2023 Girls Recruiting

[Anonymous]

Check out the college forum, lots of info on this. When it comes to top academic schools the “test optional” policy only applies to first-gen, URM, and poor kids. If you are white and UMC and/or go to private school, these colleges expect test scores. You won’t get in without high test scores. The unspoken truth is the so called “test optional” is only for the kids who have familial or historical obstacles to gaining admission. This applies doubly to athletic recruits of rich people sports like lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out the college forum, lots of info on this. When it comes to top academic schools the “test optional” policy only applies to first-gen, URM, and poor kids. If you are white and UMC and/or go to private school, these colleges expect test scores. You won’t get in without high test scores. The unspoken truth is the so called “test optional” is only for the kids who have familial or historical obstacles to gaining admission. This applies doubly to athletic recruits of rich people sports like lacrosse.

Is a general college forum the best source of info for lax recruits navigating optional test expectations of top academics? I’m inclined to believe what people are sharing here, where we can learn from recruits actually going through the process now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting on the NY parent and other test optional denier parent to respond with an accept/
reject of this PP’s experience…..

The NY parent (me) authored the post above re: test optionals. And if you read everything I’ve written closely (you should be able to detect my style) you’ll see I’ve been entirely consistent. Other people have written that ivies are not test optional. A quick Google search shows that’s not true as a matter of *policy*. It’s the encouragement / expectation of these coaches to have their recruits test to make them stronger admission candidates that’s at issue. And that’s why, as I’ve explained, these ivy test-optionals aren’t really optional.

You seem to be the only one with an axe to grind here. You’ve offered nothing constructive to this discussion. Others have complimented me for providing detailed, helpful guidance (three by my count). Have a nice day.

DC parent here with two kids who've negotiated process...NY parent offers great guidance. I don't have an issue with the NY "attitude", because parents often need a wake up call. The process is a challenge and going in eyes open is critical. There is a ton of misinformation out there particularly on this forum. Different HA, even within Ivies, have different standards and it's profoundly foolish to bank on test optional next year. Good luck to y'all, glad my family is done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting on the NY parent and other test optional denier parent to respond with an accept/
reject of this PP’s experience…..

The NY parent (me) authored the post above re: test optionals. And if you read everything I’ve written closely (you should be able to detect my style) you’ll see I’ve been entirely consistent. Other people have written that ivies are not test optional. A quick Google search shows that’s not true as a matter of *policy*. It’s the encouragement / expectation of these coaches to have their recruits test to make them stronger admission candidates that’s at issue. And that’s why, as I’ve explained, these ivy test-optionals aren’t really optional.

You seem to be the only one with an axe to grind here. You’ve offered nothing constructive to this discussion. Others have complimented me for providing detailed, helpful guidance (three by my count). Have a nice day.

DC parent here with two kids who've negotiated process...NY parent offers great guidance. I don't have an issue with the NY "attitude", because parents often need a wake up call. The process is a challenge and going in eyes open is critical. There is a ton of misinformation out there particularly on this forum. Different HA, even within Ivies, have different standards and it's profoundly foolish to bank on test optional next year. Good luck to y'all, glad my family is done.

True. 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting on the NY parent and other test optional denier parent to respond with an accept/
reject of this PP’s experience…..

The NY parent (me) authored the post above re: test optionals. And if you read everything I’ve written closely (you should be able to detect my style) you’ll see I’ve been entirely consistent. Other people have written that ivies are not test optional. A quick Google search shows that’s not true as a matter of *policy*. It’s the encouragement / expectation of these coaches to have their recruits test to make them stronger admission candidates that’s at issue. And that’s why, as I’ve explained, these ivy test-optionals aren’t really optional.

You seem to be the only one with an axe to grind here. You’ve offered nothing constructive to this discussion. Others have complimented me for providing detailed, helpful guidance (three by my count). Have a nice day.

DC parent here with two kids who've negotiated process...NY parent offers great guidance. I don't have an issue with the NY "attitude", because parents often need a wake up call. The process is a challenge and going in eyes open is critical. There is a ton of misinformation out there particularly on this forum. Different HA, even within Ivies, have different standards and it's profoundly foolish to bank on test optional next year. Good luck to y'all, glad my family is done.

True. 100%.

Another parent who has gone through the process. (One girl at Capital, another at a top MD club). Completely agree with PP. Ultimately, its about making yourself more recruitable whether its to an ivy or even another non-ivy high academic school like Duke, Stanford, ND, Georgetown or Davidson. Let me drop a couple more truth bombs which may make me even less popular than NY poster.

