Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me put it this way: if your kids start a non-profit fundraising / raising awareness enterprise for whatever cause (save the whales, save the ocean, save the trees) when they are 10 years old and work on it here and there with mini projects at their school or during the summer from age 10-19, that will impress admissions a lot more than playing a sport that millions of other kids also play.

“Millions of kids play” actually does put it into great perspective.

How difficult is it to get recruited by the Ivy leagues and other top academic schools but weaker soccer programs? Are those only the DA/ECNL kids as well? Our kids love the sport and could be very good at it but maybe not elite. I’d like to have a realistic understanding if the pathway to a strong college is not there through soccer. If they can do everything, great.

Unless your kid is one of the better players on a good DA/ECNL team (or the equivalent team level) then forget about being recruited by an Ivy. They are looking for great soccer players (think National team camp invitees) with merely good academics (i.e. a 30 on the ACT). They don't give a hoot about merely good soccer players with great academic stats.

This is not accurate. The Academic Index, which is the formula that each Ivy coach must assemble his or her recruiting class by, often causes a coach to look for a stellar student to bring up the class index. Hence, the term "brilliant bench player" which you can find a few on each Ivy team on both sides--men and women.

Most of the bench players still come from the very top leagues though, even if they are not starters for their club teams. If you google the university and roster, you can find bios of each player, and almost all of the Ivy league ones played at a very high level.

This. Everyone is looking for an edge for the Ivys—just look at the DCUM college board if you want to see some real insanity—and a kid who has both DA/ECNL and 1480+ SATs is not as rare as you think. So that kid gets the soccer slot over the same SAT and lower level league kid. Plus check out all the international players on the Ivy soccer teams, especially from Canada and Europe. The best college resume booster is the thing your kid loves, chooses for him/her self, sticks with, and can write a heartfelt essay about. Signed, parent of graduating soccer-playing senior going to a good college and not playing soccer there.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me put it this way: if your kids start a non-profit fundraising / raising awareness enterprise for whatever cause (save the whales, save the ocean, save the trees) when they are 10 years old and work on it here and there with mini projects at their school or during the summer from age 10-19, that will impress admissions a lot more than playing a sport that millions of other kids also play.

“Millions of kids play” actually does put it into great perspective.

How difficult is it to get recruited by the Ivy leagues and other top academic schools but weaker soccer programs? Are those only the DA/ECNL kids as well? Our kids love the sport and could be very good at it but maybe not elite. I’d like to have a realistic understanding if the pathway to a strong college is not there through soccer. If they can do everything, great.

Unless your kid is one of the better players on a good DA/ECNL team (or the equivalent team level) then forget about being recruited by an Ivy. They are looking for great soccer players (think National team camp invitees) with merely good academics (i.e. a 30 on the ACT). They don't give a hoot about merely good soccer players with great academic stats.

This is not accurate. The Academic Index, which is the formula that each Ivy coach must assemble his or her recruiting class by, often causes a coach to look for a stellar student to bring up the class index. Hence, the term "brilliant bench player" which you can find a few on each Ivy team on both sides--men and women.

Most of the bench players still come from the very top leagues though, even if they are not starters for their club teams. If you google the university and roster, you can find bios of each player, and almost all of the Ivy league ones played at a very high level.

This. Everyone is looking for an edge for the Ivys—just look at the DCUM college board if you want to see some real insanity—and a kid who has both DA/ECNL and 1480+ SATs is not as rare as you think. So that kid gets the soccer slot over the same SAT and lower level league kid. Plus check out all the international players on the Ivy soccer teams, especially from Canada and Europe. The best college resume booster is the thing your kid loves, chooses for him/her self, sticks with, and can write a heartfelt essay about. Signed, parent of graduating soccer-playing senior going to a good college and not playing soccer there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a PP posted, the value in playing is really in the other skills they will take with them to school, such as teamwork, time management, leadership, confidence, etc.

Whenever I see things about using soccer to get into college, I often suggest people take a look at the roster for Harvard's soccer team and see how they compare.

https://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/roster

Most are D.A. level or above, including MLS DA programs, USA youth national call ups, player of the year for a city / region kind of players. If you are looking to "play your way" into school, you need to be at a certain level.

