Any experienced athletes that want to give advice?

Athletic Recruits
1

<p>Hi, I am a junior in HS and have been in track team for 3 years now.
And my personal best for:</p>

<p>shot put is 47
discus 127</p>

<p>sat 1: 1940(1st try) will be taken in may and june and so on...
AP: 4 Bio
4 Microeco
(note: my school does not offer any AP classes. So I took them with independent study)</p>

<p>SAT II: </p>

<p>Math level 2: 760
Bio: 670
Chem: will be taken
US history: will be taken</p>

<p>Section III Individual champion for discus and shot put
and MVP for last year</p>

<p>prior to that, my team was a champion in our section. and so on...</p>

<p>So, I e-mailed all the coaches of IVY league track and field teams.
And I saw that some of those schools did not enough throwers. (2 or 3 in some cases)
So is that a good sign?
Do I need a high SAT score to be an athlete?</p>

2

<p>I’d say your academics are low for the Ivy League. You’d probably need closer to a 2100 SAT score for them to consider you seriously. How is your GPA?</p>

3

<p>I suspect T&F is all about stats: times and distances rather than Section Champion, MVP, best in State, etc. If your throwing distances are competitive with Ivy standards you’ll get a serious look.</p>

<p>GPA and testing standards vary by school and sport. A good benchmark to aim for is to have all SAT section and Subject Test scores begin with the number 7. For GPA, you’ll need a rigorous courseload with mostly all "A"s, the occasional “B” won’t sink you.</p>

<p>One Ivy coach told me he wouldn’t even try to go to bat for a kid who hadn’t had at least 4 or 5 APs through senior year. He had learned that Admissions expected at least that. Subject to local context, of course. If no APs were offered, that wouldn’t be held against the applicant.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>“Do I need a high SAT score to be an athlete?”
Not necessarily, if you get recruited by ivies and they really want you for throwing then 1940 will be good enough. It truely depends on if you are recruited or not.</p>

<p>“I’d say your academics are low for the Ivy League. You’d probably need closer to a 2100 SAT score for them to consider you seriously.”
It depends if you are recruited to throw or not. If they truely recruit you then the coach will get you in. They are DI, therefore they would not waste their time recruiting someone who could not get in. On the other hand if they don’t recruit you and you just want to try out for their team, the coach will not ‘get you in.’</p>

<p>With a 1940, it all depends on how your performance stacks up with their current throwers.</p>

5

<p>Hey ftball, in the Ivy’s the athlete has to meet a minimum academic index (AI) which in every sport except football must be within 1 standard deviation of the mean AI of the study body as a whole. (Football allows different bands of AI’s) In other words, the coach might want you, but he can’t get you in unless you meet the academic criteria. 1940 does sound a little low for a T&F athlete.</p>

6

<p>Swimmer at my school was told by ivy league school that she needed a 670 per section. she got that and was a state champion (or close to it). she got in.</p>

7

<p>varska…I don’t think each athlete needs to be within one standard deviation; I think the team average needs to be within one standard deviation. That is what one Ivy coach recently told my son. He got 1870 on his first stab at the SAT’s and the coach told him that was good…he should be shooting for a min. of 600 per section. His teammate recently was accepted to the same Ivy with an 1850 SAT and a 3.4 (public school) gpa. Sport is not football.</p>

8

<p>keylyme, you are correct - the team average must be within 1 SD. There is, however, a minimum AI floor - I think it’s 171, below which the athlete is not recruitable. Also, we’re talking about ‘Ivy’s’ as if they’re interchangeable. HYP has the highest mean AI of the league. A mid-tier Ivy coach said something to the effect that ‘I make my living recruiting kids just under a certain AI level’</p>

9

<p>Columbia is pretty tough, too, isn’t it? Whereas Cornell is much “easier” to get into. 171 is pretty low though…someone once said how low your gpa/test scores can be to get that number. However, school ranking can hurt that number, too unless you are fortunate enough to attend a school that does not rank. I agree that you’d better shoot for as high as possible, particularly in the soft sports.</p>

10

<p>People, thank you for your advice!</p>

<p>Well, I personally don’t know anything about this process(neither my coach), which means that I do not understand your abbreviations, such as AI, DI, HYP, and so on. So, could you explain what those mean? </p>

<p>And anybody who has experiences in throwing in track especially? If so, how do you view my performances? about 47 feet in shot 128 feet in disc SO FAR.</p>

