How do you get recruited as an athlete to an Ivy League?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the sport. DD is an athletic recruit to an Ivy next year. She said one of her future teammates is dumb as dirt. She's only taken 1 AP her entire HS career and highest math was pre-calc. Sooo, if they are talented athletes the Ivy will exceptions with grades.

This post is really offensive.

Save your pearl-clutching. You know exactly what she meant, but just in case, let’s re-state it more diplomatically:

PP’s daughter observed that her teammate’s academic achievements were far below those of typical, non-athlete students at their Ivy League school.

Or put another way, based on specific data provided by her teammate, PP’s daughter reasonably concluded the school would not have accepted this particular teammate based on the school’s usual academic standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the sport. DD is an athletic recruit to an Ivy next year. She said one of her future teammates is dumb as dirt. She's only taken 1 AP her entire HS career and highest math was pre-calc. Sooo, if they are talented athletes the Ivy will exceptions with grades.

This post is really offensive.

Save your pearl-clutching. You know exactly what she meant, but just in case, let’s re-state it more diplomatically:

PP’s daughter observed that her teammate’s academic achievements were far below those of typical, non-athlete students at their Ivy League school.

Or put another way, based on specific data provided by her teammate, PP’s daughter reasonably concluded the school would not have accepted this particular teammate based on the school’s usual academic standards.

Apparently some dense parents too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was recruited to an Ivy to play football. He’s no dope but never would have been a candidate for admission without a he athletics hook.

You need to educate yourself on two things. First the nature of Ivy need-based financial aid. As referenced earlier, the formulas may be generous, but not so much for upper middle class types living in high cost of living areas such as the DMV. Also the richest schools - HYP - give more, but you may be able to leverage an offer from them to get more $$ from a place like Dartmouth. I’ve always wondered if one can do the same with an offer from smaller rich schools like Amherst.

Second, the Academic Index. Pretty simple to look this up so I won’t get into details. They take grades, class rank and board scores and feed it into some sort of flux capacitor to generate a score 1-4 that shows how close the recruit is to the median student. Football is separate from the other sports and non-football recruits need to understand that each school will have a different approach to how they allocate slots among various sports.

PP, what steps did your son take to be recruited? Camps? Film submission? Are you in the DMV?

DMV resident and my son attended a private school. All D-1 - FBS or FCS - will have an assistant coach that covers specific regions of the country. Based on prior experience, those coaches will stop by specific schools to make contact with the coaching staff and talk to players who may be a viable recruit. So there was a month long period where my son was meeting with a number of coaches - they were basically sizing him up to see if he passed the eye test and to get a sense of his character. At that point, they'd also ask for film.

That's a long way of saying I don't think my son initiated contact. You can reach out to teams - they all have on-line portals where you build a profile and, I think, upload film but I'm not all that familiar with the process. It really helps if your kid's coach or someone in his athletic department has experience with the recruiting process. Also, if the recruiter is any good at his job, he'll have a network of contacts in the area that can tip them off to prospects that aren't playing at schools where they normally recruit.

For the majority of Ivy recruits - especially those in this area - the key step is to attend Summer prospect camps. If you're meeting with a recruiter, their pitch is usually to get you to come to a camp. One doesn't have to be recruited to attend camp, but it helps a lot if you are since there can be lot of kids at those things, and, ideally, you want to be on the coaching staff's radar when you get there. My son attended a few camps prior to his junior year, but went to a bunch the summer before his senior year. They can be physically demanding so you have to keep that in mind when scheduling. Coming out of those camps you should have a decent idea where you stand, but that's kind of school-specific. At the school my son ended up, they pulled him aside after camp ended to ask him (and me) to meet the head coach and for his recruiter to lay out how things would go from there - he had a "formal" offer within a week after that.

It seem that the schools are trying to get players to commit - or in Ivy world, commit to the process since you still have to go thru admissions - earlier and earlier. For my son, that was where it was very helpful to have a coach/assistant AD who could reach out to his targets. While he had the one offer, he was considering other schools and it was necessary for his coach to get the college counterparts to provide the straight story on where he stood on their recruiting boards so he could make an informed decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was recruited to an Ivy to play football. He’s no dope but never would have been a candidate for admission without a he athletics hook.

You need to educate yourself on two things. First the nature of Ivy need-based financial aid. As referenced earlier, the formulas may be generous, but not so much for upper middle class types living in high cost of living areas such as the DMV. Also the richest schools - HYP - give more, but you may be able to leverage an offer from them to get more $$ from a place like Dartmouth. I’ve always wondered if one can do the same with an offer from smaller rich schools like Amherst.

