>>> Troy J Taylor <[log in to unmask]> 08/21/97 10:38am
>>> The ivies all claim this, but how much of it is really true.  "Need based
>>> financial aid,"  What this means to all of us outside the ivies? I think
>>> it means need based in some of the ivies that they need you for
>>> athletic reasons so therefore you "NEED" financial aid..
 
It isn't really true, Troy ... but then again, it isn't really false. I was sitting
with a father of an un-named Ivy goalie last year and we were talking
about the recruiting process. The kid had excellent grades so his
eligibility was never in question. However, the "full-ride" scholarship was
also never in question. It wa understood from the start that the kid would
get a full-ride, regardless of the family's financial need. The scholarship
was certainly classified as a financial need scholarship but the notion of
this fact made the father grin quite widely.
 
The Ivy schools certainly have a more limiting recruit guideline to follow
as far as academics. None of these schools will let the athletic programs
bring in kids that can't handle the scholastic challenge. However, I
imagine, they also must have incredibly lenient financial-need guidelines
that allow the recruiters to promise (with a wink and a nudge, of course)
that the family will qualify.
 
Bottom line is that the hockey programs at the Ivies do operate at a
disadvantage from the rest of the schools, but not nearly as much as
one might imagine if all the players had to pay tuition or qualify for aid like
any other Ivy student. Also, it isn;t only the Ivies that are subjected to
heavy academic restrictions, schools like Merrimack and Michigan have
similar situations. Schools like BU, however, will take just about anyone. I
know of a recent BU player who had to take the SAT's eight times just to
get a 700 combined. To BU's credit though, this same student survived
four years and became scholastically adept during that time. A guiding
force like Jack Parker (and the tutors he has available) offers more to
these kids than one might imagine.
 
- Paul.
 
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