<p>And I visited many IVY’s track team websites and found out that there are some schools that barely have throwers(like two men in the team). Does that benefit me since I can be the team’s third thrower? Or does it mean that the team just focuses on other events excluding throws.</p>

<p>I contacted many IVY coaches, and some of them(Columbia, U of Chi(not ivy), northwestern, and so on). But many of them did(harvard, yale, dartmouth(gave me really practical advice), cornell, brown(gave me good advice like throw over XX feet and you will be considered something like that). So, if they don’t respond, does that mean that they are not interested in recruiting me or even considering me?</p>

<p>And if I get my SAT over 2100, I would have good chance with 4.0 GPA of 3 years?</p>

<p>Now, let’s say that one IVY coach wants me in his team. Does that promise me an acceptance letter later on? (Do I need to apply as ED or RD?)</p>

<p>What is the benefit and harm of being an athlete in school? (tough schedule, injuries, and so on…</p>

<p>People, sorry for asking too many questions. please bear with me for I don’t know anything about this process or schools themselves. Give me any advice(just slam me if you need to) that would be helpful to my ignorance.</p>

11

<p>On the fourth question. I missed to say that some of the coaches responded to my e-mail.
and some didnt.</p>

<p>And more final question:
Does my potential major in college matter? for example, let’s say I want to major either in mathematics in college of arts and science of UPENN or business in Wharton School of UPENN(the most competitive school in UPENN). So coaches will have really hard time recruiting me with my score of 1940 SAT and 4.0 GPA to Wharton. But they will have “easier” time if I tell them I will major in like the easiest major that there is in UPENN?</p>

12

<p>Hey PJS, okay the abbreviations: AI = academic index, a number the ivy league uses to determine the academic level of it’s recruits. It’s a formula combining your SAT and your class rank. More info:
[Calculating</a> the Ivy League Academic Index](<a href=“http://home.comcast.net/~charles517/ivyai.html]Calculating”>http://home.comcast.net/~charles517/ivyai.html)</p>

<p>D1 = division 1 college
HYP= Harvard, Yale, Princeton</p>

<p>As for your 47’ shot and 128’ disc, take a look at the results here:
[2010</a> Indoor Heps Heptagonals Track & Field](<a href=“http://hepstrack.com/current-information/2010-indoor-heps/]2010”>http://hepstrack.com/current-information/2010-indoor-heps/)
If your throws put you up with the guys that are scoring points, Ivy coaches will definitely be interested.</p>

<p>As to coaches who don’t respond, there are lots of reasons, not the least of which is that they are in the heart of the season right now. Don’t let the lack of a reply deter you.</p>

<p>My opinion is that this is a possibility for you. Throw a little farther and score a little higher. :-)</p>

13

<p>FWIW
1940 is not high enough.
.it’s a “start” according to a couple of coaches at the ivies we know…
push for 700s - all sections AND 700s on your SAT2s…</p>

<p>with that–and a great GPA (does your school rank?) - then if your PR is what they want–you will be a great recruit and make the AI</p>

14

<p>My school rank is 1 out of 18. And wow, I can’t even find my CRS score for this. But, I assume that the score will be around 70-72. And that means that my Academic Index score will be 198 + extra(idk) { SAT(127 CR+M) + Rank(71) + [Variable(SAT 2 math 760 and bio 670)] }. And I am taking SAT on may and june. So…that is a good chance? (given, that I might throw 50 feet in shot and 135 in disc at the end of the season)</p>

15

<p>You might have a shot. Work hard and try not to spend too much time on CC</p>

16

<p>Yes, sir. Haha that is so true by the way.
Are you a recruited one?</p>

17

<p>No, I live vicariously through my daughter (pole vault) ;-)</p>

18

<p>Ahh… wow I wish I had one like you. lol</p>

19

<p>Anybody that knows the answer to my choosing a major problem in the previous page?</p>

20

<p>The competition for Wharton at UPenn is much higher than UPenn Arts & Sciences. However if you have your heart set on an undergraduate business program, Wharton is the way to go. If you are undecided on a major, arts & sciences give you more options for changing majors. </p>

<p>But you have plenty of time to sort out those details later. As advised above, work on getting the highest SAT, ACT, and GPA for now, as well as improving your throwing distances. Good luck with the season.</p>