You paint with a very broad brush. You are not getting into an Ivy, Stanford, ND, or Duke without a 1300-1400 SAT (depending on the school, some don’t require scores anymore) and very high grades all As, maybe one B, and in advanced HS courses. If you think differently, you are misinformed. As for the other schools you mentioned, they can get anyone in. A girl who is a a high level recruit and meets high level academic criteria has more choices. She can choose from a school that has a legit chance at a NC like MD, UNC, BC and major in lacrosse, or she can choose a high level academic school that has competitive lacrosse and the ability to pursue a major that gives opportunity to secure a life changing job. Everyone has different priorities, but if you have the grades, you have more options.
Not the poster that you are responding to but... Talk about misinformed... Not all "Ivy's" have the same admission standards, and only Penn and Princeton are traditionally Top 10 - 20 lacrosse programs. Stanford obviously has pull with admissions as does ND and Duke as well as Northwestern. Not long ago there was an email posted on here stating that SAT below 1200 would be cause for concern at Duke but it didn't say the coach couldn't get the Student Athlete in.
If you have been told by a college coach at any of the top academic schools that you must have a minimum of 1300 SAT your daughter is not a Top Tier Recruit. Sure the recruits at the Top academic institutions need excellent academic credentials but you are the the one painting with a broad brush. Attempting to diminish schools like MD, UNC and BC is laughable, they are all excellent schools.
If you are a Top Tier Recruit with good grades you can go pretty much go to any "Lacrosse School", if you have excellent grades but are an average / good lacrosse player you will be more limited... Just about all of the schools listed as Top 20 lacrosse schools have excellent academics and can help get the graduate a great job in the field that they are interested in.
