<p>“C” fencers can and do get recruited. How are her grades and test scores, and what are some of the colleges that interest her?</p>
<p>Hi sherpa/all CC-fencing parents,</p>
<p>Thank you again for being such an invaluable resource here in CC for us fencing folk. Since Niecey50 has gracefully revived this thread, I feel it’s a good time to describe my kid’s situation, even though it may be a bit early.</p>
<p>Fencing info (right now): Sophomore in MF, about 30-ish on the CMF points list, not an A yet but regularly beats majority of B’s and most C’s he faces. </p>
<p>Fencing info (next year): By the end of JO’s next year, the honest expectation is he’ll be at least about 20-ish in CMF (like he was in Y14 last year). Also hopefully now an A and somewhere in the upper half of the JMF list too, but of course no guarantees there.</p>
<p>Academic Info (right now): 3.5-ish GPA because of some adjustment issues freshman year, but grades look to be steadily improving. Fairly rigorous course load. No SAT’s yet.</p>
<p>Academic Info (next year): Hopefully GPA now solidly above 3.5, with a couple of AP’s. With some tutoring and a couple of tries, I do think a superscored 2100+ on the SAT is doable.</p>
<p>So a few starting questions:</p>
<p>1) Even assuming the above happens next year, is there still a chance for HYPS (including Penn)? Or should we just focus more on others like Brown, Duke, Brandeis, JHU, etc.? Yes, I realize those are great colleges too, and may actually be a better fit. How about OSU/PSU/ND? Academically, he’s a good fit for those, but then they only seem to get people on the Olympic team, lol.</p>
<p>2) How soon should we start emailing college coaches? Since he doesn’t have any SAT scores yet, I was feeling it was too early and should wait till after he takes it in the fall. But would emailing them pique their interest into evaluating him at the Summer Nationals?</p>
<p>3) He’ll be taking his first SAT in the fall. Is it a good idea to take the ACT at the same time, too?</p>
<p>Thanks again for all your help!</p>
<p>Foilist-</p>
<p>HYPS always seem to find enough fencers who have it all: Strong national ranking, great scores, and great GPA. Penn, Brown, Duke, Brandeis, and JHU are also unlikely with a 3.5. ND probably belongs in that category too.</p>
<p>As a point of reference, a fencer we know who was in the middle of the points list and had about a 3.8 was rejected by Duke this year, and will be going to UCSD.</p>
<p>PSU and OSU without scholarship money are realistic.</p>
<p>I’d start emailing coaches beginning late fall/winter next year (as next year’s recruiting is winding down), with an eye on them taking a look at him at next season’s NACs, JOs, and SNs.</p>
<p>I agree that fall of junior year is a good time to start standardized testing. I’d advise both ACT and SAT.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest assessment, sherpa. I kinda figured it that it will be an uphill battle the next two years, but I do feel there is still a little time during junior year to at least have a shot at the “reaches.” I guess we better set the goal of Top 15 CMF and Top 30 JMF then, for the “reaches” to have a shot.</p>
<p>I actually would be happy if he ended up in UCSD, but of course you gotta give HYPS and its ilk the old college try. How about UNC, BC, Haverford and Lafayette…still possible?</p>
<p>UNC and Haverford might be a stretch. BC and Lafayette are good targets.</p>
<p>Good luck to him!</p>
<p>Thank Sherpa for replying. My D has a GPA of 3.6 honors and AP classes. She is schedule to take both the SAT and the ACT this month. She is a junior and has qualifed for the Summer Nationals in Div 1 and 2. We have visited some colleges and spoke to some coaches. The visit were Princeton, Columbia, Stevens, Penn State, UPenn, Temple, FDU and NJIT. We still are looking to visit Duke, NCCH, Lafayette and Ohio. She likes Temple.</p>
<p>We are not sure what our next steps are. I know Coaches will be at the Nationals and can talk to Junior possible recruits. Should we email coaches and ask for a meeting or what?</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments</p>
<p>You’re going about things correctly. Keep doing what you’re doing. Emailing to set meetings is fine, but I’ve found most coaches to be approachable w/o appointments. If you email, be sure to include a one page academic/athletic resume. Wherther you have appointments or not, it’s good to bring the resume when you meet coaches at SN. Even if you’ve emailed one already, putting a paper copy in front of them won’t hurt.</p>
<p>Thanks again, sherpa, for all the advice. How about NYU? Do you know if fencing helps with admissions over there?</p>
<p>^ I believe it does. NYU always seems to have glossy recruiting brochures at JOs and SNs and as I recall they sent recruitment letters to both my kids.</p>
<p>They’re not very generous with financial aid, though.</p>
<p>We have completed the recruiters forms for the colleges that my D is interested in. As mentioned before she has qualified for events at SN. How far in advance should she send out her Fencing Profile resume. Should we send now or closer to SN. </p>
<p>Also do you think going to a pre summer national camp is worth it or just training with her regular coach. I see that some colleges and well know coaches are offering pre SN camps but I am not sure if they are worth it.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your tips.</p>
<p>
I see no reason to wait.</p>
<p>