Second, the Academic Index. Pretty simple to look this up so I won’t get into details. They take grades, class rank and board scores and feed it into some sort of flux capacitor to generate a score 1-4 that shows how close the recruit is to the median student. Football is separate from the other sports and non-football recruits need to understand that each school will have a different approach to how they allocate slots among various sports.

PP, what steps did your son take to be recruited? Camps? Film submission? Are you in the DMV?

DMV resident and my son attended a private school. All D-1 - FBS or FCS - will have an assistant coach that covers specific regions of the country. Based on prior experience, those coaches will stop by specific schools to make contact with the coaching staff and talk to players who may be a viable recruit. So there was a month long period where my son was meeting with a number of coaches - they were basically sizing him up to see if he passed the eye test and to get a sense of his character. At that point, they'd also ask for film.

That's a long way of saying I don't think my son initiated contact. You can reach out to teams - they all have on-line portals where you build a profile and, I think, upload film but I'm not all that familiar with the process. It really helps if your kid's coach or someone in his athletic department has experience with the recruiting process. Also, if the recruiter is any good at his job, he'll have a network of contacts in the area that can tip them off to prospects that aren't playing at schools where they normally recruit.

For the majority of Ivy recruits - especially those in this area - the key step is to attend Summer prospect camps. If you're meeting with a recruiter, their pitch is usually to get you to come to a camp. One doesn't have to be recruited to attend camp, but it helps a lot if you are since there can be lot of kids at those things, and, ideally, you want to be on the coaching staff's radar when you get there. My son attended a few camps prior to his junior year, but went to a bunch the summer before his senior year. They can be physically demanding so you have to keep that in mind when scheduling. Coming out of those camps you should have a decent idea where you stand, but that's kind of school-specific. At the school my son ended up, they pulled him aside after camp ended to ask him (and me) to meet the head coach and for his recruiter to lay out how things would go from there - he had a "formal" offer within a week after that.

It seem that the schools are trying to get players to commit - or in Ivy world, commit to the process since you still have to go thru admissions - earlier and earlier. For my son, that was where it was very helpful to have a coach/assistant AD who could reach out to his targets. While he had the one offer, he was considering other schools and it was necessary for his coach to get the college counterparts to provide the straight story on where he stood on their recruiting boards so he could make an informed decision.

What sport? In many sports the HS is nearly irrelevant for college recruiting.

You seem to be describing football, where the HS is paramount.

[Anonymous]

The ones I know all went to top privates and boarding schools. One almost had their admission pulled from Brown for poor senior grades but managed to come up with a sob story to keep the acceptance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the sport. DD is an athletic recruit to an Ivy next year. She said one of her future teammates is dumb as dirt. She's only taken 1 AP her entire HS career and highest math was pre-calc. Sooo, if they are talented athletes the Ivy will exceptions with grades.

This post is really offensive.

Save your pearl-clutching. You know exactly what she meant, but just in case, let’s re-state it more diplomatically:

PP’s daughter observed that her teammate’s academic achievements were far below those of typical, non-athlete students at their Ivy League school.

Or put another way, based on specific data provided by her teammate, PP’s daughter reasonably concluded the school would not have accepted this particular teammate based on the school’s usual academic standards.

That’s all well and good, but I think people are reacting more to the characterization of the girl being “dumb as dirt” with the evidence being that she *only* took one AP class and *only* took pre-calculus. She might not be as smart as the other Ivy kids, but “dumb as dirt”? Come on, that’s over the top ridiculous. Clearly OP’s kid is seething with jealousy that this girl is a significantly better athlete than she is, which is why she would make such a nasty (and obviously untrue) comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was recruited to an Ivy to play football. He’s no dope but never would have been a candidate for admission without a he athletics hook.

You need to educate yourself on two things. First the nature of Ivy need-based financial aid. As referenced earlier, the formulas may be generous, but not so much for upper middle class types living in high cost of living areas such as the DMV. Also the richest schools - HYP - give more, but you may be able to leverage an offer from them to get more $$ from a place like Dartmouth. I’ve always wondered if one can do the same with an offer from smaller rich schools like Amherst.

Second, the Academic Index. Pretty simple to look this up so I won’t get into details. They take grades, class rank and board scores and feed it into some sort of flux capacitor to generate a score 1-4 that shows how close the recruit is to the median student. Football is separate from the other sports and non-football recruits need to understand that each school will have a different approach to how they allocate slots among various sports.

PP, what steps did your son take to be recruited? Camps? Film submission? Are you in the DMV?

DMV resident and my son attended a private school. All D-1 - FBS or FCS - will have an assistant coach that covers specific regions of the country. Based on prior experience, those coaches will stop by specific schools to make contact with the coaching staff and talk to players who may be a viable recruit. So there was a month long period where my son was meeting with a number of coaches - they were basically sizing him up to see if he passed the eye test and to get a sense of his character. At that point, they'd also ask for film.

