For senior Anya Cekauskas, the letter she received from Yale in her sophomore year was a dream come true.
“I started getting recruited after my freshman year in high school,” Cekauskas said.
“Yale contacted me when I was a sophomore. I was pretty excited.”
Cekauskas, a four-year varsity volleyball player, played in a national tournament she refers to as “college recruitment central” and began receiving letters from colleges and universities soon after.
She was contacted by, among others, Northwestern, the University of Michigan, Duke, Rice University, North Carolina, South Carolina, UC Santa Barbara and “any small school you can think of.”
Eventually, she decided on Yale for many different reasons.
“I wanted to put an emphasis on my academics,” said Cekauskas.
“Ivies are more fifty-fifty when it comes to sports and academics than other schools.”
For Cekauskas, the recruitment process was different than most athletes. Ivy League schools are not allowed to give scholarships based on athletics; instead, the student must meet the school’s academic standards. They can only receive educational grants after admission is granted.
“I got a lot of full rides, but I wanted to go Yale more,” said Cekauskas about the financial dilemma.
For her, Rice University was the hardest to turn down, but Yale beat it out in the end.
“Rice was amazing, and I got a full ride, but I’ve always been an out-east kind of girl,” said Cekauskas.
“It’s only an hour from New York City—how can you turn that down?”
