Thinking about getting your child a foil, épée, or sabre so they can start fencing and earn admission to the college of their dreams? A piece in The New York Times focuses on how competitive fencing can be a pathway to elite universities and how many parents sign their children up to start fencing to book a ticket to elite universities, including the Ivy League institutions.

As Stephanie Saul reports for The New York Times in a piece entitled “Fencing Can be Six-Figure Expensive, but It Wins in College Admissions,” “For families who invest in this expensive sport, the main target is quite clear — just look up. Hanging from the ceiling are flags from Duke, Harvard, N.Y.U., Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Princeton and Columbia, representing the clique of colleges and universities with N.C.A.A. fencing teams. A way with a sword can help students stand out in the college admissions game, according to Yury Gelman, founder of the Manhattan Fencing Center.”

Fencing Isn’t All It’s Chalked Up to Be from An Elite Admissions Perspective

But, respectfully, we beg to offer another perspective on this report. Sure, recruited fencers to the aforementioned universities improve their chances of admission by being recruited athletes. But it’s not like the fencing coaches at these universities have the pull of, say, the baseball, basketball, hockey, or football coaches. It’s not like they have the pull of the soccer or lacrosse coaches. Do you think having a strong fencing team inspires droves of students to come out of their dorms and cheer on their school on a lazy Saturday afternoon? Do you think having a strong fencing team inspires millions of dollars of alumni donations? Of course not.

And what percentage of young people who compete in fencing grow up and end up getting recruited by these schools? Like in any sport, the answer is a small percentage. Yet when so many students — and especially so many Asian American students in particular — participate in fencing, there’s an opportunity cost. What could these young people have been doing while they were fencing that would have improved their chances of admission to elite universities? What could they have been doing to better differentiate themselves in the competitive landscape of elite college admissions?

The Problem with Stereotypical Profiles in Elite College Admissions

Loyal readers of Ivy Coach’s college admissions blog know well that admissions officers at elite universities, including the Ivies, so often unknowingly discriminate against Asian American applicants. It’s not that they mean to discriminate. Admissions officers, like all people, are impacted by implicit biases. This is why it’s crucial for parents and students to be aware of these biases and work to present profiles that don’t fit these stereotypes. A big reason why the Asian American students of Ivy Coach don’t face that same discrimination is because they don’t present profiles that are so often regrettably associated with their race. And, yes, fencing is usually associated with Asian American applicants.

So, no, the title of the piece, we argue, is rather misleading. Fencing doesn’t necessarily win in elite college admissions — more than baseball, football, tennis, or squash. In fact, fencing can often lose in elite college admissions since the game is differentiation. In short, it’s not the golden ticket.

Fencing Has a PR Problem in the Ivy League

Does anyone remember when a former Harvard fencing coach was tried for bribery in the Varsity Blues scandal? This coach — one Peter Brand — was acquitted of the charges, but the damage was already done. Nowadays, fencing is unfortunately identified as a sign of privilege in the Ivy League admissions process. Sure, there are still plenty of recruited athletes who get fast-tracked for admission when they would otherwise not be given a second look by elite college admissions officers, but the fact remains that fencing is no longer a viable route into the Ivy fortress for most applicants.

We at Ivy Coach have been vocal in our opposition to the unfair athletic recruiting processes at highly selective schools that give the wealthiest applicants an edge. So, while you’re here, read more about our take on the country club sports of the Ivy League.