Admission dean Rapelye gets passing grade from coaches

New Dean of Admissions Janet Rapelye has already made several changes since the departure of the former dean, Fred Hargadon. For one, admission decisions are now made by committees instead of having the responsibility for final decisions rest mainly on the dean. Also, Rapelye recently announced that the University will accept the Common Application for the class of 2009.

But has the relationship between athletics and admission changed?

Statistically, nothing has changed. Varsity athletes make up virtually the same percentage of admitted students as before. For the class of 2007, the last class accepted under Hargadon, 218 athletes represented 13.9 percent of the 1570 students accepted. For the class of 2008, the first class admitted under Rapelye, 228 athletes represented 14.0 percent of the 1631 students accepted.

Coaches of varsity sports largely agree that the shift from Hargadon to Rapelye has gone smoothly and that not much has changed. Their say in the admission process has remained constant — coaches communicate which athletes they are interested in to senior associate athletic director Mike Cross, who in turn informs the Office of Admission.

"We rely on the coaches to tell us who the good athletes are," Rapelye said. "We then reserve the right to make that decision about whether the student has strong academic credentials."

There are many factors that go into the admission process, of course — artistic talent, community service, involvement in student government, et cetera. Athletic achievement is just one of many talents the admission office must consider. Essentially, coaches get the same amount of say in the admission process as an authority in a different field.

"Coaches get to recommend people in the same way that the different academic departments do," Cross said.

Under each admission dean, potential recruits have gone through an extensive screening process before coaches even recommend them to the Office of Admission. Coaches must hold recruits up to an Ivy League academic index that looks at a student's grade point average and SAT scores.

"There's a limited pool of students out there who can play Division I athletics and study at this level, and so we want to look at all of those candidates very seriously," Rapelye said.

In a school where roughly a tenth of applicants are accepted, there is always a certain sense of anxiety about whether a particular recruit will get in — from a coach's perspective as well as from a student's.

Coaches accept jobs at Princeton knowing that not every recruit will be accepted. Admission doesn't always work out the way they want it to. None of the three female fencers coach Michel Sebastiani recommended for early decision were accepted, which concerned him. But four were admitted regular decision, relieving some of his anxiety.

"There's certainly disappointment when a recruit doesn't get in, but you have to trust that the admission office is picking the best applicants," women's lacrosse head coach Chris Sailer said.

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Ultimately, the coaches' hard work pays off when they find students who are judged by the admission office to be prepared to make significant contributions both in the classroom and on the field.

"Student-athletes should try to be the best student and best athlete and best person they can be and take full advantage of every opportunity that Princeton has to offer them," Cross said, "and I think in the vast majority of cases that occurs."

Despite the high academic standards they face in the admission process, athletes must face negative attitudes they occasionally perceive on campus.

"I feel like there is a misconception that a lot of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for us being good at our sport, and that we're not as smart as the average student," Luke Owings, a freshman on the men's basketball team, said. "But if people get a chance to get to know us, they'll see that's not true."

Women's basketball head coach Richard Barron echoed the widespread satisfaction with Rapelye's job as Dean of Admission.

"Recruiting is the lifeblood for a team, and similarly, admission is the lifeblood for the University," Barron said. "If we have to work harder or occasionally lose a good candidate, we understand that it's for the best."

"[Rapelye] inherited a tremendously difficult position," Cross said, "and I think she's handled herself with tremendous grace in trying to balance all the needs that Princeton has of trying to get the best students here."