Do you have to be a top athlete to be recruited at SLACs, MIT (D3) and the Ivies?

[Anonymous]

Would not put Michigan in the same category as Duke, Stanford, and Northwestern. Replace with Notre Dame or Vandy. Michigan no prestige in our circles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The top schools in my kid’s individual Olympic sport requires excellent grades and test scores plus high national ranking. The #1 recruit a few years ago who went to an Ivy had a 1590 SAT and perfect GPA from a highly regarded private school and was a 2024 Olympian.

That was their choice but not the only option. Tennis and golf are different. Also.. why not go to the best school you can regardless of your athletic ability.

[Anonymous]

To use basketball as an example, somewhere around 2-3% of all HS seniors that play basketball will go on to play some type of college basketball (including JuCo and NAIA). The system is not perfectly efficient, so figure you need to be around top 3-4% of all basketball players to have a realistic chance. There will be some one off situations like Cal tech or MIT and possibly the service academies, but, beyond that , you need to be a fringe college level player to “back door” your way into an academically rigorous school not playing D1.

To put this in perspective, I know a kid who was second team all county in a major metro area. Set a school record by scoring 51 points in a game (this takes real, indisputable talent) and he’s playing D3. Nothing wrong with that. He’s an amazing talent, extremely good at his sport. But that’s the level of competition we are talking about.

The NIL and transfer portal are also messing with the system in ways that we won’t fully understand for a few years, but early indications suggest high school athletes are getting squeezed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or is a very strong student at a top high school plus a good but not tippity top club/varsity player enough? Are there many top athletes out there who also have the academic chops to hack it at these colleges? I am sure it depends on the sport, but how about for sports outside of football and basketball? If your SAT is in the 1550-1580 range, high rigor at a strong, nationally recognized HS, and let's say you are an ok lacrosse/volleyball/soccer/track athlete, what are the odds that you'd get recruited by a top academic institution? Obviously no chance at Duke, Stanford and the likes.

I am new to this site and process and curious how it all works.

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA athletic scholarships that took effect this year. In practice, it has meant that many D1 schools have had to cut rosters in non-revenue sports like track and swimming. It is tougher today to land a spot and/or a scholarship on a D1 team than it was last year.

Generally, being an ok athlete is not going to be a hook that moves the needle at the top academic D1 schools - Ivy league, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan, etc. All roster spots at such schools are going to go to extremely strong recruited athletes. No one casually joins Stanford swimming or Duke lacrosse or Yale hockey or Michigan track. It wasn't happening last year, and it's definitely not happening this year.

Strong academic students who are good but not great in their respective sports will have better luck reaching out to coaches at the D3 level. Most schools will have practical info somewhere on their websites - student athlete bios, recruitment/walk on times, etc. It's useful to take a look there for general guidance.

I'll add that almost any competent high school athlete can find a D3 program that will allow them to continue their athletic career. As others have said D3s can run the gamut of athletic talent from D1 or near D1 talent to a reserve high school player.

This is not true for men's soccer. D1 and D2 rosters have so many international players that many top American MLS academy and ECNL players are playing D3, club, or not at all in college. A "competent" high school boys soccer player has a very low chance of making a D3 roster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or is a very strong student at a top high school plus a good but not tippity top club/varsity player enough? Are there many top athletes out there who also have the academic chops to hack it at these colleges? I am sure it depends on the sport, but how about for sports outside of football and basketball? If your SAT is in the 1550-1580 range, high rigor at a strong, nationally recognized HS, and let's say you are an ok lacrosse/volleyball/soccer/track athlete, what are the odds that you'd get recruited by a top academic institution? Obviously no chance at Duke, Stanford and the likes.

I am new to this site and process and curious how it all works.

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA athletic scholarships that took effect this year. In practice, it has meant that many D1 schools have had to cut rosters in non-revenue sports like track and swimming. It is tougher today to land a spot and/or a scholarship on a D1 team than it was last year.

Generally, being an ok athlete is not going to be a hook that moves the needle at the top academic D1 schools - Ivy league, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan, etc. All roster spots at such schools are going to go to extremely strong recruited athletes. No one casually joins Stanford swimming or Duke lacrosse or Yale hockey or Michigan track. It wasn't happening last year, and it's definitely not happening this year.

