athletes at academically selective college

[Anonymous]

Since she is a girl and a top recruit of a D1 school, I think she has a very good chance. The only caveat would be if it’s a sport with a large international contingent.

But yes, for some of these schools the athlete GPAs are indeed very high.

[Anonymous]

My personal experience with a female athlete and scholar.

It would be extremely rare for a coach to claim kid is a top recruit if there is no chance of getting in.
The coaches/teams only need a average across all players - for both GPA and test scores. If there is a 4.0/1600 recruit or player already on the team - this kid helps the other kids get in.
Ivy coaches have a lot of pull with admissions. There are many examples of athletes with less than top stats being accepted. They aren't the bottom of the rung but they can be more in the middle.
Ivy coaches will be very specific with your kid if they want them. A quote from a top Ivy to my daughter "All you need is a 30 on the ACT and we can manager the rest".
Coaches will not waste time with kids that can not get into the school. There are too many other athletes out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we are in the recruiting process now and have a wide net of schools at all levels. At the point that things are being narrowed down (on both sides, by kid and by schools). This is not an athletic skill question but an academic one.

My kid has very good grades over 4.0 weighted and lots of rigor in the schedule (all honors or AP). (Also has other activities, like NHS, clubs, another sport that is more for fun, and community service hours but there's not "started a charity" or anything like that). Kid is in serious talks with coaches at some high academic schools, some that claim the average incoming freshman GPA is 3.9+. My kid, unweighted now, is prob. 3.8. I'm guessing that will go down a little (3.6-3.7) after this semester as there are a couple of B's in tough classes (like APCHEM, AP Precalc).

I have a hard time believing every kid on the sports teams at these schools have 3.9 GPAs. (If they do, good for them and that's amazing. This is not a rip on those kids, who are obv very bright). I'm just trying to determine if it is worth pushing forward with these schools, some of whom say my kid is their top recruit for the year/position, if there is no chance DC will make it through admissions. Let's say worst case scenario, DC ends the semester with a 3.6 unweighted (I think it will be closer to 3.75 but hard to know for sure since teachers haven't been great with the gradebook updates). But let's say 3.6. . . . is that going to be a dealbreaker? This is for schools at D1 and D3 level.

Anyone have EXPERIENCE with this (rather than opinions whether athletes should be allowed such "hooks")? Just don't want to keep an iron in a fire that has no chance.

What do you mean by “keep an iron in the fire”? It is actually true that some teams at some highly selective schools have extremely high GPAs and are as academically competitive as other students. In fact they might be more academically competitive than other students in some of the smaller niche sports because the athletics directors want to keep all overall athlete GPAs high to allow for lower GPAs in the revenue-driving sports. In other words a female squash player will sometimes be an exceptionally good student to offset a D1 football recruit at an academically selective school.

But I don’t understand your comment about keeping the irons hot. What do you mean?

[Anonymous]

No chance in hell she gets in if it’s soccer or tennis

[Anonymous]

For those who had/have recruited kids, did the D3's give any thing for merit (like half the cost)? For the IVY's, they did offer a package of some sort to convince your DC to come?

[Anonymous]

Had a kid recruited for and played at a D3 HA. Coach most definitely did an academic pre-read. Once that passed, the recruiting got more serious with overnight invite. Once enrolled it was interesting to compare notes regarding recruitment. Some kids had been very actively athletically recruited and had the bare minimum, but still high, academics. This played out in their majors as well. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to use the "broken leg test" ie would your kid stay at the school if they could no longer play. This could be because of an injury, a coach change or not enough playing time. IMO the transfers are portal entries are insane. Then again, is this college experience about getting a degree or playing the sport ? Eventually the sport will end and then what will your kid do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who had/have recruited kids, did the D3's give any thing for merit (like half the cost)? For the IVY's, they did offer a package of some sort to convince your DC to come?

Yes damn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My personal experience with a female athlete and scholar.

