<p>I have been speaking with a WUSTL coach about the possibility of joining their team next year. They have indicated that they are very interested, but have not make a decisive move in terms of suggesting that they will "support me" in the application process. Is this because WashU coaches do not have much sway with admissions? Does anybody know about the extent of athletic recruitment at WashU?</p>
<p>I hope the coach can help you to a certain extent, but in my opinion, since wash u doesn't take varsity sports THAT seriously (still does, of course, i mean compared to the big ten or IVY league,it doesn't) , coaches there have not much to help. However, i really want more athletes to join in wash u, because the success in varsity sports competitions will really boost the school spirit and the union feeling. so GOOD LUCK,man</p>
<p>Actually, WashU does take varsity sports quite seriously. Just take a look at their national rankings in several sports. That being said, coaches at WashU have very limited influence when it comes to admissions. Does being a "recruited" athlete have an effect - the answer is yes - does it have a major effect - the answer is no. Just remember that every little thing that makes you stand out in a positive way - helps your case. Latest national sports rankings for WashU are posted below:</p>
<p>Men's Tennis – #1
Men's Basketball – #3
Volleyball – #5*
Men's Swimming – #5
Women's Swimming – #7
Women's Soccer – #8*
W – Cross Country – #12*
Directors' Cup – #16
Women's Tennis – #16
Women's Basketball – #25</p>
<p>The coach can help but from what I hear it's an informal process. He can go to admissions and say I'd like these kids. Then admissions will take a look at the whole package. It's one factor but like any other aspect of the application, it can be the difference.</p>
<p>it seems that i got some misunderstanding about washu's varsity sports achievement...
but ST2 really sounds like a admission rep of washu or a least a passionate washu alum. nice to see you here!</p>
<p>Thanks to all! That being said, I'll make sure to stay on the top of the coach in turns of letting him know that WashU is my top choice, and that I would love to be able to join the team next year!</p>
<p>jimb7 has it about right. Being recruited does help, but will not overcome a mediocre application.</p>
<p>tumbletiger, they were also non-comittal with my son, even though in retropsect we learned that they wanted him pretty badly. I do not believe they give degrees of feedback generally. So you may have more support than you think.</p>
<p>HartinGA - It all depends on what you mean by "non-comittal". If you mean a coach giving either a yes or no on admission - then you are absolutely right. The best a coach can do is give and "educated guess" in that area. On athletes that a coach really wants - my experience has been a strong show of interest by the coach. Quite often these candidates are invited to visit campus and stay with a present team member. A coach can and often will make a personal appeal for a certain candidate. Like I stated above, it can certainly help, but it will only help if the candidate is otherwise qualified. The beauty of D3 sports is that a student is not obligated to play, but only plays as long as the interest, desire and ability to play is there.</p>
<p>Here's the deal with recruiting. Unlike some of the other schools in our conference, Wash U does not have 'slots' where a certain number of people can get in. Wash U admissions is looking for quality students, so the school may let in like 15 people the coach wants if they are all just about good enough to get in by themselves, or they may let in just 1 person that really needs some help getting in, if that's what the coach wants. In either case, it's not absolute. You should try to be more direct with the coaches if you think you are worth getting recruited hard.</p>
<p>Not to say it can not/does not happen - but I have yet to experience that "one" person you mention. My experience has been that WashU athletes were good enough to get in on their own qualifications. Given a choice between equally qualified candidates, athletics might certainly contribute to the final decision. But then again there can also be other factors or qualifications that can also contribute to a final decision.</p>
<p>I am also curious as to which other UAA schools have "slots".</p>
<p>First of all, what do you mean athletes have been good enough to get in on their own qualifications? If you mean that their numbers weren't bad enough to keep them out, then yes, they were good enough. But there is definitely a sliding lower boundary, and it correlates with how good of an athlete you are.</p>
<p>What I'm saying about admissions is this: Athletes are essentially judged separately. Your hypothetical scenario where an athlete is being compared to an equally qualified applicant who is not an athlete is not a realistic scenario. Instead, admissions will essentially look at the application of the athlete and decide whether he meets the minimum requirements they have in mind, which again, could be set lower if the coach decides to put all his eggs in one basket.</p>
