If I were not concerned about fairness at all, I’d say that universities are a place to collect together a combination of people that are likely to succeed.
Maybe that’s a combination of intellectuals and engineers and scientists and rich people and connected people and business people.
“Legacy” is a good proxy for “connected”. Donors are rich. Test scores find the engineers and scientists. Essays try to identify intellectuals. Etc.
But that’s not fair, because you can’t make yourself rich or connected before you turn 18.
Athletics doesn’t fit into that formula, and quite frankly a lot of academic departments don’t, either. But it’s a form of excellence so I don’t see why it shouldn’t count. A lot of intellectuals seem to think it’s unfair to treat sports excellence on the same plane as intellectual excellence, but that’s a self-serving position to take.
Seems a tad bit disingenuous, only because the Ivy leagues are probably not competing for the top 100 QBs or top 100 point guards or top 100 pitchers either.
To me being the best quarterback at your school and playing varsity football for four years should basically be considered the same way, as you point out, being the top bassoonist would. And my guess is that for the vast vast majority of cases extracurricular activities are pretty much all created equal unless you do it to a degree that makes it notable (like being an all-state athlete, or playing with you regional symphony or something)
Maybe a tad. Although I haven't seen a press conference for an incoming freshman bassoonist, and yet even the Ivies have them for promising incoming sports talent.
But that being said... this isn't a strongly-held opinion, and I'm in awe of anyone going to these schools and what it takes to get there. Being a top talent in one or more sports, and also academically, is amazing, and I don't want to diminish that.
Why should all talents be treated equally? Surely a university might care more about some talents than others, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a problem.
Money in sports distorts things, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean that everyone must treat football and bassoon talents equally.
Maybe that’s a combination of intellectuals and engineers and scientists and rich people and connected people and business people.
“Legacy” is a good proxy for “connected”. Donors are rich. Test scores find the engineers and scientists. Essays try to identify intellectuals. Etc.
But that’s not fair, because you can’t make yourself rich or connected before you turn 18.
Athletics doesn’t fit into that formula, and quite frankly a lot of academic departments don’t, either. But it’s a form of excellence so I don’t see why it shouldn’t count. A lot of intellectuals seem to think it’s unfair to treat sports excellence on the same plane as intellectual excellence, but that’s a self-serving position to take.