Are transfers easier to judge/qualify for admissions than recruits?

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Seems to me that admissions would have an easier time with understanding whether a kid can do the work at NU based on transcripts, course work, reputation of the outbound school and the football program's proclivity to make the kids do the work. Also, presuming they had any game action at all, you can see how they play CFB. Sort of like how an HR dept can better evaluate a person with experience vs one with only a degree.

So - if my hypothesis is correct, why wouldn't we go all-in on the portal? Perhaps one drawback is that there are a few blue chips, and a few legit grad transfers, and the rest are transferring because they haven't done much. Nevertheless, given our need for depth and the NCAA waiver to allow you to have up to 33 in this class - I'd be loading up quantity and then sorting through for quality.

What say you all?

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

Yes.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Well they have like 3 scholarships left, so...

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Well they have like 3 scholarships left, so...

what about the one time exemption that allows us to go to like 33 for this class, or something like that? (or was that last year?)

 

[AdamOnFirst]

what about the one time exemption that allows us to go to like 33 for this class, or something like that? (or was that last year?)

That doesn't change the overall 85 scholarship limit.

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

Seems to me that admissions would have an easier time with understanding whether a kid can do the work at NU based on transcripts, course work, reputation of the outbound school and the football program's proclivity to make the kids do the work. Also, presuming they had any game action at all, you can see how they play CFB. Sort of like how an HR dept can better evaluate a person with experience vs one with only a degree.

So - if my hypothesis is correct, why wouldn't we go all-in on the portal? Perhaps one drawback is that there are a few blue chips, and a few legit grad transfers, and the rest are transferring because they haven't done much. Nevertheless, given our need for depth and the NCAA waiver to allow you to have up to 33 in this class - I'd be loading up quantity and then sorting through for quality.

What say you all?

No. NU requires that prospects must have met the requirements both out of high school and during their college careers. I know for a fact that this has already tripped up some otherwise interested guys, even that had NU offers coming out of high school.

 

[Curdog7]

No. NU requires that prospects must have met the requirements both out of high school and during their college careers. I know for a fact that this has already tripped up some otherwise interested guys, even that had NU offers coming out of high school.

This is lunacy. Does the admissions department not realize people can grow and mature as they get older? So if a kid had a 2.2 in high school but then had a 3.7 in college, NU says no?

 

[Hungry Jack]

While it does require exceptional brains to excel in the STEM fields in college (sorry, Liberal Arts majors, but I was one too: Econ+French, though I killed it in organic chemistry), success in higher education, even at exhalted NU, is mostly about good habits. I think a student who has graduated from a mid-tier or lower tier institution in a legitimate study program with good grades (say B or higher) has shown enough to handle the workload at NU. Or a kid who has completed the core (a year or 2) with good grades from a better school should be OK.

One thing I would (ideally) want to look at in admissions, strictly from an academic preparedness perspective, is a writing sample. I know no one really writes anymore (it seems), but good composition skills demonstrate a lot about a person's ability to analyze, structure an argument, and communicate complex thoughts. If you cannot do this reasonably well, I think college can be very tough.

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

This is lunacy. Does the admissions department not realize people can grow and mature as they get older? So if a kid had a 2.2 in high school but then had a 3.7 in college, NU says no?

Every prospect is considered on a case-by-case basis, but… yeah, it would be really hard for that kid to get in without one hell of a story for why his high school performance was so poor.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Every prospect is considered on a case-by-case basis, but… yeah, it would be really hard for that kid to get in without one hell of a story for why his high school performance was so poor.

