small group of participants have to complete an academic assignment in transit to/from an athletic event.
I didn't say tutors travel with UMass. I said the bif time football schools have them. The point I was making is that schools like Colgate and HC don't have dedicated tutors for athletes. The athletes are expected to hold their own the same as other students. The fact is the majority of football players at big football schools and even in many of the A-10 schools are not the same kind of students as in the PL.
