Parents with athletes admitted ED to D3 schools - did sports help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is talking to some high academic D3s. Their teams could beat many of the D1s, and most of the athletes they’re recruiting also have D1 interest. My impression is that the coach wanting you can help you get through test optional. However, the coaches have been very specific about the number and type of APs she would need. She would also need nearly perfect grades.

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but if you're being told by a coach that your kids needs near perfect grades, then either your kids is a very low priority for the coach, or the college truly doesn't support the sport.
My kid is at a D3 top academic college and got in with the coach's support during ED, despite significantly below average (for this college) stats.

You sound like one. A d3 high academic school my kid is interested in, sent the (high) stats needed for academics before the kid could be considered as a recruit. Men’s swimming, Emory. And, you can’t even get those stats until you email the swim coach your swim stats and if you’re in their ballpark, they release the academic stats to you.

Lower level academic d3 schools haven’t done anything like this even though they are hard to get into. I’m talking too 25 school versus a 40 and up school.

OK call me a jerk, but my kid is in a top 10 SLAC (usually top 5) with hs grades well below average (fwiw, he's getting good college grades). That's what D3 recruitment means if a coach wants your kid and the sport means something to the school.

I don't know much about Emory, but it does seem that a university with 15,000 students that has chosen to be in Division III is making clear that it doesn't give a sh@t about athletics.[/quote]

Emory has fewer than 8,000 undergraduates and about 12,000 students when including both grad & undergrads. Nevertheless,athletics are not a big deal at Emory.

[Anonymous]

tests are certainly coming back for some schools, but not the NESCACs folks

[Anonymous]

Would an athlete that has a 35 ACT but a lower than average unweighted gpa due to high rigor be likely to be given a bump due to the high score, assuming the coach was interested in the first place. Niche position. Curious how much the test would help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would an athlete that has a 35 ACT but a lower than average unweighted gpa due to high rigor be likely to be given a bump due to the high score, assuming the coach was interested in the first place. Niche position. Curious how much the test would help?

This is very school-dependent. But yes, it would certainly help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is talking to some high academic D3s. Their teams could beat many of the D1s, and most of the athletes they’re recruiting also have D1 interest. My impression is that the coach wanting you can help you get through test optional. However, the coaches have been very specific about the number and type of APs she would need. She would also need nearly perfect grades.

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but if you're being told by a coach that your kids needs near perfect grades, then either your kids is a very low priority for the coach, or the college truly doesn't support the sport.
My kid is at a D3 top academic college and got in with the coach's support during ED, despite significantly below average (for this college) stats.

This is what I’ve seen in experiences however small my experiences are. I know a student who was way below Boston College’s usual stats but he was probably on his way to professional so they took him. He did go pro. Also I have a family member who went to Princeton as a nationally ranked Lacrosse player who was a B student. It’s weird they recruit Lacrosse players. that sport failed so badly in the professional league. Future football and basketball professionals will get passes over a failed class or some Cs. They have proven that they excel at a specific sport and will add more value to the school than just another AP stem student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how much sports really matter in college admissions.
We met with a coach recently who made it clear that ED was essential to getting his support. As an athlete, my child is easy to support. The school might be a little out of reach in terms of grades and test scores though (not crazy out of reach but he likely wouldn't get in on grades alone with a 3.75 UW and lots of APs).

Wondering if these coaches really "fight" for top athletes in D3? Coaches outside of D1 seem pretty casual about the team in general.

D1 is an option and maybe would get more coach support but haven't found one that is the right fit yet.

My DC was a recruited athlete at a number of D3 schools and has several friends who were also recruited athletes in high school. How much sports matters in admissions depends in part on the school. Wherever we visited, we were always told that ED was essential to getting a boost from the coach's recommendation. Applying RD supposedly doesn't give the student an advantage. Some schools give their coaches more decision-making power than others. One of DC's friends was a stand-out athlete and got into a very competitive D3 school with tons of financial aid, but their GPA and standardized scores were far below average for the school. The coach at this school was apparently given parameters for choosing athletes that didn't really conform to either the spirit or letter of NCAA rules, but he was given carte blanche as long as he stayed within those parameters. He wasn't supposed to talk about them, but he blabbed to the kid's father, who is a friend of ours, and blabbed to us. The coach could not go below a specified minimum for GPA and SAT/ACT scores (these were surprisingly low and well below average for this particular school), and he was allocated a set amount of money for "financial aid" to help entice the student (to get around the fact that D3 schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships). The kid got close to a free ride and was possibly the top athlete in their sport that the school had ever had. They eventually got overwhelmed with the academics and transferred. In most cases, however, the coach can earmark the applicant, and that will greatly boost the chances of acceptance, but admissions will make the final decision. In general, the applicant's athletic prowess and academic skills are inversely proportional in terms of gaining acceptance. That is, the stronger the athlete, the more leeway admissions will give you on GPA. SAT, etc., and the admissions department relies on the coach to evaluate athletic strength.

[Anonymous]

American family on a year abroad in Sydney. There are consultants here that are sleazy (crazy $$$ fees) who are mining the private school sports teams with promises of admission/scholarship to US schools. Aussie sports are the stuff of legend. Sport is like religion here, and things grow better in the sun.

Why do I mention this? Because the international pipeline is real. Just verifying previous posters. This is just one small country. If I were in the US and planning on an athletic admission, I would focus on sports not offered in Europe/UK or Australia/NZ. The competition is stiff. And they don’t care if their ED is denied. They have fantastic, affordable choices at home.

Maybe avoid swimming, tennis, rowing, sailing, rugby. Focus on the football and lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is talking to some high academic D3s. Their teams could beat many of the D1s, and most of the athletes they’re recruiting also have D1 interest. My impression is that the coach wanting you can help you get through test optional. However, the coaches have been very specific about the number and type of APs she would need. She would also need nearly perfect grades.

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but if you're being told by a coach that your kids needs near perfect grades, then either your kids is a very low priority for the coach, or the college truly doesn't support the sport.
My kid is at a D3 top academic college and got in with the coach's support during ED, despite significantly below average (for this college) stats.

This is what I’ve seen in experiences however small my experiences are. I know a student who was way below Boston College’s usual stats but he was probably on his way to professional so they took him. He did go pro. Also I have a family member who went to Princeton as a nationally ranked Lacrosse player who was a B student. It’s weird they recruit Lacrosse players. that sport failed so badly in the professional league. Future football and basketball professionals will get passes over a failed class or some Cs. They have proven that they excel at a specific sport and will add more value to the school than just another AP stem student.

We're talking about D3 here, in which the top academic schools have less leeway than at D1 schools, even Ivies. Sought-after athletes get into Princeton with numbers that could never get them into Williams or Hopkins, for example. For example, our school had a kid with a 3.4 and 1280 get into Princeton.

That said, the high academic D3s are willing to forgive relatively lower numbers if the coach really wants the recruit. For example, in NESCAC coaches are allotted a certain number of "slots" and "tips." "Slots" are used for students with lower stats whom the coach really wants, and "tips" are smaller boosts for kids with better stats. Kids who get "tips" may be just as highly desired by the coach but don't need as much of an admissions boost. What stats place you in which "band" (the lowest of which can only get in with a slot) vary depending on school; for instance, the stats required to make it into "A band" (the highest, in which the kid doesn't need much coach support to get in) are higher at Williams than at Hamilton, and higher at Hamilton than at Trinity.