So, as an Econ/Poli Sci major (not STEM per Hungry Jack post), I like to look at things in probabilities rather than absolutes. If we look at the vast amount of kids in the transfer portal, which I think exceeds 1,000, and let's say that only 100(?) qualify strictly on the basis of their college work only, setting aside for a brief moment their high school record. Now, let's bring in the high school record. How many kids would have killed it in college and **** the bed in high school? My Economist intuition feels like that's a pretty small %. Exceptions? Sure. Most of them? Probably not.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Seems to me that admissions would have an easier time with understanding whether a kid can do the work at NU based on transcripts, course work, reputation of the outbound school and the football program's proclivity to make the kids do the work. Also, presuming they had any game action at all, you can see how they play CFB. Sort of like how an HR dept can better evaluate a person with experience vs one with only a degree.

So - if my hypothesis is correct, why wouldn't we go all-in on the portal? Perhaps one drawback is that there are a few blue chips, and a few legit grad transfers, and the rest are transferring because they haven't done much. Nevertheless, given our need for depth and the NCAA waiver to allow you to have up to 33 in this class - I'd be loading up quantity and then sorting through for quality.

What say you all?

What is sad is we still deal with a tone deaf admissions department that are smarter than proven results at other institutions. Basically, they don’t seem to care about how a player’s academic performance was post HS.

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

So, as an Econ/Poli Sci major (not STEM per Hungry Jack post), I like to look at things in probabilities rather than absolutes. If we look at the vast amount of kids in the transfer portal, which I think exceeds 1,000, and let's say that only 100(?) qualify strictly on the basis of their college work only, setting aside for a brief moment their high school record. Now, let's bring in the high school record. How many kids would have killed it in college and **** the bed in high school? My Economist intuition feels like that's a pretty small %. Exceptions? Sure. Most of them? Probably not.

Almost like it’s difficult to recruit at NU, both out of high school and in the portal. Weird. Wonder where we’ve heard that before.

 

[TheC]

What is sad is we still deal with a tone deaf admissions department that are smarter than proven results at other institutions. Basically, they don’t seem to care about how a player’s academic performance was post HS.

NU gets the teams it deserves. Some years we get better than we deserve. But generally speaking, NU still doesn't seem to value excellence outside the classroom, even though much of college life these days is happening outside the classroom (e.g., athletic events, performances, research, internships, volunteer work, etc....).

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Every prospect is considered on a case-by-case basis, but… yeah, it would be really hard for that kid to get in without one hell of a story for why his high school performance was so poor.

What if high school performance isn’t poor, but is just under NU’s athlete standards, but is accompanied by strong collegiate performance?

 

[AdamOnFirst]

While it does require exceptional brains to excel in the STEM fields in college (sorry, Liberal Arts majors, but I was one too: Econ+French, though I killed it in organic chemistry), success in higher education, even at exhalted NU, is mostly about good habits. I think a student who has graduated from a mid-tier or lower tier institution in a legitimate study program with good grades (say B or higher) has shown enough to handle the workload at NU. Or a kid who has completed the core (a year or 2) with good grades from a better school should be OK.

One thing I would (ideally) want to look at in admissions, strictly from an academic preparedness perspective, is a writing sample. I know no one really writes anymore (it seems), but good composition skills demonstrate a lot about a person's ability to analyze, structure an argument, and communicate complex thoughts. If you cannot do this reasonably well, I think college can be very tough.

Your dismissal of economics as a science makes me feel dismal.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Your dismissal of economics as a science makes me feel dismal.

An economist, and engineer and a mathematician are on a train riding through the countryside. The engineer spots a cow and says "that cow is brown". the mathematician looks at it and says "that cow is brown on one side". the economist looks and says "all cows are brown". (Note, I was an econ major)

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

What if high school performance isn’t poor, but is just under NU’s athlete standards, but is accompanied by strong collegiate performance?

Don’t know from firsthand experience because the portal didn’t exist when I was in the office and we rarely dealt with transfers, but would imagine you’d still need a solid story.

 

[Sheffielder]

Just bears mentioning in this conversation that grad transfers are a different story - I wouldn't be surprised if the coaching staff hasn't looked into which departments and programs are seeking more applicants (and if they haven't, then they are fools).

At the time of my admission to an NU grad program, no GRE scores were required.