<p>I have read many of the Academic Index forum posts and still have some questions.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Does the league publish the minimum AI by sport? I gather 171 is the overall minimum but is it higher for one sport over another? </p></li>
<li><p>Use of GPA or Class Rank: Can the student, school or coach choose which to use? </p></li>
<li><p>Use of SAT Subject Tests: Seems that two are used. Is it ok if the two are in the same subject area (ie.US History & World History when the student wants to be a History major) or are they looking for a broader view of the student?</p></li>
<li><p>Is the coach able to make adjustments to the AI for items such as rigor of course work, other activities, legacy status etc....</p></li>
</ul>
<p>-Is it appropriate to discuss the Academic Index with a coach? Will the coach/school tell you what AI number they have calculated for you? Is it the coach or admissions who calculates the AI?</p>
<ul>
<li>Is the AI calculator on this site a reliable starting point for figuring out the AI? I did it for my son and liked the number so I hope it is a good starting point!</li>
</ul>
<p>You are extremely wise in researching and understanding the AI. It is crucial and key to the Ivy recruiting process. Please understand the coach will be doing an initial AI calc to determine if your son is a candidate in his pool of recruits. If the coach determines that he really wants your son, he will recommend you to Admissions where they’ll be doing their AI calc in a more formal process called a pre-read. This admissions pre-read feedback tells the coach if your son is likely to be admitted or not likely to be admitted. The pre-read is a major milestone in the Ivy recruiting process.</p>
<p>As Stemit suggested in his post (Baseball Recruiting - So Many Questions), it is also extremely important to understand where your son fits athletically with an Ivy coach, as well as within college baseball recruiting in general. I think Stemit used the phrase “brutally honest”, and I totally agree 100% with his analysis and comments. The baseball coach is the gatekeeper & recommender. First and foremost, the coach has to want your son on his team. Once that has been established, the final decision lies with Admissions to make a final decision where AI is a big factor. </p>
<p>If you understand these two points of the Ivy recruiting process, you’re off to a good start.</p>
<p>Fenwaysouth is right - the coach has to fall in love with you first.</p>
<p>Once he is satisfied that your son admittable with his initial rough cut AI assessment, the key task is getting him to the point where he agrees to sponsor your son to the admissions committee for admission and a likely letter. This is a key agreement - he is going to use a tip for your son. There are hundreds of soft-talk phrases of admiration and weasel words that make it sound like you are track - “I really like your game”, “I can see you as an important part of our program,” etc. These are all designed to keep your son in the recruiting funnel while the coach makes his decision or waits for responses from other recruits that may be higher in the pecking order.</p>
<p>The key agreement is the specific offer of support for a likely letter. Then, unless your son’s credentials during the pre read were borderline, you are most of the way there. </p>
<p>Much has been posted on the site on the Academic Index. Use the search function to get past postings. After much reading, I have come to the conclusion that while there is formula, many of the variables offer flexibility. The 171 floor is real. GPA yields a better result than class rank, but your school cannot offer class rank for GPA to be used. At some schools, SATIIs can help you, but not hurt you. If they hurt you, the school will step back and use GPA or Class Rank, SATI CR and SATI M (per a Penn asst coach). Coming from a recognized, difficult high school can get you bump (one poster referenced 5 points).</p>
<p>What all of this has convinced me is that the exact formula that we all yearn for is a highly subjective process. When you get closer to the couple of institutions that your son is interested in, have a discussion with the coach and ask him to explain their policies. He will only be specific in response to direct, specific questions, but very few folks on this board have ever referenced a coach being less than honest. They are just trying to get their recruiting done in a difficult environment.</p>
<p>I would high recommend Varska’s Essential Guide to Ivy League Athletic Recruiting on Amazon. It consolidates much of what has been shared here over the past several years and gives a great in depth, personal account of his childs recruiting process.</p>
<p>There are a lot of different models to calculate the AI out there. They seem to differ to some degree by the school looking at them or the consultant giving the advice.</p>
<p>The link below from a consulting firm in Boston shows the 1/3 of the AI being proportioned down from 2400 SAT 1 score to a possible 80 points, the other 2/3 coming from the SAT IIs and the CRS.</p>
<p>The next model from a counseling office at a private school in New Jersey shows only the Critical Reading and Math sections being used to calculate 1/3 of the AI.</p>
<p>The reality is is that at each level (the coaching staff, the admissions office, and Ivy League annual meeting where each school shares its athlete admissions records with the other schools), the AI has be justified and defended. Depending on how much they want the athlete, they will be more flexible or use different interpretations to get to the AI score they need. Again, this differs by school and sport. A basketball player at Penn will probably be looked at differently than a golf athlete at Columbia. Each school has its own priorities.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. There is nothing clear about it. Ask the coach involved for the particular schools policies.</p>
<p>I think I am correct in determining that most posters in this thread are parents. My parents are not as involved in the process, but would be willing to help when needed/beneficial/welcomed. Which is probably wise at some key points as I am their oldest kid , we have never gone thru this porcess and so far I only get my info about athletic recruiting thru CC and great books like Varskas.</p>
<p>That said, when you all say things like "When you get closer to the couple of institutions that your son is interested in, have a discussion with the coach and ask him to explain their policies " are you suggesting that the parents here do that themselves … or the parents, student and coach all together?</p>
<p>It Depends on your circumstances. Certainly the coaches want to see a well adjusted kid who will be able to independently cope with the ups and downs of college life and academics. On the other hand, we live overseas and my son had no guidance whatsoever from others as to the dance. His coach here was obviously clueless. My son was also not used to communicating on a serious level with adults in english. I attended every meeting on campus but faded more into the background on later visits. Also, we had additional issues on follow up. How to keep in contact. I arranged the first skype recruiting calls for some schools. Our son was pleased to hear our thoughts about the coaches and we wanted to be involved. But in the end he of course pulled the trigger for the school he wanted.