It would be extremely rare for a coach to claim kid is a top recruit if there is no chance of getting in.
The coaches/teams only need a average across all players - for both GPA and test scores. If there is a 4.0/1600 recruit or player already on the team - this kid helps the other kids get in.
Ivy coaches have a lot of pull with admissions. There are many examples of athletes with less than top stats being accepted. They aren't the bottom of the rung but they can be more in the middle.
Ivy coaches will be very specific with your kid if they want them. A quote from a top Ivy to my daughter "All you need is a 30 on the ACT and we can manager the rest".
Coaches will not waste time with kids that can not get into the school. There are too many other athletes out there.

Went through this last year with female athlete. She was on the bubble with more academic schools, grade and test-score wise. She was told by multiple NESCAC schools that she was the #1 recruit. She had an offer from a D1 that is very academic but not highly ranked in her sport and was very much on the fence about whether it was what she wanted. Her very favorite school, coach, team, was a high academic NESCAC. Coach recruited her hard and it was a big lovefest. Coach acknowledged that her GPA wasn't stellar for the school, but since she was coming from a rigorous private, which with the school was very familiar, it would be fine. College counselors at her private were also confident it would be fine. THe coach called her two days before July 1 telling her how excited she was and couldn't wait to call her on July 1. July 1 came and went with no contact. Coach finally called her on July 5 and said she had spent the last four days trying to work with admissions, but that my DD didn't pass the pre-read and couldn't come. She had become good friends with another athlete during the process who was honestly a very weak player but who had a great academic record, and she announced her commitment that day. DD was devasted. Waited about a month, then took the D1 offer, where she attends now. Long story short. NESCAC will not stray very far at all from its academic index. Ivies and other top academic D1s have more flexibility with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My personal experience with a female athlete and scholar.

It would be extremely rare for a coach to claim kid is a top recruit if there is no chance of getting in.
The coaches/teams only need a average across all players - for both GPA and test scores. If there is a 4.0/1600 recruit or player already on the team - this kid helps the other kids get in.
Ivy coaches have a lot of pull with admissions. There are many examples of athletes with less than top stats being accepted. They aren't the bottom of the rung but they can be more in the middle.
Ivy coaches will be very specific with your kid if they want them. A quote from a top Ivy to my daughter "All you need is a 30 on the ACT and we can manager the rest".
Coaches will not waste time with kids that can not get into the school. There are too many other athletes out there.

Went through this last year with female athlete. She was on the bubble with more academic schools, grade and test-score wise. She was told by multiple NESCAC schools that she was the #1 recruit. She had an offer from a D1 that is very academic but not highly ranked in her sport and was very much on the fence about whether it was what she wanted. Her very favorite school, coach, team, was a high academic NESCAC. Coach recruited her hard and it was a big lovefest. Coach acknowledged that her GPA wasn't stellar for the school, but since she was coming from a rigorous private, which with the school was very familiar, it would be fine. College counselors at her private were also confident it would be fine. THe coach called her two days before July 1 telling her how excited she was and couldn't wait to call her on July 1. July 1 came and went with no contact. Coach finally called her on July 5 and said she had spent the last four days trying to work with admissions, but that my DD didn't pass the pre-read and couldn't come. She had become good friends with another athlete during the process who was honestly a very weak player but who had a great academic record, and she announced her commitment that day. DD was devasted. Waited about a month, then took the D1 offer, where she attends now. Long story short. NESCAC will not stray very far at all from its academic index. Ivies and other top academic D1s have more flexibility with that.

Damn that’s a cruel summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My personal experience with a female athlete and scholar.

