hello, i am an international student who is planning to apply for amherst in ED this year.
i am curious about how much it is opened for non-recruited students in amherst to participate in varsity teams.
athletics is one of the factors that i have considered for my application since i have been playing in my school’s varsity soccer team for the past 5 years, and i do want to continue this activity when i go to college. so i wanna know how easy it is for students (especially non-recruited) in amherst to participate in varsity athletics.
for large universities like typical ivies, i’ve heard that most varsity athletes are recruited students who are chosen in a separate admission process, and i’m not sure if those recruited ones also take big role in athletics of a small school like amherst. i did read in another thread that amherst does recruit few athletes, but i want to know if any non-recruited students are also easily able to join varsity teams. (according to online information, it does say that 32% of the entire student population in amherst participates in varsity athletics, which is not a small number for non-recruited students)
furthermore, i wonder whether international students in amherst actively participate in varsity teams or athletics.
i hope some amherst students can give me some information. thanks
Amherst is a NCAA Div. lll school so is not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. As a result, the “recruitment” process is different than it would be for a Div. l school, which can recruit with athletic money. For Div. lll schools, the process usually starts much later than for Div. l so you are actually still OK from a time stand point. At this point, you should definitely be filling out the athletic recruitment page for Amherst (go to their athletic site and then to the “Prospective Students” page). Follow up with an e-mail to the head coach and all of the assistant coaches. You should include your academic stats, your soccer history (teams, awards, tournament wins, etc.) If at all possible send a link to a highlight video showing your skills and actual play. Keep following up with e-mails. It wouldn’t hurt to call the coach at some point to see where they stand with their team for 2016/17. Once their roster for this year is posted, check it out to see how many will be graduating at the end of the year and what positions they will be losing. While Div. lll can’t recruit with scholarships, sometimes coaches might be able to give a little bit of a push to admissions if they really want a particular player- it all depends on the school. You might try re-posting this on the “Athletic Recruits” forum - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/ - for more responses. YOu might get someone who is more familiar with Amherst specifically.
Yeah, I agree with the comment above that if you plan to play at Amherst you should definitely be proactive now in contacting the coach and demonstrating your skills. From what I’ve seen, pretty much all the teams have their rosters finalized before the school year begins. Some teams may take one or two walk-ons (people who were not recruited before coming to Amherst and join the team later), but these seem pretty few and far between. Definitely do not think that you can just show up to practice when you arrive on campus and easily join the team. If you’re serious about playing, you should start the process as soon as possible.
My daughter was not recruited but emailed the coach to tell him that she submitted an application and if admitted would like to play. After she was admitted, she emailed him again to ask how to walk on the team. He was very nice and immediately put her on the team group emails and sent her a suggested summer training plan.