Our involvement did not harm our soon as three ivues offered to give him likely letters if he declared his intentions to them.</p>
<p>Do some kids handle it alone? Absolutely.</p>
<p>Neither course is right as an absolute rule. It depends on your circumstances.</p>
<p>Tallgirl said…"That said, when you all say things like “When you get closer to the couple of institutions that your son is interested in, have a discussion with the coach and ask him to explain their policies " are you suggesting that the parents here do that themselves … or the parents, student and coach all together?”</p>
<p>Tallgirl,</p>
<p>At a minimum, you (the recruit) should be communicating directly with the coach or his/her staff. My wife and I showed my son how to initiate conversations (email + phone calls) with coaches, and then he took it from there. Yes, it is an adjustment and you will feel uncomfortable at first. You will get over, trust me. My son is very introverted, but he got through this with no problems. You will too. </p>
<p>As you get farther down the recruiting path, and discussions get much more serious with a college (financial, social & academic implications) then I think you’ll want to involve your parents either via phone, skype or face to face with the coach as part of an unofficial or official visit. This is just my two cents, and I’m sure others did things differently. </p>
<p>If you need more parental involvement don’t be shy in asking for it. My son knew when to ask for help, and we were glad to help & guide him. This recruiting process is detailed, complex, and frankly nerve racking. Most high school kids can’t do it all themselves. If you need answers from a recruiting coach, (again) don’t be shy. This is your “show” and you need to be the one driving this and taking the lead. Typical resources are parents, guidance councelors, older siblings, aunts & uncles, CC and other sport specific message boards.</p>
<p>As a parent, I feel that my son learned a very valuable life lesson in how to go get something he wants. He is using these same communication skills in applying for summer engineering internships as a freshmen. There is no doubt in my mind he will know what to do when it comes time to look for his first career job.</p>
<p>Please let me know if that doesn’t answer your question. Good luck.</p>
<p>My daughter is a State level Field Hockey athlete who was interested in going to an IVY. She had an OK weighted GPA 3.5 The deal with IVY’s and their AI is they weight the test scores (SAT/ACT) double the GPA. Sort of makes sense. A 3.5 at her school is equal to a 4.5 at some schools in our same city. </p>
<p>We ending up going with the ACT for a number of reasons. First off my D did terrible on her first SAT test and the likelihood of improving enough for IVY requirements were slim. I had read up on the ACT and found that it was considered a test students could study for, more so than the SAT. </p>
<p>Secondly, some IVY’s and highly competitive schools accept the ACT alone, so no need to take SAT II’s at all for those schools. </p>
<p>So last summer, we had ACT boot camp for eight weeks. I had three tutors meet with my D weekly (2 math, 1 english/essay). I hired them off of Craigslist and found terrific people at reasonable prices. (prep classes are better than nothing, though can’t compare to one-on-one tutoring)</p>
<p>When the ACT September test came around she was primed and ending up with a score in
the 91% (28). This was the equivalent of a 400 point increase from her SAT score.</p>
<p>Total cost was about $1,000. </p>
<p>This brought her AI up to over 190, good enough for IVY’s and their one or two standard deviations from the mean. </p>
<p>The 171 AI is the absolute minimum for IVYs and rarely is a factor, you have to be higher
than that with few exceptions. </p>
<p>In the end my D didn’t go IVY, but had the opportunity because of the effort. The approach worked for us, so maybe it will for others. Good Luck!</p>