It would be extremely rare for a coach to claim kid is a top recruit if there is no chance of getting in.
The coaches/teams only need a average across all players - for both GPA and test scores. If there is a 4.0/1600 recruit or player already on the team - this kid helps the other kids get in.
Ivy coaches have a lot of pull with admissions. There are many examples of athletes with less than top stats being accepted. They aren't the bottom of the rung but they can be more in the middle.
Ivy coaches will be very specific with your kid if they want them. A quote from a top Ivy to my daughter "All you need is a 30 on the ACT and we can manager the rest".
Coaches will not waste time with kids that can not get into the school. There are too many other athletes out there.

Went through this last year with female athlete. She was on the bubble with more academic schools, grade and test-score wise. She was told by multiple NESCAC schools that she was the #1 recruit. She had an offer from a D1 that is very academic but not highly ranked in her sport and was very much on the fence about whether it was what she wanted. Her very favorite school, coach, team, was a high academic NESCAC. Coach recruited her hard and it was a big lovefest. Coach acknowledged that her GPA wasn't stellar for the school, but since she was coming from a rigorous private, which with the school was very familiar, it would be fine. College counselors at her private were also confident it would be fine. THe coach called her two days before July 1 telling her how excited she was and couldn't wait to call her on July 1. July 1 came and went with no contact. Coach finally called her on July 5 and said she had spent the last four days trying to work with admissions, but that my DD didn't pass the pre-read and couldn't come. She had become good friends with another athlete during the process who was honestly a very weak player but who had a great academic record, and she announced her commitment that day. DD was devasted. Waited about a month, then took the D1 offer, where she attends now. Long story short. NESCAC will not stray very far at all from its academic index. Ivies and other top academic D1s have more flexibility with that.

YIKES. This is my DC's situation, almost to a T. Except we are a public (a decent enough but far from top) and none of the schools are D3 NESCAC schools. Mostly the higher academic Centennial Conf. schools (as well as some other non-high academic ones, as they offer some different things). Also a couple higher academic D1s (has an overnight at one this month).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My personal experience with a female athlete and scholar.

It would be extremely rare for a coach to claim kid is a top recruit if there is no chance of getting in.
The coaches/teams only need a average across all players - for both GPA and test scores. If there is a 4.0/1600 recruit or player already on the team - this kid helps the other kids get in.
Ivy coaches have a lot of pull with admissions. There are many examples of athletes with less than top stats being accepted. They aren't the bottom of the rung but they can be more in the middle.
Ivy coaches will be very specific with your kid if they want them. A quote from a top Ivy to my daughter "All you need is a 30 on the ACT and we can manager the rest".
Coaches will not waste time with kids that can not get into the school. There are too many other athletes out there.

Went through this last year with female athlete. She was on the bubble with more academic schools, grade and test-score wise. She was told by multiple NESCAC schools that she was the #1 recruit. She had an offer from a D1 that is very academic but not highly ranked in her sport and was very much on the fence about whether it was what she wanted. Her very favorite school, coach, team, was a high academic NESCAC. Coach recruited her hard and it was a big lovefest. Coach acknowledged that her GPA wasn't stellar for the school, but since she was coming from a rigorous private, which with the school was very familiar, it would be fine. College counselors at her private were also confident it would be fine. THe coach called her two days before July 1 telling her how excited she was and couldn't wait to call her on July 1. July 1 came and went with no contact. Coach finally called her on July 5 and said she had spent the last four days trying to work with admissions, but that my DD didn't pass the pre-read and couldn't come. She had become good friends with another athlete during the process who was honestly a very weak player but who had a great academic record, and she announced her commitment that day. DD was devasted. Waited about a month, then took the D1 offer, where she attends now. Long story short. NESCAC will not stray very far at all from its academic index. Ivies and other top academic D1s have more flexibility with that.

YIKES. This is my DC's situation, almost to a T. Except we are a public (a decent enough but far from top) and none of the schools are D3 NESCAC schools. Mostly the higher academic Centennial Conf. schools (as well as some other non-high academic ones, as they offer some different things). Also a couple higher academic D1s (has an overnight at one this month).

