>I have a question which I hope one of our Ivy-knowledgable folks can
>help with.  It has always been my impression that, although the Ivies
>don't give "athletic" scholarships, that doesn't mean that a first-rate
>hockey player (or computer scientist or violinist) is treated the same
>as an "average" student when financial aid is doled out.
 
Well, I don't presume to speak for the Ivies, but, now in my sixth year at
an Ivy institution, here is my understanding of how it works:
 
Admissions decisions are made without consideration of financial aid
questions (except at Brown, which acknowledges that approximately the last
5% of its admission decisions are made on a "need-aware" basis,
essentially, financial aid becomes a tie-breaker -- this may well be true,
though not admitted, at the other ivies as well).  At least in thoery then,
financial aid decisions are made solely on the basis of demonstrated need,
after the applicant has been admitted.  Thus the only boost an athlete
would get would come in the admissions phase, not the financial aid phase.
 
Now, I have *heard* that when a coach really wants a player, the
calculation of demonstrated need can become a bit more generous.  The only
way to verify this would be for a brave soul in an ivy's athletic or
financial aid department to fess up.
 
I do recall an article a couple of years back in SI, accusing the
University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy but not a hockey school, of various
recruiting violations in its successful football and basketball programs.
Don't remeber the substance of the charges though.
 
Carl Sussman
Brown '96
Harvard Law '99
 
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