Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy recruiting can get a little whacky. My kid attended a recruiting session run by the Harvard baseball coach. Kind of a gruff old guy who wasn’t afraid to be maybe too honest.

For a top recruit he wanted at least a 1350…he might go lower for a true Power 4 player who he honestly thought wanted Harvard (ie a dream recruit who is too good for Ivy play).

He mentioned that every now and then he will meet a recruit who is both a great player and a 1580 SAT super impressive candidate. In that situation he may get greedy and not select that kid as a top recruit because he is very confident the kid will get in his own…so he is getting a top player for “free”. He will use his top slots for the second best 1350 kid and the other kid gets an asterisk so admissions know the coach likes him, but the kid needs to get in on their own.

Very similar experience here. Duke fencing coach refused to support DC's application and formally recruit DC because they "could get in on their own." We were very frustrated as DH is a Duke alum & we wanted that "closure" that comes with being recruited formally. DC is at HYPSM now on the fencing team so nothing to complain about now. Stats below:

Public magnet HS
4.0 UW 4.93 W
1590 SAT

Thanks for sharing. This is so interesting. Wondering if it's better to avoid the pursuing this path altogether if DC is otherwise qualified for the school (+legacy)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy recruiting can get a little whacky. My kid attended a recruiting session run by the Harvard baseball coach. Kind of a gruff old guy who wasn’t afraid to be maybe too honest.

For a top recruit he wanted at least a 1350…he might go lower for a true Power 4 player who he honestly thought wanted Harvard (ie a dream recruit who is too good for Ivy play).

He mentioned that every now and then he will meet a recruit who is both a great player and a 1580 SAT super impressive candidate. In that situation he may get greedy and not select that kid as a top recruit because he is very confident the kid will get in his own…so he is getting a top player for “free”. He will use his top slots for the second best 1350 kid and the other kid gets an asterisk so admissions know the coach likes him, but the kid needs to get in on their own.

Very similar experience here. Duke fencing coach refused to support DC's application and formally recruit DC because they "could get in on their own." We were very frustrated as DH is a Duke alum & we wanted that "closure" that comes with being recruited formally. DC is at HYPSM now on the fencing team so nothing to complain about now. Stats below:

Public magnet HS
4.0 UW 4.93 W
1590 SAT

Recruiting is a sleazy process Coaches lie to kids, they pull offers, they ghost families.

Ultimately, they found a fencer that fit in better for the Duke programs needs. Whatever that was. Sounds like it worked out well, but it definitely can leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Our kid is still bitter over a conversation with a coach at a school that he didn't even want to go to.

The irony of many private HS athletics programs is that the coaches tend to be more accomplished in life and better educated than some of the college coaches. My kids high school track and field coaching staff had Ivy and Patriot league graduates that taught Latin and Chemistry and English. Some of them worked in finance and transitioned to teaching and coaching in their 40s. Some were educators right out of the gate. They were all smart people though.

A lot of college coaches are coaches only and sometimes intellectually aren't as sophisticated as their high school counterparts. Of course, there are some college coaches that are amazing, smart and accomplished. Mixed bag.

Anonymous wrote:Ivy recruiting can get a little whacky. My kid attended a recruiting session run by the Harvard baseball coach. Kind of a gruff old guy who wasn’t afraid to be maybe too honest.

For a top recruit he wanted at least a 1350…he might go lower for a true Power 4 player who he honestly thought wanted Harvard (ie a dream recruit who is too good for Ivy play).

He mentioned that every now and then he will meet a recruit who is both a great player and a 1580 SAT super impressive candidate. In that situation he may get greedy and not select that kid as a top recruit because he is very confident the kid will get in his own…so he is getting a top player for “free”. He will use his top slots for the second best 1350 kid and the other kid gets an asterisk so admissions know the coach likes him, but the kid needs to get in on their own.

Very similar experience here. Duke fencing coach refused to support DC's application and formally recruit DC because they "could get in on their own." We were very frustrated as DH is a Duke alum & we wanted that "closure" that comes with being recruited formally. DC is at HYPSM now on the fencing team so nothing to complain about now. Stats below:

Public magnet HS
4.0 UW 4.93 W
1590 SAT

Anonymous wrote:Ivy recruiting can get a little whacky. My kid attended a recruiting session run by the Harvard baseball coach. Kind of a gruff old guy who wasn’t afraid to be maybe too honest.

For a top recruit he wanted at least a 1350…he might go lower for a true Power 4 player who he honestly thought wanted Harvard (ie a dream recruit who is too good for Ivy play).

He mentioned that every now and then he will meet a recruit who is both a great player and a 1580 SAT super impressive candidate. In that situation he may get greedy and not select that kid as a top recruit because he is very confident the kid will get in his own…so he is getting a top player for “free”. He will use his top slots for the second best 1350 kid and the other kid gets an asterisk so admissions know the coach likes him, but the kid needs to get in on their own.

Thank you for sharing this. I'm guessing the asterisk means he's a preferred walk-on? This could potentially be the route DC takes at a legacy school with a sibling already there.

Anonymous wrote:My athletic recruiting success story:

Didn’t make crew team in high school
Don’t even really know how to a row
But my admissions consultant took a picture of me on a boat
Mother a B-list television actress from the 1980s
Father owns a sporting apparel company
Parents funneled $500k bribe to the rowing coach via my admissions consultant
Admitted to the college of my choice!

