[Hank 91]

Sorry, but I have to disagree on football recruits being automatic admits if they have the right nexis of grades and test scores. A guy who gets badly dinged in his letters of recommendation -- which, admissions people say happens with startling frequency -- or writes illiterate drivel in his essay (or praises Hitler, as Jean Fetter recounted in her book) is still going to get turned down. I think a recruited athlete with good grades and scores is in better shape than a physics nerd, but nothing's automatic. And Jim Harbaugh made a mistake if he said it was.

Here's what I said:

If your test scores and transcript and application indicate that you can handle the academics, you're in. I can't imagine that a recruited football player with an ACT score of 35 (which puts him in the top 1%) has ever been denied admission to any school in America, not even Stanford.

When I mentioned the application, I was thinking about the essays and recommendations. I'll admit, though, that it's unlikely Harbaugh had any insight into McFadden's application, but the coaches talk a lot about the importance of speaking to teachers and guidance counsellors during the recruiting process. It's possible, I suppose, that Harbaugh had heard enough glowing reports from these people regarding McFadden that he knew the letters of recommendation would be stellar. It is possible.

As for Jontrey Tillman -- last winter's jilted commit -- we've been down that road. By all reports he was a borderline admit at best. I have no problem with this story of Harbaugh guaranteeing admission to McFadden, but if someone said something similar to Tillman, that person made a large error.

[Hank 91]

Sorry, but I have to disagree on football recruits being automatic admits if they have the right nexis of grades and test scores. A guy who gets badly dinged in his letters of recommendation -- which, admissions people say happens with startling frequency -- or writes illiterate drivel in his essay (or praises Hitler, as Jean Fetter recounted in her book) is still going to get turned down. I think a recruited athlete with good grades and scores is in better shape than a physics nerd, but nothing's automatic. And Jim Harbaugh made a mistake if he said it was.

Here's what I said:

If your test scores and transcript and application indicate that you can handle the academics, you're in. I can't imagine that a recruited football player with an ACT score of 35 (which puts him in the top 1%) has ever been denied admission to any school in America, not even Stanford.

When I mentioned the application, I was thinking about the essays and recommendations. I'll admit, though, that it's unlikely Harbaugh had any insight into McFadden's application, but the coaches talk a lot about the importance of speaking to teachers and guidance counsellors during the recruiting process. It's possible, I suppose, that Harbaugh had heard enough glowing reports from these people regarding McFadden that he knew the letters of recommendation would be stellar. It is possible.

As for Jontrey Tillman -- last winter's jilted commit -- we've been down that road. By all reports he was a borderline admit at best. I have no problem with this story of Harbaugh guaranteeing admission to McFadden, but if someone said something similar to Tillman, that person made a large error.