<p>Hi. I am a Junior and am thinking of Hamilton. I play tennis and plan to meet with the coach this summer. I am confident that the coach will want me. Right now, Hamilton would be a reach. How much support can the coach give to my application? I know that Hamilton is Div III and a Nescac school so I am wondering about the whole recruiting process. Someone told me that you have to be able to get into the school completely on your own. This seems hard to believe. Yes? No?</p>
<p>If Hamilton is a reach and you feel that you’re going to need a coach’s support to be considered, that’s a conversation I encourage you to have pretty early on. As you’d guess, the level of support a coach is likely to give is pretty proportional to how much he/she feels you can contribute to the team and how much he/she wants you. Generally, and especially in NESCAC schools where the academic standards are fairly high compared to other D3 schools, a coach will have a very finite number of “slots” or “tips” to use with admissions to “encourage” them to consider a student they might not otherwise admit.</p>
<p>This year I also went through the NESCAC tennis recruiting process. I suggest first filling out the recruiting forms and making a recruiting video. Definitely keep in contact with coaches at schools you are interested in. If Hamilton is your top choice, I suggest emailing the coach your SAT/ACT scores (if you have taken them yet) as well as an unofficial transcript and show your interest in the program and the school.
As for Hamilton being a reach and the recruiting process, coaches will be honest about academics and your chances of being accepted. They want to ensure that you will be able to keep up your grades and GPA.</p>
<p>Not to dampen your possible hopes and aspirations, but if a school (such as Hamilton) is a “reach,” I would advise … as you go through this process …. to try and conduct an honest self-evaluation of your ability and potential for succeeding academically. I’m not saying you can’t or won’t. It’s just that alarm bells go off when I hear “I play [blank] and I will need the coach’s help to get into [blank]. That’s all.</p>
<p>GolfFather, point well taken. If you have to rely mostly on athletics to get in, you probably don’t belong at a school that is academically rigorous.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you are within a certain neighborhood of qualification, but your grades, for example, suffered a little because you played tennis 20 hours a week, then you should be fair game.</p>
<p>Typically, a Hamilton coach will “support” your application only if you ED - it’s only fair that the coach and the candidate both put skin in the game.</p>
<p>NESCAC schools don’t use the Academic Index like the Ivys do. The coach has considerable pull with Admissions, provided that base requirements are met.</p>
<p>Originally had thought NESCAC schools like Hamilton didn’t provide Likely Letters (or similar thereof). But I heard a case in October where someone was guaranteed a spot on the soccer team, and thereby admission.</p>
<p>" If you have to rely mostly on athletics to get in, you probably don’t belong at a school that is academically rigorous." </p>
<p>I am not sure I completely agree with the above statement. I believe that getting in and performing well are two different things. As an example, (and I don’t know the actual stats) some Ivy football players would not gain admit on their own merit. Yet, they are accepted and graduate. I suspect very few are dropping out because they can’t do the work. They are bright enough to complete the work and bring something unique to the college. In regards to Hamilton or any Ivy , the college will not likely admit someone that can’t do the work. But does that mean “you don’t belong” because the school is a bit of a reach. I have mentioned this on a previous thread but I believe the top half of any state u can pass at Harvard. If Hamilton is a reach for this student what is wrong with that? If her stats are within the common data set - even if in the bottom- why not look into it.</p>
<p>" If you have to rely mostly on athletics to get in, you probably don’t belong at a school that is academically rigorous." </p>
<p>I am not sure I completely agree with the above statement. I believe that getting in and performing well are two different things. As an example, (and I don’t know the actual stats) some Ivy football players would not gain admit on their own merit. Yet, they are accepted and graduate. I suspect very few are dropping out because they can’t do the work. They are bright enough to complete the work and bring something unique to the college. In regards to Hamilton or an Ivy , the college will not likely admit someone that can’t do the work. But does that mean “you don’t belong” because the school is a bit of a reach. I have mentioned this on a previous thread but I believe the top half of any state u can pass at Harvard. If Hamilton is a reach for this student what is wrong with that? If her stats are within the common data set - even if in the bottom- why not look into it?</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your responses. I have faith that I can do the work, but I would be in the lower end of the common data set. Being at the lower end, I don’t think I would get in without help from the coach, but I would like to believe I could do the work.</p>
<p>I set myself up by using the word “belong”. </p>
<p>A typical Ivy coach is allowed to recruit one athlete on the third band (third standard deviation band away from the target Academic Index target). More if the recruiting pool is large, like football. These third band athletes are the highest performing athletes, with the lowest scores and grades.</p>
<p>I know several of these third band athletes that are getting by with Cs and Ds in their Ivy transcripts. Are they getting by? Yes. Are they thriving academically? No. Do they belong there? What does belong mean anyway? A student with straight As with composite ACT of 35 that got denied at Yale will argue no. Someone that looks at an academic institution as a whole, including athletics, might argue yes. The third band athlete will definitely say yes.</p>
<p>There are generally three hooks into colleges. 1) Development - a word that actually means donated money, lots of money. 2) Legacy - Admissions will pay more attention to this application. 3) Athletics - This is the most accessible hook, provided that, of course, you are athletic.</p>
<p>acoolchick. As someone else suggested, fill out that recruitment form, and reach out to the coach. And keep in close contact with the coach. Don’t pester them but DEMONSTRATED INTEREST is underrated in the application process, especially at small schools like Hamilton.</p>
<p>Funny that I happened upon this thread. Whenever I go home, I visit a friend who went to Hamilton (about a hundred years ago). He played sports there. But what I had never known until my last visit is that he was originally waitlisted (and he is a pretty smart guy). He said the coach constantly communicated with (perhaps lobbied is a better term) the admissions office so when a spot opened up, he could be first in line to get the spot. And he did get the first spot that opened. I don’t know if it means anything for you, but good luck getting in.</p>