Stop. Also, it was not an Ivy. This thread is about Ivy recruiting.

My athletic recruiting success story:

Didn’t make crew team in high school
Don’t even really know how to a row
But my admissions consultant took a picture of me on a boat
Mother a B-list television actress from the 1980s
Father owns a sporting apparel company
Parents funneled $500k bribe to the rowing coach via my admissions consultant
Admitted to the college of my choice!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private HS
Rowing recruit HYP
3.7 GPA
1500 SAT

Awesome! You should be proud! Your child will have a life changing experience through hard work. All those early cold mornings on the river, and the long winters on the erg staring at the wall have paid off! It's amazing what these kids accomplish. Hours of grueling physical training, followed by hours of homework.

It's like working a roofing job, and the going home and dominating at school work. It's clear to see why these kids continue to be desirable in the job market.

Crew has one of the highest quit rates of any college sport (and as a result a lot of walk ons as well).

I'm aware. Crew and T/F are both grueling dual season (or tri season in the case of cross country/distance) sports with lots of burn out. Injuries as well. Once you are in the school, though, they don't kick you out if you can't continue athletically.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private HS
Rowing recruit HYP
3.7 GPA
1500 SAT

Awesome! You should be proud! Your child will have a life changing experience through hard work. All those early cold mornings on the river, and the long winters on the erg staring at the wall have paid off! It's amazing what these kids accomplish. Hours of grueling physical training, followed by hours of homework.

It's like working a roofing job, and the going home and dominating at school work. It's clear to see why these kids continue to be desirable in the job market.

Crew has one of the highest quit rates of any college sport (and as a result a lot of walk ons as well).

Anonymous wrote:Private HS
Rowing recruit HYP
3.7 GPA
1500 SAT

Awesome! You should be proud! Your child will have a life changing experience through hard work. All those early cold mornings on the river, and the long winters on the erg staring at the wall have paid off! It's amazing what these kids accomplish. Hours of grueling physical training, followed by hours of homework.

It's like working a roofing job, and the going home and dominating at school work. It's clear to see why these kids continue to be desirable in the job market.

Private HS
Rowing recruit HYP
3.7 GPA
1500 SAT

Anonymous wrote:Not an Ivy, but we know two committed women recruits at UCLA and UCB who’ve been told they only need to maintain a 3.0gpa through junior and senior year.

Morale of the story - spend more time practicing, less time studying.

Power 4 schools care only about meeting NCAA minimums. You think Duke cares about their basketball players scoring 1000, when the best only stay for 1 year?

Anonymous wrote:Not an Ivy, but we know two committed women recruits at UCLA and UCB who’ve been told they only need to maintain a 3.0gpa through junior and senior year.

Morale of the story - spend more time practicing, less time studying.

Sure, if you are a complete athletic phenom who is at least fairly academically focused and have parents who know enough to value top academic schools. There are fewer of those kids than you might think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 recruits for the same team at the same school will have different results based on where they fall on the recruiting scale. The #1 recruit can look quite different than the last recruit.

Obviously, revenue sport recruits in basketball and football also will look much different than a track recruit.

.

Football and basketball are also often more likely to have kids who are also hooked in other ways than the non-revenue sports. For example, also FGLI and URM.

Football is also unique in that occasionally you can get a viable multi sport recruit, like football plus track (sprints or throwing).

True…but even Ivy schools know the only sports that attract any student fan interest and continued general alumni interest are football and basketball..so they care more about winning in those sports.

Basketball actually isn’t that big at Ivies (NIL is huge for basketball) but depending on school, lacrosse and hockey are.

At Penn and Princeton basketball is big.

In my DC's sports circle, academic requirements for Ivy schools like Columbia were much lower than some D3 schools like Johns Hopkins. Like SATs in the 1300s were fine for Columbia but 1450+ were recommended at Johns Hopkins. One HYP's coach told my DC to stop spending more time on studying but to spend more time on the sport. My DC's stats were 3.9 and 1500+. Another athlete with better athletic stats but lower academic stats got the offer over my DC. Which is fine and suggests you need a good strategy for Ivy sports recruiting. We didn't, it turns out although my DC is likely to end up at a good school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 recruits for the same team at the same school will have different results based on where they fall on the recruiting scale. The #1 recruit can look quite different than the last recruit.

Obviously, revenue sport recruits in basketball and football also will look much different than a track recruit.

.

Football and basketball are also often more likely to have kids who are also hooked in other ways than the non-revenue sports. For example, also FGLI and URM.

Football is also unique in that occasionally you can get a viable multi sport recruit, like football plus track (sprints or throwing).

True…but even Ivy schools know the only sports that attract any student fan interest and continued general alumni interest are football and basketball..so they care more about winning in those sports.

Basketball actually isn’t that big at Ivies (NIL is huge for basketball) but depending on school, lacrosse and hockey are.

From a student fan perspective it’s football and basketball. Maybe at a school like Cornell the students watch hockey but not at many others. Almost no students are watching lax games or any other sports.

None of the games are that well attended these days, so it’s all relative. The Harvard Yale football game will get a crowd, but that’s about it.

When Jeremy Lin was there, basketball games were packed

Tw decades ago?