For many Brown freshmen, April 2 was the day the suspense ended, when the University sent out acceptance, rejection and wait-list letters to thousands of applicants. But for Jelani Floyd '11, a recruited men's basketball player, the wait ended months earlier.
"It takes off a lot of stress," said Floyd, who verbally committed to Brown in February and received notification of his "likely" acceptance immediately afterward. "Since I knew I was going to get in, I would have been amazed if I wasn't admitted in April. It's very hard to get admitted into an Ivy League school, and a 'likely letter' just takes a lot of that anxiety off."
The Admission Office said dozens of athletes verbally commit to Brown before many non-athletes even apply to the University.
"The verbal commitment is from the athlete's point of view," said Garrett Leffelman '11, another recruited men's basketball player. "It lets all other schools that are recruiting the athlete know, 'No, stop recruiting me.' "
While most students receive their Brown admission notifications through early decision in mid-December or regular decision in early April, the admission office reserves a spot for some recruited athletes as early as October.
In early October, two high-school seniors - Marques Coleman, of Glendale, Ariz., and Noel Hollingsworth, of Salt Lake City - verbally committed to play basketball at Brown, according to Scout.com. Floyd confirmed the information.
After an athlete verbally commits, the admission office sends the recruit a "likely letter." The letter virtually guarantees that the athlete will be accepted at Brown - unless his or her grades drop severely, said Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73. The notification cannot be given to recruits until they send in an official application, encouraging such students to apply as early as possible.
"We assess athletes and decide based on our experience and what the applicant pool will look like," Miller said. "Nothing is official until there is an official admission offer early decision or regular decision."
Miller said Brown also sends "likely letters" to about 100 non-athletes - "to top students" - each year during the regular decision process, just as other Ivy League schools do.
Admission for recruited athletes in the Ivy League is slightly different than in other NCAA Division I schools.
"At other universities, once a student commits to play a sport, they are automatically in," Floyd said, "but here at Brown once you commit, you have one foot in the door, and all you have to do is be consistent (with grades), and both feet will be in the door come acceptance-letter time. You must get admitted like any other student, but you have a couple of edge points over regular students because you play a sport."
All sports recruit athletes throughout the year. For example, all Ivy League institutions but Dartmouth have had verbal commitments from at least one men's basketball prospect this year. According to Scout.com, Harvard University has five verbal commitments, with the earliest coming in August. The University of Pennsylvania has four, with one student committing in mid-July.
As far as sports recruiting goes, the Ivy League is at a disadvantage compared to other conferences because it does not offer athletic scholarships. The allure of a scholarship can entice a recruit to make a verbal commitment to a college often as early as the their junior year of high school, months before Ivy League schools mail their likely letters.
But Leffelman said scholarships may not be the most important incentive for prospective Ivy League students.
"They can't give a financial scholarship, but the scholarship is getting into a school like Brown," Leffelman said. "At first I was like, 'This doesn't seem right, since I worked hard my entire life to get a scholarship.' But then I talked to so many (Ivy League alums), and I was overwhelmed how much of a scholarship it is to go to a school like this," he said.
Financial aid and admission decisions continue to be decided independently for all students, according to University policy. The Ivy League Admission Statement dictates that schools can give financial aid based only on need, not athletic merit.
Critics complain that the recruiting system allows subpar students to get into highly selective schools through the back door. Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger confirmed that recruited athletes tend to have less impressive academic credentials than non-athletes. But he said they still fall in the top 10 percent of high school students and are "remarkably talented."
"There are certainly some recruited athletes whose GPAs are lower than those of other Brown freshmen, just as there are musicians, poets and student-government people whose averages are lower," said Howard Chudacoff, a professor of American history and Brown's NCAA faculty representative. "It has been my experience over my several decades at Brown that every recruited athlete at Brown has qualified academically for admission."
Critics also complain that the system emphasizes athletics over what the Ivy League is known for: academics.
"I believe likely letters are unfortunate because they suggest that Brown and its Ivy League competitors are putting athletics first and academics second," Chudacoff said. "We justify these letters by saying we must send them out to be competitive with schools that offer athletics scholarships and because other Ivy institutions send them. That is probably true, but still unfortunate."
Even without scholarships, many recruited athletes will continue to slide through the admission process stress-free while non-athletes sweat it out until April.
"Every school has a different pitch, whether it is location, academics or immediate playing time," Floyd said. "Brown sold me on the life after basketball. The opportunities that such a distinguished institution will (provide) give me a chance to succeed at whatever I do after I college."