That depends on a lot of variables. Right before Nationals isn’t a good time to be introduced to new concepts by an unfamiliar coach. On the other hand, fencing new people might be a benefit. Unless there’s a compelling reason, I’d stick with her regular coach.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>To: Sherpa and Schoolhouse. Thank you so much for the advice. This is all new to us and this forum really has provided a lot of help.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And so…after the Summer Nationals in Columbus, I figured an update is in order.</p>
<p>First, thanks to schoolhouse for his company and camaraderie during the day we met at the SN. It was great to meet you, and hear all your great advice and stories. Congrats to your D getting Junior points!</p>
<p>This was a good SN for the kid, as he won Div 2 MF! He’d already been beating majority of the B’s he faced nationally the past year even if he was technically a C, but still it was worth the wait to get the most “bang for the buck” getting his B rating. And he did it all on his own without his coach (who was still in travelling that day), and in wire-to-wire fashion (first out of the pools). All in all, a quality win on the fencing resume with a video gets promoted by the USFA itself.</p>
<p>Next, to get the A rating and some Top 32 Junior and Senior points. The DE match-ups didn’t quite work out for him in the Junior and Cadet NAC’s at this SN, but I do feel confident that the next few NAC’s will bring a little better luck.</p>
<p>Hoping to get advice from sherpa and all ye other CC fencing gurus:</p>
<p>As a rising junior, he’s still prepping for the SAT on Oct/Nov this year so no SAT results yet. But do you think we should email a few college coaches, while the win (and the USFA final video posted on FB) is still fresh on people’s minds? I’m thinking it might be a good idea, even if it seems a little early.</p>
<p>Some people have recommended attending a fencing camp or two for coaches to get to know him. True or not? If true, what would be a good camp to attend? I’m really still hoping that with some good placings in the Cadet/Junior/Div 1 tourneys, we won’t need to do any camps. We’ve got enough to do this year as it is. If we do consider, though, are there winter fencing camps, or are just there just summer camps nowadays?</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son! In my opinion, a SN D2 Gold is the best B there is.
YES!
I’d advise he only go to camps with the idea of improving his fencing, not to try to get on coaches’ radars. The best foil camps I know of are MTeam’s in San Francisco, if Greg is still doing those.</p>
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<p>Thanks for the encouragement, sherpa!</p>
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<p>Thanks for the advice again. Being in the West Coast, a camp in the East Coast is tempting just to get a taste of the “dorm-room living” experience. But if it’s not gonna be an exclusively high-level camp, I feel he might be bored, at least fencing-wise. Socially, it might be good but I’m unsure this would be worth the $1K or so I’d have to spend.</p>
<p>My D will be a sophomore this year at an intense IB HS. She is an excellent student (4.3 gpa) and has set her sights on an IVY. At SN she qualified to compete internationally in CWS. I would love for her to have that experience, but she already misses school to travel to NAC’s. How highly should we prioritze getting Group II points when she still has a couple of years before serious recruiting starts?</p>
<p>^ This question came up recently with a friend whose kid is #1 or 2 on the points list but for whom international travel costs would be too much of a stretch. They’ve concluded that if their kid shines in all the domestic events but misses the national team due to no international points, then they’ll just have to wait and see how college coaches react.</p>
<p>I doubt it will hurt recruiting options at all.</p>
<p>Having faced this same choice with my daughter last year – I’m not sure I agree, because international events give so many more points if you do well. My daughter shot up 10 places on the cadet list after she joined the cadet world cup circuit! She also became a much stronger fencer because she wasn’t just fencing the same few dozen girls.</p>
<p>I would suggest trying to find money for one trip abroad, and see if it seems worth it. I was able to make up the cost of that first trip by sending my daughter without a parent to all NACs and sharing rooms with other fencers – not an unreasonable arrangement for a 15-16 year old in these days of wifi and smart phones, especially if an adult (another parent or coach) is willing to keep tabs on her evening plans. </p>
<p>It may be that we would have heard from the coaches we did no matter what, but I think that fencing for the US made a big difference in her prominence.</p>
<p>Hi everyone.
I am trying to figure out this time frame when fencing recruits will begin to hear from the recruiting coaches after the pre-readings with the admission offices?
Is is August or September?
Any input appreciated :)</p>
<p>Hi Sherpa</p>
<p>Very nice thread. Thanks. </p>
<p>My son is a C rated fencer at DC Fencer’s club. He came in around 30 something in this year’s JO’s and has won a few local tournaments. He had a concussion is May so he missed Nationals. However, his cohorts at DCFC ruled (2 2nds and a first). So he has great coaching and good kids to work out with. </p>
<p>He goes to a small private school (not only is there no school team, but he is the only fencer in the school). He started a fencing club at the school, which is aimed at the junior high kids.</p>
<p>He has a 4.0 GPA and SAT of 2070. He plans to take SAT II’s shortly.</p>
<p>My question is that he likes Div 3 schools, and coaches have so far given him positive feedback. What are your views about his chances, particularly at NYU and Haverford. Thanks!</p>