<p>I've recently received a number of PMs from rising HS seniors about fencing recruiting, so I thought it would be a good time to start a fresh fencing thread. I'm happy to try to answer any questions regarding fencing recruiting, whether at the Ivies, other D1s, or anywhere. I'd prefer that we try to keep everything public on the thread, but I'm also willing to answer more delicate questions privately through PM. Good luck to all.</p>
<p>En Garde, Pret, Allez!</p>
<p>I know he is very very young, but I have a S who is entering the 8th grade and has done well (he is has a Nov birthday so he is always fighting older kids but the coach at Ohio State camp LOVES him…) as a sabre fencing. He loves sabre but has been toying around with also learning foil, both to improve his sabre point skills, and because at camp he found he enjoys foil a great deal. His salle only does sabre so he would have to attend two different salles (and as you would expect his home coach doesn’t want to “lose” him). He thinks he will be more valuable to teams (high school and beyond) if he is a multiple weapon fencer–and he asked me what I think-- I am NOT a fencer, so I am turning to you for your thoughts. My instinct is that other than using foil as a way to improve sabre that he will be dissipating his energies if he tries two weapons.</p>
<p>First, it’s good that he recognizes the value of point work in sabre. This is too often neglected so for that reason if nothing else I think a little foil work could be helpful. The two club conflict is a tough one and there’s no easy solution.</p>
<p>I’m not sure whether two weapon expertise aids in recruiting, but I have seen many instances where an athlete has been utilized in his/her secondary weapon to the team’s benefit. A few years ago Columbia’s MF squad was a mess and they had to have the other squads cover them, and last year an Ivy foilist saved the day for the epee squad a few times.</p>
<p>One last comment - for whatever reason, of the three weapons, coaches seem to have the toughest time getting their sabreurs through admissions. Academic superstar sabre fencers seem to be fairly rare.</p>
<p>High School Seniors,</p>
<p>where were you? SN just ended today and from what I saw Northwestern, Sacred Heart, Temple, Notre Dame, Brandeis, OSU, UC San Diego, Stanford, Princeton, Penn State, Johns Hopkins all had their recruiting hats on…oh yeah I forgot UPenn,shame on you for saying that my dear friends daughter with excellent grades/scores that she was not his #1 or #2 recruit--------------because she wasn’t from the Birmingham Fencing Club.</p>
<p>Hi there - </p>
<p>My son is about to enter his senior year, his fourth fencing sabre. He is the captain of of the boy’s sabre team, though he is not ranked and has not participated in tournaments outside of the ones the school participates in. He has high grades, 4.0 weighted GPA, is in the top 10 in his class of ~300, is in an advanced magnet program for math & science, and has a 2060 SAT (1410 math + reading). </p>
<p>He is very interested in fencing in college, though academics come first, and many of the schools that have the major he wants along with merit scholarships offer only fencing clubs. However, he is strongly considering applying to Johns Hopkins & Brandeis, which do have fencing teams. Stevens may also be a possibility. </p>
<p>How competitive are these schools in terms of recruiting fencers? Is it worth it for him to reach out to the coaches at these schools and fill out the athletic recruiting surveys? What is the likelihood he would be recruited or even make these teams without participating in more tournaments? Any other insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>High school fencing programs vary greatly in their quality, so top level recruitment without any outside confirmation of your son’s ability is unlikely. By top level, I mean Ivies, Notre Dame, PSU, OSU, stanford, etc.</p>
<p>Interest from schools such as Stevens, JHU, and Brandeis is much more likely. I’d recommend filling out the online forms and calling or emailing the coaches. I don’t know any of those coaches, so I can only speculate, but my guess is that they would be happy to offer support to an academically qualified enthusiastic sabreur.</p>
<p>Another CC parent has a fencer at JHU. I’ll ask her to weigh in.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>I was summoned by the CC fencing master :D.</p>
<p>I would say pretty unlikely to be recruited by JHU with a caveat:</p>
<p>2 of 4 sabreurists(sp?) from last years team are graduating in the spring. I did hear that there is a good sized recruited class coming in, but don’t know distribution amongst weapons. The coach has been very aggressive in recruiting the last couple of years, so I think it likely that he has at least a couple of sabre fencers in there but won’t know until they show up to fence (sometimes they can show up at the school but not to fence). I think he’s working on ratcheting things up so I think highly unlikely to recruit an unrated fencer. Most, if not all, of the current team members are rated A/B/C. </p>
<p>As far as being on the team without being recruited, I know they didn’t take walk-ons last couple of years. However, being in touch with the coach may help in that regard.</p>
<p>Having said that, the only downside to contacting the coach (email as well as online form) would be that he doesn’t answer. It’s possible that the coach may put in a good word for your son without ‘recruiting’ him (the ‘tip’ equivalent) if he finds himself in need of sabre fencers.</p>