That's a long way of saying I don't think my son initiated contact. You can reach out to teams - they all have on-line portals where you build a profile and, I think, upload film but I'm not all that familiar with the process. It really helps if your kid's coach or someone in his athletic department has experience with the recruiting process. Also, if the recruiter is any good at his job, he'll have a network of contacts in the area that can tip them off to prospects that aren't playing at schools where they normally recruit.

For the majority of Ivy recruits - especially those in this area - the key step is to attend Summer prospect camps. If you're meeting with a recruiter, their pitch is usually to get you to come to a camp. One doesn't have to be recruited to attend camp, but it helps a lot if you are since there can be lot of kids at those things, and, ideally, you want to be on the coaching staff's radar when you get there. My son attended a few camps prior to his junior year, but went to a bunch the summer before his senior year. They can be physically demanding so you have to keep that in mind when scheduling. Coming out of those camps you should have a decent idea where you stand, but that's kind of school-specific. At the school my son ended up, they pulled him aside after camp ended to ask him (and me) to meet the head coach and for his recruiter to lay out how things would go from there - he had a "formal" offer within a week after that.

It seem that the schools are trying to get players to commit - or in Ivy world, commit to the process since you still have to go thru admissions - earlier and earlier. For my son, that was where it was very helpful to have a coach/assistant AD who could reach out to his targets. While he had the one offer, he was considering other schools and it was necessary for his coach to get the college counterparts to provide the straight story on where he stood on their recruiting boards so he could make an informed decision.

What sport? In many sports the HS is nearly irrelevant for college recruiting.

You seem to be describing football, where the HS is paramount.

You're right - football. That was in the original post that started this conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was recruited to an Ivy to play football. He’s no dope but never would have been a candidate for admission without a he athletics hook.

You need to educate yourself on two things. First the nature of Ivy need-based financial aid. As referenced earlier, the formulas may be generous, but not so much for upper middle class types living in high cost of living areas such as the DMV. Also the richest schools - HYP - give more, but you may be able to leverage an offer from them to get more $$ from a place like Dartmouth. I’ve always wondered if one can do the same with an offer from smaller rich schools like Amherst.

Second, the Academic Index. Pretty simple to look this up so I won’t get into details. They take grades, class rank and board scores and feed it into some sort of flux capacitor to generate a score 1-4 that shows how close the recruit is to the median student. Football is separate from the other sports and non-football recruits need to understand that each school will have a different approach to how they allocate slots among various sports.

PP, what steps did your son take to be recruited? Camps? Film submission? Are you in the DMV?

DMV resident and my son attended a private school. All D-1 - FBS or FCS - will have an assistant coach that covers specific regions of the country. Based on prior experience, those coaches will stop by specific schools to make contact with the coaching staff and talk to players who may be a viable recruit. So there was a month long period where my son was meeting with a number of coaches - they were basically sizing him up to see if he passed the eye test and to get a sense of his character. At that point, they'd also ask for film.

That's a long way of saying I don't think my son initiated contact. You can reach out to teams - they all have on-line portals where you build a profile and, I think, upload film but I'm not all that familiar with the process. It really helps if your kid's coach or someone in his athletic department has experience with the recruiting process. Also, if the recruiter is any good at his job, he'll have a network of contacts in the area that can tip them off to prospects that aren't playing at schools where they normally recruit.

For the majority of Ivy recruits - especially those in this area - the key step is to attend Summer prospect camps. If you're meeting with a recruiter, their pitch is usually to get you to come to a camp. One doesn't have to be recruited to attend camp, but it helps a lot if you are since there can be lot of kids at those things, and, ideally, you want to be on the coaching staff's radar when you get there. My son attended a few camps prior to his junior year, but went to a bunch the summer before his senior year. They can be physically demanding so you have to keep that in mind when scheduling. Coming out of those camps you should have a decent idea where you stand, but that's kind of school-specific. At the school my son ended up, they pulled him aside after camp ended to ask him (and me) to meet the head coach and for his recruiter to lay out how things would go from there - he had a "formal" offer within a week after that.

It seem that the schools are trying to get players to commit - or in Ivy world, commit to the process since you still have to go thru admissions - earlier and earlier. For my son, that was where it was very helpful to have a coach/assistant AD who could reach out to his targets. While he had the one offer, he was considering other schools and it was necessary for his coach to get the college counterparts to provide the straight story on where he stood on their recruiting boards so he could make an informed decision.

What sport? In many sports the HS is nearly irrelevant for college recruiting.

You seem to be describing football, where the HS is paramount.

You're right - football. That was in the original post that started this conversation.

OP was asking for her DD in field hockey, tennis or track

[Anonymous]

My original post in which I was blowing hard about the AI and mentioned my son played football