2019 dad -- just to clarify, the academic index is the same for all the Ivies. The schools have an umbrella index they agree to adhere to -- that's the whole point, that they have a certain "standard" and won't lower that so called standard (too much) for athletes within the League. After all, the Ivies are just a league of schools that compete against each other. There are numerous non athletic recruits at Ivies and top schools now who are the first in their family to go to college for example, and some (not all!) may also have lower scores but are offered admission because of other accomplishments, including the adversity they may have in their lives which may not have prepared them for a higher score. We know a girl accepted to one of the top D3 Liberal Arts Colleges in the US with a 25 ACT, but first in her family to go to college, and compelling family issues.
So don't think that somehow HPY have a higher floor. I think it was Yale who had a 27 or 28 recruit last year. We have seen 26s at Ivies. Yes more likely to see higher scores, but there are outliers. The lower scores just mean a lower Academic Index which means the coach has to get someone higher to help balance it out. There is a team index that fits into the overall college index. Teams like football and hockey have a lower index than say crew or tennis. Tucker Frawley the Yale RC says very publicly that Yale baseball has a 31 average. That means one kid could have a 35 and another a 27.
Sometimes it also depends where they are in their recruiting class. Coach knows he has 7 slots for example and hypothetically needs a 31 average -- lets say he already has 5 slots filled with a 30 average, he is going to be looking for kids that bring that average up, not down for the most part.
This doesn't mean a kid with a 26-29 ACT score or SAT equivalent will get a coveted Ivy slot, but with the right athletic skills, it has happened.
Just saying...