<p>Check out the team rosters at the various schools your son is interested in. You can check the kids ratings on AskFred and that will give you some idea about where the various teams are.</p>
<p>PM (private message since you appear to be new) me know if you have any more questions I can answer re JHU fencing.</p>
<p>Thank you both very much. I had read a bunch of the previous posts and did check into the sabres on JHU from last year. One of last year’s freshman was a familiar name from Voorhees H.S. grad, who my son’s squad fenced (and … lost to). NJ seems to be a popular source for JHU fencers. We visited Lafayette this Spring and met a few of the fencers - a lot of walk-ons there and not uber-competitive. They seem to love the coach and the program.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Also FYI, JHU has very few merit scholarships and they are very difficult to get.</p>
<p>The coach at JHU used to run Clinton Fencing in NJ so seems to have a lot of connections there. If your son’s coach knows JHU coach, ask him to give the coach a call and vouch for him. It’s a friendly team and not too intense.</p>
<p>I am glad DS is in a school with a team rather than a club. All the equipment (except shoes/gloves) is provided, all travel expenses paid, laundry done, and the profs don’t seem to mind helping out over (relatively few) missed classes.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize JHU was getting as competitive as they are. Hopefully they’ll have some good NCAA results soon. :)</p>
<p>Whether you’re at the top of the points list, a relative beginner, or anywhere in between, my advice is the same.</p>
<p>Don’t wait for colleges to recruit you. Be in charge of your own recruiting.</p>
<p>A few coaches follow the national circuit closely and watch all the up and coming kids at national events; some are lazy; some dont actively recruit at all. Youll never know where you might fit until you have the conversation, and more often than not there wont be a conversation unless YOU initiate it.</p>
<p>There can also be a lot of variability from year to year. Every college has their own institutional priorities and policies that the coaches are constrained by, every coach has their own approach to recruiting, and a program’s recent results can affect recruiting in expected or unexpected ways. A change in coaching will typically cause huge changes in recruiting.</p>
<p>Don’t wait for the phone to ring. Be proactive!</p>
<p>One more question because I keep receiving late-breaking news. My son will be participating in a couple of tournaments over the next 2-3 weeks. Should he hold off filling out the surveys until he’s competed and sees his rank?</p>
<p>^^ It’s fine to wait a couple of weeks. We did not make some initial contacts until sometime in the fall. </p>
<p>BTW, it’s ‘ratings’ not ‘rankings’ and he has to earn them by placing well in a USFA sanctioned tournament. Only the top few earn a rating. It’s complicated…</p>
<p>Great threat! What about internationals? We live in UK. My son, high school freshman, been fencing since age 9 (foil). Highest national (UK) ranking was 12th – juniors. He is currently top 25 cadets and has a program with his coach to qualify top 25 seniors within the next two years. Good academics. Wants to apply to Ivies, Stanford and some small liberal arts colleges. What is his best strategy?
Will his heavy fencing background work against him at schools with no fencing program?</p>
<p>‘Thread’ not ‘Threat’. :)</p>
<p>Sherpa, is right on being in the drivers seat.</p>
<p>What you find out is that fencing coaches know the talent and yes they have their favorites, but at the same time they expect you to seek them out and make your case. Having grades/scores is a big help, but the reality is most programs don’t really have money from the athletic budget to fund you…(which is why grades/scores-mean something). We just came off the recruit trail last year and at the end of the day we went with the current NCAA champion OSU, over the 2011 champion Notre Dame it was a difficult choice, but it boiled down to money and the school depth of programs/academic reputation and OSU offered that. Go Bucks!!</p>
<p>
It’s speculative how UK rankings comprare with US rankings and it’s unlikely that the US college coaches will ever see him compete. It would probably be very helpful if he does well in a few European FIE Junior events. An international ranking should garner a lot of attention. I’d email the the coaches explaining the situation and asking their advice. I won’t name names here, but there are at least a few coaches at top schools that would probably offer support just based on the facts you’ve presented.
I’ve often wondered this. Most importantly, in my opinion, dedication to and success in a sport is a strong positive which should help an applicant at any school, and should explain away lesser participation in other ECs.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a school that is overly concerned about its yield might reject such an applicant out of fear that he’ll choose a school with his sport.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Sherpa, that’s great! Thank you for the advice.</p>
<p>Not true about saber fencers. You are partial to Princeton that is why you say that.</p>
<p>Please elaborate.</p>