Everyone seems to waaaaaay underestimate how hard it is to get an elite athletic scholarship or overestimate how common they are. They are uncommon and you have not only have to be good academically but outstanding athletically. it is harder than getting in with an athletic scholarship than without one.
I tend to agree. Athletics, while not academics, is as valid a reason as chess or acting for acceptance into a school. And top D1 athletes in the top tier sports are generally exceptional at what they do.
The unfortunate thing may be that we've conflated college admissions with this notion of "merit", rather than what you can get out of college itself.
It's especially hard to get athletic scholarships at Harvard, because as with all Ivy League universities they don't award them.
Of course, I'm sure the athletics department does apply other forms of pressure to various parts of Harvard, making it easier for athletes to get admitted and pass their classes etc. But any scholarships they award are (corruption aside) at least theoretically based around financial need.
> it is harder than getting in with an athletic scholarship than without one.
I agree with most of your comment, but I think you're using "harder" and "rarer" interchangeably here.
One would guess that receiving a scholarship for elite athleticism or superior intellect are both quite difficult, and I have zero basis of comparison for which one is harder. I would not assume that athletic scholarships being rarer reflects on their difficulty. Rather, it's most likely a reflection on what the main function of a university is, as a place of learning. They admit more students to study than to play sports.
