[Roberton3]

The answer is yes, the Ivies do lower their standards for athletes but probably less than other D-I schools.  I have been watching Ivy sports for a few years now -- I have a daughter who is an athlete at Brown -- and my impression is that the Ivies who lower their standards the most are not the ones you might expect.  Although I don't have hard data, my sense is that Harvard (not all sports but only those they really care about), Yale and Princeton are among the Ivies who care the most about sports and will lower their standards the most (comparing the rest of the student body with athletes).  Brown and Columbia seem to care the least and probably compromise their standards the least, in my opinion.

I'd agree that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton probably have the biggest gaps between athletes (in key sports) and the rest of the student body.  But I wouldn't say that's because they care more about sports than the rest of the Ivies.  It's just that those are the Ivies that are academically strongest (and thus have the highest admission standards), so in order to be competitive in sports, they have to have a bigger gap between athletes and everyone else.  My sense is that the academic standard for getting in as an athlete is fairly similar across the Ivy schools, while the standard for getting in as a non-athlete varies a lot more (it's difficult everywhere, but substantially more difficult at H, Y, and P than at the others).

[Roberton3]

The answer is yes, the Ivies do lower their standards for athletes but probably less than other D-I schools.  I have been watching Ivy sports for a few years now -- I have a daughter who is an athlete at Brown -- and my impression is that the Ivies who lower their standards the most are not the ones you might expect.  Although I don't have hard data, my sense is that Harvard (not all sports but only those they really care about), Yale and Princeton are among the Ivies who care the most about sports and will lower their standards the most (comparing the rest of the student body with athletes).  Brown and Columbia seem to care the least and probably compromise their standards the least, in my opinion.

I'd agree that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton probably have the biggest gaps between athletes (in key sports) and the rest of the student body.  But I wouldn't say that's because they care more about sports than the rest of the Ivies.  It's just that those are the Ivies that are academically strongest (and thus have the highest admission standards), so in order to be competitive in sports, they have to have a bigger gap between athletes and everyone else.  My sense is that the academic standard for getting in as an athlete is fairly similar across the Ivy schools, while the standard for getting in as a non-athlete varies a lot more (it's difficult everywhere, but substantially more difficult at H, Y, and P than at the others).