But outside of the athletic staff, I really don't think the admissions offices rates someone who played DA soccer as being higher than say someone who played twice a week kind of practice kind of travel soccer.

You do not even need to look at the bio of the players at Harvard. Look at Georgetown’s roster on the women’s side. They were all star soccer players in high school and have great academics. If a kid is admitted to a school with lower test scores vs the mean, kid is most likely a pro caliber athlete.

Georgetown is on a different level from the Ivy League soccer-wise but you make a good point.

Anonymous wrote:As a PP posted, the value in playing is really in the other skills they will take with them to school, such as teamwork, time management, leadership, confidence, etc.

Whenever I see things about using soccer to get into college, I often suggest people take a look at the roster for Harvard's soccer team and see how they compare.

https://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/roster

Most are D.A. level or above, including MLS DA programs, USA youth national call ups, player of the year for a city / region kind of players. If you are looking to "play your way" into school, you need to be at a certain level.

But outside of the athletic staff, I really don't think the admissions offices rates someone who played DA soccer as being higher than say someone who played twice a week kind of practice kind of travel soccer.

You do not even need to look at the bio of the players at Harvard. Look at Georgetown’s roster on the women’s side. They were all star soccer players in high school and have great academics. If a kid is admitted to a school with lower test scores vs the mean, kid is most likely a pro caliber athlete.

As a PP posted, the value in playing is really in the other skills they will take with them to school, such as teamwork, time management, leadership, confidence, etc.

Whenever I see things about using soccer to get into college, I often suggest people take a look at the roster for Harvard's soccer team and see how they compare.

https://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/roster

Most are D.A. level or above, including MLS DA programs, USA youth national call ups, player of the year for a city / region kind of players. If you are looking to "play your way" into school, you need to be at a certain level.

But outside of the athletic staff, I really don't think the admissions offices rates someone who played DA soccer as being higher than say someone who played twice a week kind of practice kind of travel soccer.

My DD has done a lot of things in travel/HS soccer that are going to help her get into a good college even if she is not playing in college.

Here are some of the things that travel soccer has given her:

Learned to be a good leader
Learned to be a good teammate
Dealt with adversity
Dealt with high pressure situations
Balanced her training and academic schedules
Advocated for herself
Represented her state in ODP
Represented her classmates
Traveled to Europe to absorb their culture and train/play
Traveled the US sans parents sometimes
Navigated the many different personalities of coaches/teammates
Competed

Bwahaha. There's a sucker born every minute.

you can always try to go to MIT and then decide to major in physical education

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me put it this way: if your kids start a non-profit fundraising / raising awareness enterprise for whatever cause (save the whales, save the ocean, save the trees) when they are 10 years old and work on it here and there with mini projects at their school or during the summer from age 10-19, that will impress admissions a lot more than playing a sport that millions of other kids also play.

“Millions of kids play” actually does put it into great perspective.

How difficult is it to get recruited by the Ivy leagues and other top academic schools but weaker soccer programs? Are those only the DA/ECNL kids as well? Our kids love the sport and could be very good at it but maybe not elite. I’d like to have a realistic understanding if the pathway to a strong college is not there through soccer. If they can do everything, great.

Unless your kid is one of the better players on a good DA/ECNL team (or the equivalent team level) then forget about being recruited by an Ivy. They are looking for great soccer players (think National team camp invitees) with merely good academics (i.e. a 30 on the ACT). They don't give a hoot about merely good soccer players with great academic stats.

This is not accurate. The Academic Index, which is the formula that each Ivy coach must assemble his or her recruiting class by, often causes a coach to look for a stellar student to bring up the class index. Hence, the term "brilliant bench player" which you can find a few on each Ivy team on both sides--men and women.

Most of the bench players still come from the very top leagues though, even if they are not starters for their club teams. If you google the university and roster, you can find bios of each player, and almost all of the Ivy league ones played at a very high level.

Anonymous wrote:Stupid unless you WANT to major in soccer.

Soccer analytics

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me put it this way: if your kids start a non-profit fundraising / raising awareness enterprise for whatever cause (save the whales, save the ocean, save the trees) when they are 10 years old and work on it here and there with mini projects at their school or during the summer from age 10-19, that will impress admissions a lot more than playing a sport that millions of other kids also play.