Strong academic students who are good but not great in their respective sports will have better luck reaching out to coaches at the D3 level. Most schools will have practical info somewhere on their websites - student athlete bios, recruitment/walk on times, etc. It's useful to take a look there for general guidance.

I'll add that almost any competent high school athlete can find a D3 program that will allow them to continue their athletic career. As others have said D3s can run the gamut of athletic talent from D1 or near D1 talent to a reserve high school player.

This is not true for men's soccer. D1 and D2 rosters have so many international players that many top American MLS academy and ECNL players are playing D3, club, or not at all in college. A "competent" high school boys soccer player has a very low chance of making a D3 roster.

There are somewhere around 400 D3 soccer programs. Sure some of the top ones are good, but there is plenty of space for average HS or below average HS players.

[Anonymous]

Depends on particular sport & school. Been thru this myself(d3) & a child. For strong academic d3 slacs/Nescac, I’d say at least All-Region level + good academic stats. All-District/All-League/All-County types could probably make many d3 teams after acceptance. But getting recruited + coach’s help or silver bullet thru admissions is another story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or is a very strong student at a top high school plus a good but not tippity top club/varsity player enough? Are there many top athletes out there who also have the academic chops to hack it at these colleges? I am sure it depends on the sport, but how about for sports outside of football and basketball? If your SAT is in the 1550-1580 range, high rigor at a strong, nationally recognized HS, and let's say you are an ok lacrosse/volleyball/soccer/track athlete, what are the odds that you'd get recruited by a top academic institution? Obviously no chance at Duke, Stanford and the likes.

I am new to this site and process and curious how it all works.

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA athletic scholarships that took effect this year. In practice, it has meant that many D1 schools have had to cut rosters in non-revenue sports like track and swimming. It is tougher today to land a spot and/or a scholarship on a D1 team than it was last year.

Generally, being an ok athlete is not going to be a hook that moves the needle at the top academic D1 schools - Ivy league, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan, etc. All roster spots at such schools are going to go to extremely strong recruited athletes. No one casually joins Stanford swimming or Duke lacrosse or Yale hockey or Michigan track. It wasn't happening last year, and it's definitely not happening this year.

Strong academic students who are good but not great in their respective sports will have better luck reaching out to coaches at the D3 level. Most schools will have practical info somewhere on their websites - student athlete bios, recruitment/walk on times, etc. It's useful to take a look there for general guidance.

I'll add that almost any competent high school athlete can find a D3 program that will allow them to continue their athletic career. As others have said D3s can run the gamut of athletic talent from D1 or near D1 talent to a reserve high school player.

This is not true for men's soccer. D1 and D2 rosters have so many international players that many top American MLS academy and ECNL players are playing D3, club, or not at all in college. A "competent" high school boys soccer player has a very low chance of making a D3 roster.

There are somewhere around 400 D3 soccer programs. Sure some of the top ones are good, but there is plenty of space for average HS or below average HS players.

Instead of guessing, you can look at the Massey rankings. It’s far from perfect, but it can give you a sense of the schools where your average HS player could walk on. And spoiler, it’s mostly schools you have never heard of, or have acceptance ratings over 50%. The top of D3 is generally UAA and NESCAC + Hopkins, MIT, Swarthmore, Pomona and then some oddballs like Messiah and CNU.

UAA being D3 is completely a joke - the schools are larger, have better research programs and 10x more money than 75% of D1 schools. Emory, WashU, Mellon are big name schools that have the academic clout to forgo big D1 football programs, so they like D3.

If your kid wants to play soccer but is not doing MLS Next or ECNL, then top D3 schools are going to be tough to get recruited for.

If your kid wants to play soccer at Yeshiva or St. Joseph’s NY, chances are pretty good! (Not to worry, there are lots of schools in between as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or is a very strong student at a top high school plus a good but not tippity top club/varsity player enough? Are there many top athletes out there who also have the academic chops to hack it at these colleges? I am sure it depends on the sport, but how about for sports outside of football and basketball? If your SAT is in the 1550-1580 range, high rigor at a strong, nationally recognized HS, and let's say you are an ok lacrosse/volleyball/soccer/track athlete, what are the odds that you'd get recruited by a top academic institution? Obviously no chance at Duke, Stanford and the likes.

I am new to this site and process and curious how it all works.

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA athletic scholarships that took effect this year. In practice, it has meant that many D1 schools have had to cut rosters in non-revenue sports like track and swimming. It is tougher today to land a spot and/or a scholarship on a D1 team than it was last year.

