<p>I'm going to be a junior soon and am trying to get recruited for Harvard's xc/track team. I know that if you're recruited, it helps with admissions a great deal. My question is does it work the other way as well? If I have the credentials of a regular Harvard applicant (say 2250-2300/750+ on 3 SAT II's/around 1-3/200 rank), will it make me a more attractive candidate for recruitement even if my athletics are close to the cut, but aren't stellar? BTW, my goals for senior year are around 4:29, 9:59, and 16:29, for the 1600, 3200, and 5000, respectively. Assuming I meet my goals, how do my chances look for recruitement?</p>
<p>Numbers for Ivy track/XC should be available online. Google (or Byerly, or Sunglasses) should help you out.</p>
<p>As for getting help, even if you aren't quite "recruitable," my general hunch is that if you'd be a quality walk on, ask the Track/XC coach to send an email or make a call to his/her contact in the admissions office. The coaches are limited in the number of actual recruits they can have, but they should be able to make a gentler recommendation for other applicants.</p>
<p>Ye i've already heard about that....Saretsky is his name I think. Well, I plan filling out the recruitement form after junior year. Is that enough, or should i personally e-mail him as well?</p>
<p>Running fast your junior year is key. As a runner with similar prs (2:00, 4:27, 9:51, and 16:00), I am not quite at the top of Ivy coaches' recruiting lists. The Princeton coach told me that they are looking for kids with both excellent track times and grades (Princeton's quite a bit better than Harvard at running though)</p>
<p>However, coaches need to see that you are interested in their school. Applying early shows this commitment, and coaches are more likely to take a decent runner to walk-on if they apply early.</p>
<p>I too am just beginning the recruitment train, with invitations for visits this fall. This process is just as hard for coaches as it is for students.</p>
<p>How can you possibly tell where you fall in a coach's list of recruits at a top tier school, given the state of admissions these days? EA/ED definitely helps your chances by proving your willingness to commit to a coach, but not in a vaccuum of information about where you stand on a coach's prioritization list. What if you are fifth to tenth on his list? HYP admissions directors just aren't going to "give" a coach a dozen recruits. </p>
<p>From what we have seen, these coaches have to strategize too. IE, If a recruit has top of the charts grades, character, energy/breadth of activities and scores, they appear to move up the coach's list above more talented but average/below average admissions candidates. Coaches need to reduce uncertainty too. So it appears that you need to analyzing your chances as a recruit within a subjective 3-d matrix....athletic desirability to the school vs quality of your candidacy among the total pool of candidates vs competitiveness of admissions at that school. A coach that loves you is great, but not the holy grail. Stellar grades, scores, etc and some talent may be more desirable to him because you have better odds of making the cut in admissions. We have seen it at our school. Unheralded jocks getting the nod from great schools and coaches....
Without a degree in Stats or Operations management, specializing in queing theory, we just have to go with our gut. Get mentally prepared for a bumpy ride.</p>
<p>I am not entirely sure about the Ivies, but I know with the NESCAC LACs (Trinity, Middlebury, Bowdoin etc). Coaches are given a certain # of "tips"
For example, a baseball coach may have 2 tips per year. He will use them with admissions to try to get students admitted that might not have the typical average academic credentials as the average applicant/acceptee.
A tip is not a sure thing in terms of admissions, but I do know athletes that get into these schools with GPAs of 2.7-3.0 (now they need honors and AP classes) with SATs just above 1200 (old scale). </p>
<p>As I understand it, the Ivies use the AI for this purpose as well.
As you know, even for students with stellar credentials, Ivies are reach schools, so you should have a converstation with the coach of your sport as to whether or not he will support your application with admisssions. If he will support your admission, then he may ask you to apply early. If he cannot committ to this support, then you will be thrown in with the rest of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>I know nothing about running, but I believe in general coaches are looking for potential impact on the team. There are lots of highly qualified students. So that really counts for little. If you are above the recruiting floor- you are, and would help the team stay within its desired academic range- again I think you qualify, then the coaches interest will be purely on fast you run and how determined you are to keep it up in college. If you are not good enough to have an impact on the team (remember I express no opinion on this) then the coach may tell you "harvard is a great place, and you would enjoy it here, but you won't make the team". If you are seen as an impact performer, then they will recruit you, as long as your academics are good enough, which they are.</p>
<p>EDIT: Then again, if the new coach applies the same coaching strategies at Harvard that was applied at Iona, then the team'll be filled with a bunch of East Africans in no time, so good luck with that one.</p>
<p>The new coach would not be able to adopt the same coaching strategies. Ivy League rules state that athletic recruits cannot fall below a certain AI (Academic Index), depending on the AI of the overall applicant pool. Harvard is especially rigorous in its AI determiniation (some other Ivies include that A in Gym or Basketweaving 101 in order to boost the AI). All athletes I've met so far here actually did fantastic in high school (top 10% of their class, high 600 and 700s SAT scores, etc) and are dedicated to their sport as much as they're dedicated to their classes.</p>
<p>The coach can't just recruit a "bunch of East Africans" and expect them to be admitted automatically like what would happen at Iona and other non Ivy League colleges. They still have to be admitted through the normal admissions process. Yes, relatively speaking, athletes have an easier time getting in - but it's not a surefire acceptance.</p>