- Good early test scores are a big differentiator; you aren't required to share them for most schools so there is nothing to lose. Even if you aren't at their standards, if you are close it gives them confidence you can get there when you retake them
- Even more so are 4 or 5s on AP tests taken Freshman or Sophomore year
- Quality of classes taken is probably the most critical. These schools expect all honors classes plus at least 4-6 AP classes before you graduate
- all things being equal, public school kids will have an edge. As part of driving more diversity across student bodies, several schools are "capping" the % of scholarship $$ which can be given to kids from public school. Fully realize at this point there is nothing you can do about this, however, it is important to understand the landscape and why an equally talented girl from your club team may be getting a lot more interest than your kid.


As someone else said, these rules are relaxed if you are a top 40 national player. However, remember for every girl they take who is below standards 3.9 GPA/ 1350-1400, they need 2 more who are WELL above it

[Anonymous]

Having gone through the process as well and targeted supposedly test-optional high academic schools, the term is a mis-nomer. They are keenly interested in grades, past/current/future coursework, APs and ... test scores.

Not that you can't overcome the latter, but you'll need to crush it in the other categories and hope you're not in a situation where the coach has to "offset" the test results of commits who may not meet the normal test standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting on the NY parent and other test optional denier parent to respond with an accept/
reject of this PP’s experience…..

The NY parent (me) authored the post above re: test optionals. And if you read everything I’ve written closely (you should be able to detect my style) you’ll see I’ve been entirely consistent. Other people have written that ivies are not test optional. A quick Google search shows that’s not true as a matter of *policy*. It’s the encouragement / expectation of these coaches to have their recruits test to make them stronger admission candidates that’s at issue. And that’s why, as I’ve explained, these ivy test-optionals aren’t really optional.

You seem to be the only one with an axe to grind here. You’ve offered nothing constructive to this discussion. Others have complimented me for providing detailed, helpful guidance (three by my count). Have a nice day.

DC parent here with two kids who've negotiated process...NY parent offers great guidance. I don't have an issue with the NY "attitude", because parents often need a wake up call. The process is a challenge and going in eyes open is critical. There is a ton of misinformation out there particularly on this forum. Different HA, even within Ivies, have different standards and it's profoundly foolish to bank on test optional next year. Good luck to y'all, glad my family is done.

True. 100%.

Another parent who has gone through the process. (One girl at Capital, another at a top MD club). Completely agree with PP. Ultimately, its about making yourself more recruitable whether its to an ivy or even another non-ivy high academic school like Duke, Stanford, ND, Georgetown or Davidson. Let me drop a couple more truth bombs which may make me even less popular than NY poster.

- Good early test scores are a big differentiator; you aren't required to share them for most schools so there is nothing to lose. Even if you aren't at their standards, if you are close it gives them confidence you can get there when you retake them
- Even more so are 4 or 5s on AP tests taken Freshman or Sophomore year
- Quality of classes taken is probably the most critical. These schools expect all honors classes plus at least 4-6 AP classes before you graduate
- all things being equal, public school kids will have an edge. As part of driving more diversity across student bodies, several schools are "capping" the % of scholarship $$ which can be given to kids from public school. Fully realize at this point there is nothing you can do about this, however, it is important to understand the landscape and why an equally talented girl from your club team may be getting a lot more interest than your kid.


As someone else said, these rules are relaxed if you are a top 40 national player. However, remember for every girl they take who is below standards 3.9 GPA/ 1350-1400, they need 2 more who are WELL above it

I don’t understand the part about public school kids having an edge. How does capping the percentage of scholarship money to be given to public school kids give them an edge? And why would schools be doing that? Thank you in advance for a reply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don’t understand the part about public school kids having an edge. How does capping the percentage of scholarship money to be given to public school kids give them an edge? And why would schools be doing that? Thank you in advance for a reply.

This is a recent occurance and doesn't apply to all schools. Mostly high-academic public schools in the wake of several college admissions scandals. I can confirm that coaches at Vanderbilt, Duke, USC and a few Ivies are getting this type of pressure.

Schools as a whole are trying to limit the % of admitted kids and scholarship $$ who go to private school kids. As a result, this trickles down to sports programs. Most schools are giving their coaches specific caps for private school kids, but are also telling them that bringing in 8 private kids in a recruiting class of 9 isn't acceptable anymore.

From what we've seen so far, this doesn't impact of the stars or likely impact players, but for the bottom of the roster type kids, public kids do have an advantage at this schools. Obviously within lax, especially girls lax, this does give an edge to Long Island and Upstate NY kids where most of their prospects go to public as opposed to DMV where 90%+ of top kids go private.