As others have pointed out, D1 (even high academic) is way different than a D3. If an Ivy coach has invited you for an overnight and says that you should expect a call on July 1 (I am making up that date...as a D1 school an Ivy can commit to you as early as August before your junior year of HS in certain sports)...then you should feel pretty darn good especially for a revenue sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we are in the recruiting process now and have a wide net of schools at all levels. At the point that things are being narrowed down (on both sides, by kid and by schools). This is not an athletic skill question but an academic one.

My kid has very good grades over 4.0 weighted and lots of rigor in the schedule (all honors or AP). (Also has other activities, like NHS, clubs, another sport that is more for fun, and community service hours but there's not "started a charity" or anything like that). Kid is in serious talks with coaches at some high academic schools, some that claim the average incoming freshman GPA is 3.9+. My kid, unweighted now, is prob. 3.8. I'm guessing that will go down a little (3.6-3.7) after this semester as there are a couple of B's in tough classes (like APCHEM, AP Precalc).

I have a hard time believing every kid on the sports teams at these schools have 3.9 GPAs. (If they do, good for them and that's amazing. This is not a rip on those kids, who are obv very bright). I'm just trying to determine if it is worth pushing forward with these schools, some of whom say my kid is their top recruit for the year/position, if there is no chance DC will make it through admissions. Let's say worst case scenario, DC ends the semester with a 3.6 unweighted (I think it will be closer to 3.75 but hard to know for sure since teachers haven't been great with the gradebook updates). But let's say 3.6. . . . is that going to be a dealbreaker? This is for schools at D1 and D3 level.

Anyone have EXPERIENCE with this (rather than opinions whether athletes should be allowed such "hooks")? Just don't want to keep an iron in a fire that has no chance.

For the D1 schools, if the coach is saying your kid is the top recruit for their position, then they can dig deep to get your kid accepted. Even at an Ivy, the coach will have a ton of clout for one or two players for the niche sport to essentially get them accepted.

D1 is a completely different animal from D3...again, if your kid is truly a top recruit, the standards will be different for your kid even compared to another recruited athlete that is say #5.

As another poster said, obviously revenue sports like football and basketball are a completely different animal (maybe hockey at a Harvard or one of the northern schools).

Lest some ambitious parent thinks hockey is a magic carpet to Harvard, many of their recruits are Canadian junior league drop outs at 20. Phenomenal players who enter as freshman at 19 or twenty after realizing they won’t or can’t make the NHL so offload into an Ivy. In other words, your little ice devil ain’t gonna just skate in after a few ‘learn to hockey’ lessons.

[Anonymous]

I have a male swimmer at a NESAC school. They are not a top swimmer for the team, but he fit academically at the school so he got a roster spot on the team. My kid had more options than some better swimmers because they were a very strong student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who had/have recruited kids, did the D3's give any thing for merit (like half the cost)? For the IVY's, they did offer a package of some sort to convince your DC to come?

Yes - my kid got "academic" scholarship. Soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can give insight into Ivy League only. This doesn’t apply for other D1 schools and I only have a little D3 experience with NESCAC schools. I have an athlete at Yale and another Ivy that I won’t name because then it’s easy to figure out who my kid is.

Every team does not have all HS kids with 3.9s. But some/many do, especially on the women’s teams. Ivy League schools manage their teams and admissions differently depending on the size of the school and the sport. So at DD #2’s school, sports like football and hockey have different standards and leeway than cross country or gymnastics because the latter have established that they can get the right caliber of athlete without compromising on a very high GPA. They also allocate pre-reads and recruits differently team by team and year by year. Some sports (rowing, squash) have a lot of international recruits that make it harder to know what’s really going on academically.

What year is your child, and what sport? Are the D1 schools Ivy or t20? If they’re a sophomore and this is an Ivy, they’re just putting your kid into the wide part of the funnel and you won’t really know where these conversations are going until at least this summer.

What is the profile of hockey and football kids at Ivy League schools?