Generally, being an ok athlete is not going to be a hook that moves the needle at the top academic D1 schools - Ivy league, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan, etc. All roster spots at such schools are going to go to extremely strong recruited athletes. No one casually joins Stanford swimming or Duke lacrosse or Yale hockey or Michigan track. It wasn't happening last year, and it's definitely not happening this year.

Strong academic students who are good but not great in their respective sports will have better luck reaching out to coaches at the D3 level. Most schools will have practical info somewhere on their websites - student athlete bios, recruitment/walk on times, etc. It's useful to take a look there for general guidance.

I'll add that almost any competent high school athlete can find a D3 program that will allow them to continue their athletic career. As others have said D3s can run the gamut of athletic talent from D1 or near D1 talent to a reserve high school player.

This is not true for men's soccer. D1 and D2 rosters have so many international players that many top American MLS academy and ECNL players are playing D3, club, or not at all in college. A "competent" high school boys soccer player has a very low chance of making a D3 roster.

There are somewhere around 400 D3 soccer programs. Sure some of the top ones are good, but there is plenty of space for average HS or below average HS players.

Instead of guessing, you can look at the Massey rankings. It’s far from perfect, but it can give you a sense of the schools where your average HS player could walk on. And spoiler, it’s mostly schools you have never heard of, or have acceptance ratings over 50%. The top of D3 is generally UAA and NESCAC + Hopkins, MIT, Swarthmore, Pomona and then some oddballs like Messiah and CNU.

UAA being D3 is completely a joke - the schools are larger, have better research programs and 10x more money than 75% of D1 schools. Emory, WashU, Mellon are big name schools that have the academic clout to forgo big D1 football programs, so they like D3.

If your kid wants to play soccer but is not doing MLS Next or ECNL, then top D3 schools are going to be tough to get recruited for.

If your kid wants to play soccer at Yeshiva or St. Joseph’s NY, chances are pretty good! (Not to worry, there are lots of schools in between as well.

Thanks for making my point that there's a D3 sports program for nearly any skill level. I'm convinced that many schools at all levels exist primarily to provide students a college where they can participate in athletics. Look at a D1 college like Presbyterian, where there are about 450 athletes out of approximately 900 undergraduates. The school essentially exists to give students a D1 college experience. Many D3 schools have similar ratios or worse.

So if you're okay attending a small, unremarkable school and can afford it, then almost any decent athlete can get their NCAA sports experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or is a very strong student at a top high school plus a good but not tippity top club/varsity player enough? Are there many top athletes out there who also have the academic chops to hack it at these colleges? I am sure it depends on the sport, but how about for sports outside of football and basketball? If your SAT is in the 1550-1580 range, high rigor at a strong, nationally recognized HS, and let's say you are an ok lacrosse/volleyball/soccer/track athlete, what are the odds that you'd get recruited by a top academic institution? Obviously no chance at Duke, Stanford and the likes.

I am new to this site and process and curious how it all works.

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA athletic scholarships that took effect this year. In practice, it has meant that many D1 schools have had to cut rosters in non-revenue sports like track and swimming. It is tougher today to land a spot and/or a scholarship on a D1 team than it was last year.

Generally, being an ok athlete is not going to be a hook that moves the needle at the top academic D1 schools - Ivy league, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan, etc. All roster spots at such schools are going to go to extremely strong recruited athletes. No one casually joins Stanford swimming or Duke lacrosse or Yale hockey or Michigan track. It wasn't happening last year, and it's definitely not happening this year.

Strong academic students who are good but not great in their respective sports will have better luck reaching out to coaches at the D3 level. Most schools will have practical info somewhere on their websites - student athlete bios, recruitment/walk on times, etc. It's useful to take a look there for general guidance.

I'll add that almost any competent high school athlete can find a D3 program that will allow them to continue their athletic career. As others have said D3s can run the gamut of athletic talent from D1 or near D1 talent to a reserve high school player.

This is not true for men's soccer. D1 and D2 rosters have so many international players that many top American MLS academy and ECNL players are playing D3, club, or not at all in college. A "competent" high school boys soccer player has a very low chance of making a D3 roster.

This is absolutely true. I see low D3 and NAIA schools with excellent players. Those aren't places for high school reserve level players.