[Anonymous]

UVA, Vandy, Denver, Duke, Richmond all love(d) the private school recruits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA, Vandy, Denver, Duke, Richmond all love(d) the private school recruits

The coaches all love them. But at Duke and Vandy, the coaches need to throw admissions a bone by bringing in some public schools kids. You can thank Aunt Becky for this.

However, like i said before, this isn't impact the top private school kids. Its the bottom of roster kids, who likely would never be rotation players anyway.

[Anonymous]

Correct.
With that being said, most of my DD peers in the competitive Baltimore club lacrosse world go to rigorous private schools and they all seem over-leveraged in life and miserable.
I am only mentioning that because I'm a graduate of those same schools and do not/will not send my children to private out in the county where we live.
My kid is getting a great education and has a great quality of life as well. We are not commuting 40 minutes one way to and from. It is still day light when she walks thru the door after school. We are not competing with an endless supply of mathletes and homework culture. Our school also sends kids to the Ivys and NESCACS. We are relishing these last few years with her before she turns into an adult.
I will say that the most fun privates in Baltimore seem to be The St Pauls Schools and maybe RCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct.
With that being said, most of my DD peers in the competitive Baltimore club lacrosse world go to rigorous private schools and they all seem over-leveraged in life and miserable.
I am only mentioning that because I'm a graduate of those same schools and do not/will not send my children to private out in the county where we live.
My kid is getting a great education and has a great quality of life as well. We are not commuting 40 minutes one way to and from. It is still day light when she walks thru the door after school. We are not competing with an endless supply of mathletes and homework culture. Our school also sends kids to the Ivys and NESCACS. We are relishing these last few years with her before she turns into an adult.
I will say that the most fun privates in Baltimore seem to be The St Pauls Schools and maybe RCPS.

completely agree. Public schools which can still offer lots of Honors and AP classes are a great fit for most athletic girls with top college aspirations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct.
With that being said, most of my DD peers in the competitive Baltimore club lacrosse world go to rigorous private schools and they all seem over-leveraged in life and miserable.
I am only mentioning that because I'm a graduate of those same schools and do not/will not send my children to private out in the county where we live.
My kid is getting a great education and has a great quality of life as well. We are not commuting 40 minutes one way to and from. It is still day light when she walks thru the door after school. We are not competing with an endless supply of mathletes and homework culture. Our school also sends kids to the Ivys and NESCACS. We are relishing these last few years with her before she turns into an adult.
I will say that the most fun privates in Baltimore seem to be The St Pauls Schools and maybe RCPS.

completely agree. Public schools which can still offer lots of Honors and AP classes are a great fit for most athletic girls with top college aspirations.

Not in DC area. Public school lax sucks. So do public school educations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct.
With that being said, most of my DD peers in the competitive Baltimore club lacrosse world go to rigorous private schools and they all seem over-leveraged in life and miserable.
I am only mentioning that because I'm a graduate of those same schools and do not/will not send my children to private out in the county where we live.
My kid is getting a great education and has a great quality of life as well. We are not commuting 40 minutes one way to and from. It is still day light when she walks thru the door after school. We are not competing with an endless supply of mathletes and homework culture. Our school also sends kids to the Ivys and NESCACS. We are relishing these last few years with her before she turns into an adult.
I will say that the most fun privates in Baltimore seem to be The St Pauls Schools and maybe RCPS.

completely agree. Public schools which can still offer lots of Honors and AP classes are a great fit for most athletic girls with top college aspirations.

Not in DC area. Public school lax sucks. So do public school educations.

There are some good public schools in NoVa and Bethesda area. As for lax, high school lax has little to no impact on recruiting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct.
With that being said, most of my DD peers in the competitive Baltimore club lacrosse world go to rigorous private schools and they all seem over-leveraged in life and miserable.
I am only mentioning that because I'm a graduate of those same schools and do not/will not send my children to private out in the county where we live.
My kid is getting a great education and has a great quality of life as well. We are not commuting 40 minutes one way to and from. It is still day light when she walks thru the door after school. We are not competing with an endless supply of mathletes and homework culture. Our school also sends kids to the Ivys and NESCACS. We are relishing these last few years with her before she turns into an adult.
I will say that the most fun privates in Baltimore seem to be The St Pauls Schools and maybe RCPS.

completely agree. Public schools which can still offer lots of Honors and AP classes are a great fit for most athletic girls with top college aspirations.

Not in DC area. Public school lax sucks. So do public school educations.

There are some good public schools in NoVa and Bethesda area. As for lax, high school lax has little to no impact on recruiting

Agreed and it wouldn't suck if everyone didn't go private.