<p>A final word, I don't know the intricacies of this process, as my coach doesn't exactly go around telling us about it, but in general it should be pretty close to what I just described. In terms of the "one" top athlete, first of all I don't think many coaches are deciding to go that route. Secondly, you have to realize that yeah this is still Wash U, and truly retarded people still aren't going to get in. Still, there's a decent chunk of kids that keep the averages low right? I think some of the top tennis guys might have been recruited semi-hard.</p>
<p>My son's team's coach is apparently quite proud of his team's GPA which exceeds the norm. What does that tell you? Another indicator is how high Wash U's SAT scores are - the 25% - 75% averages measure sixth in the nation. Looking at say Cornell (DI) the SAT scores are much lower. What does that tell you?</p>
<p>thats WUt I said - You are certainly entitled to your opinion, whatever it might be. But in that case, I suppose the same could be said for any candidate in the lowest 25%. That their "numbers weren't bad enough to keep them out". Possibly you have some insight that you might want to share concerning "Athletes are essentially judged separately.". My experience is certainly different from that statement, but then again everyone is entitled to their opinion.</p>
<p>At the same time, just a reminder, that everyone in the admission pool is judged by "he/they meet the minimum requirements they have in mind" which are not necessarily the same for everyone (it all depends on what unique characteristics they bring to the campus). It is not only about raw stats but the individual and how they fit the mosaic of each new class.</p>
<p>As for "slots" in the conference, I am not aware of such existing, but then again I suppose anything is possible.</p>
<p>thats WUt I said - You mentioned the mens tennis team, "Still, there's a decent chunk of kids that keep the averages low right? I think some of the top tennis guys might have been recruited semi-hard."</p>
<p>Here's some academic info about the mens tennis team, which won the D3 National Tennis Championship last May. </p>
<p>The team has recent graduates in law school (Harvard), grad school (MIT), and med school. For the 2007/08 academic year, the team was awarded ITA All-Academic Team honors, with a team average GPA of 3.39. Several team members were named Academic All-Conference and/or ITA Scholar-Athletes. Two current seniors have been accepted to medical school.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I forgot to mention slots and stuff. Emory has slots, but i'm not sure which of the other schools have slots.
For everyone else, I don't see what the big deal is that I'm saying athletes can get in with lower scores. This is true anywhere, and the extent to which it's true varies with division. Being a D3 school, of course grades will be taken into greater consideration than at a D1 school.
Also, I am not arguing that the athlete will not be successful academically once they are here, as Wash U has great resources and athletes have more resources than the typical student. Still, the Tennis team average GPA is closer to the overall Wash U gpa than I expected. I probably should have picked a different example, but in either case I guess we can't really determine what caused what.
So, I'll go back to the OP. If you are good, and your stats are good but not great, the coach should have an easy decision to support your application and talk to admissions. If your stats are not so good, the decision to support you will not be so easy, etc. etc.......</p>
<p>Oh yeah, to jimb, it tells me that Cornell is part state school. Don't beat me senseless as I know that's not technically true, but close enough.</p>
<p>just curious...what is your sport? I am hoping to run for WUSTL, what about you?</p>
<p>I don't really think that Wash U athletes "have more resources than the typical student." I don't believe I know of any academic resources at Wash U that are available to athletes but not to other students.</p>
<p>But there are the often-mentioned difficulties for athletes -- like having to miss class due to team travel, spending the weekend before a test/paper traveling and competing instead of studying, and so on.</p>
<p>Here's an interesting article about Wash U athletics (volleyball):
<a href="http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11845.html">http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11845.html</a></p>
<p>aem08, im hoping to join the swim & dive team!</p>
<p>thats WUt I said - perhaps you care to elaborate on what "greater resources' athletes at WashU have, than other students. Obviously some that I am not aware of. I still don't see any examples of standards being lower for athletes at WashU - unless of course you are speaking from personal experience.</p>
<p>As far as slots at UAA schools - it would surprise me if Emory had such a system - but then again, I suppose that anything is possible. Unfortunately, up to now, it sounds like a lot of opinions backed up with no or minimum facts. Once again - yes the coach can support you - the only uestion is "will that support have an impact". I think that it might be time to put this thing to rest.</p>