“Millions of kids play” actually does put it into great perspective.

How difficult is it to get recruited by the Ivy leagues and other top academic schools but weaker soccer programs? Are those only the DA/ECNL kids as well? Our kids love the sport and could be very good at it but maybe not elite. I’d like to have a realistic understanding if the pathway to a strong college is not there through soccer. If they can do everything, great.

Unless your kid is one of the better players on a good DA/ECNL team (or the equivalent team level) then forget about being recruited by an Ivy. They are looking for great soccer players (think National team camp invitees) with merely good academics (i.e. a 30 on the ACT). They don't give a hoot about merely good soccer players with great academic stats.

This is not accurate. The Academic Index, which is the formula that each Ivy coach must assemble his or her recruiting class by, often causes a coach to look for a stellar student to bring up the class index. Hence, the term "brilliant bench player" which you can find a few on each Ivy team on both sides--men and women.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. School also trumps sports in our household. I thought I had established that playing soccer in college would probably not be their path but how we can still leverage the sport to help achieve a great college. Appreciate the response.

Are there any parents that have gone through this path and have any guidance?

[b]You cannot directly leverage participation in travel/high school soccer to achieve a great college unless your kid is recruited by the college coach.

Long term participation in a sport shows admirable qualities in a college applicant -- dedication, discipline, teamwork, etc. But those same qualities can be demonstrated by any number of other extracurricular activities (i.e. band, acting, etc.).

So your kid should participate in travel/HS soccer because she likes playing soccer more than she likes other potential extracurricular activities -- not because it will leverage a great college admission.

I'm a parent of three recruited athletes (NESCAC) and I agree with the highlighted text. Well-said, though I would have added: "Chill, OP, before you turn into Felicity Huffman."

Lol. Noted. Appreciate all of the responses and perspective has definitely been gained from your sharing of your experiences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. School also trumps sports in our household. I thought I had established that playing soccer in college would probably not be their path but how we can still leverage the sport to help achieve a great college. Appreciate the response.

Are there any parents that have gone through this path and have any guidance?

[b]You cannot directly leverage participation in travel/high school soccer to achieve a great college unless your kid is recruited by the college coach.

Long term participation in a sport shows admirable qualities in a college applicant -- dedication, discipline, teamwork, etc. But those same qualities can be demonstrated by any number of other extracurricular activities (i.e. band, acting, etc.).

So your kid should participate in travel/HS soccer because she likes playing soccer more than she likes other potential extracurricular activities -- not because it will leverage a great college admission.

I'm a parent of three recruited athletes (NESCAC) and I agree with the highlighted text. Well-said, though I would have added: "Chill, OP, before you turn into Felicity Huffman."

The point of this thread was asking the question What is the value of playing soccer in the context of college admissions for someone NOT interested in playing soccer in college. The above comments about college recruiting for soccer are missing the point.

I think there is a value to your kid committing to anything in the pursuit of excellence, with success being a relative thing. For example, a kid that didn’t make his HS team for first 2 years but then through hard work of his own made the team as a junior and earned a starting job as a senior could make a compelling college essay. Or working to come back from an injury to play one final game. Or the team work aspects of being part of a state championship team, working just as hard for 4 years, but only getting to watch the stars from the bench.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me put it this way: if your kids start a non-profit fundraising / raising awareness enterprise for whatever cause (save the whales, save the ocean, save the trees) when they are 10 years old and work on it here and there with mini projects at their school or during the summer from age 10-19, that will impress admissions a lot more than playing a sport that millions of other kids also play.

“Millions of kids play” actually does put it into great perspective.

How difficult is it to get recruited by the Ivy leagues and other top academic schools but weaker soccer programs? Are those only the DA/ECNL kids as well? Our kids love the sport and could be very good at it but maybe not elite. I’d like to have a realistic understanding if the pathway to a strong college is not there through soccer. If they can do everything, great.

Unless your kid is one of the better players on a good DA/ECNL team (or the equivalent team level) then forget about being recruited by an Ivy. They are looking for great soccer players (think National team camp invitees) with merely good academics (i.e. a 30 on the ACT). They don't give a hoot about merely good soccer players with great academic stats.