Student Athlete/Professional Athlete

Green Ranger

Hey everyone just had a question. How much impact does being a division 1 student athlete at an ivy league school have on your applications? Would admissions take that into consideration when looking at my GPA (3.66)? Also, wondering how much impact does being a professional athlete at the youth level have on the application! Have experienced both and transitioned into academics fairly late and would appreciate any feedback! Would I have to write an addendum emphasizing my time as a student athlete/professional?

Thank you!!

A.MENS2020

Hi, I'm from Canada, I played my 5 years of university basketball, worked full time and did an honours degree with distinction (I was waitlisted at 4 Canadian schools) and had an almost identical cGPA but my lsat was very low. I applied discretionary where I could, and explained the time commitments etc., and background as a student athlete but it didn't seem to impact my actual application in a very positive way. If you know a school is more holistic, I would say use your background and discuss how being a student athlete has propelled you to be a successful JD candidate etc. I am re-applying this year and am focusing more on that, versus why it may have affected my grades. I'm not sure if that helps, but it is my very recent experience!

VerdantZephyr

I think that if you are able to leverage it well in your application it would definitely be very helpful. Schools value it because of the dedication and commitment athletics requires. That is certainly applicable to the grind of law school.

Frenchy555

I'm not too sure about the professional experience but being a D1 athlete at an Ivy League institution will look absolutely stellar in my opinion. It shows that you're extremely disciplined and can succeed with an intense regime/workload, which are common traits of top tier law students.