<p>DD2 is slightly below the average gpa and ACT to get into Tufts. However, she could swim for them. Can an athletic endorsement improve her chances of getting in?</p>
<p>P.S. This question is not for this year's admission cycle. Just beginning to develop a potential colleges list for DD2.</p>
<p>Ask them coach what can or can’t be done. They will tell you directly what can be done. Depends how much they want you.</p>
<p>Tufts definitely uses tips but they will be distributed among many sports. Some sports will not get any. You must talk with the coach and if a tip is an option, the coach will likely want her to apply ED. Point of reference, my son was “tipped” for his sport at Tufts.
GPA was 3.6 UW, ACT 30.</p>
<p>Getting in touch with the Coach is the best course of action. If she has good enough times and the coach likes her, they can possibly tip her. As previously mentioned she will most likely need to apply ED in this situation. In addition, if the coach doesn’t user his or her tip they can still offer some sort of support that gives a little more notice.</p>
Following up on this tread from a year ago. DD2 is still interested in Tufts but is a marginal candidate academically with a 3.55 gpa and a 31 ACT, although her rigor is good and she will be taking AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, and AP Lit. in the fall when she begins her Senior year.
DD2 met with swim coaches at a few schools. When she visited Tufts she was impressed with the Engineering school and the friendliness of the students. She says that Tufts is in the top 3, but she hasn’t settled on her top choice yet.
Question:
At one of the other schools in her top three, the swim coach offered that if DD2 completes an application before ED1, that their admissions office will look at it in advance and indicate whether it is likely that she will be admitted if she applies ED1.
Does anyone know whether Tufts ever does this?
If Tufts ends up being her top choice, but her second choice school is telling her that she will be admitted if she applies ED1, then that puts her in a difficult position if she has no idea whether Tufts will admit her.
We will check with the coach, but before she contacts her, it would be helpful to know whether this is something that is never done, is common, or is done sometimes so that I can manage DD2’s expectations.
Any experience or thoughts are appreciated.
DS2 was in the same position last year. He had visited Tufts in the spring and had talked with the coach then. In the summer DS2 knew that Tufts was where he wanted to attend. He told the coach that and the coach asked for his transcript and test scores. A few days after the coach had passed the transcript and scores to Admissions, he came back and told DS2 that he would support his application if he applied ED1. In a later conversation DS2 asked the coach what that level of support produced in prior years. The coach told him something like 10 of 12 ED applications with that same level of support in the year prior were accepted. Happily, it worked out for DS2 too.
Definitely talk with the coach. By the way DS2 informed me that the men’s swim coach will take over the coaching of the women’s team too in the fall.
You definitely have a chance. Tufts does not look at scores only - what else did your kid do? My kid is doing great, Junior next year. ACT was 29, GPA was 4.0 but many extra activities and a sports hook. Of course, had to ED1 to get in but coach was very supportive and was in the loop. You will know in the process if you have a straight up coach like we did. If they say go ED1, I’d listen. No regrets although the adjustment was huge from HS to Tufts in many ways outside of sports…be prepared and pick the right fit regardless of coach/sport. Be a student first.
Your daughter has a good shot if they want her for swimming. A word of caution about Engineering… My son had a 33 on ACT and was “weeded” out of Engineering after 1st semester. He is a very diligent student and despite massive efforts, could not keep up with the required work in both physics and calculus. The bottom line is that unless you are a natural at math/science - not just someone who works hard, but a trully gifted natural (and a 31 ACT suggests otherwise) - the Engineering school is VERY hard. Most of the people there have perfect Math scores and 5’s on related AP’s. My son is now doing great in Economics.
You certainly won’t need a completed application, test scores + transcripts are enough for the coach to determine if he/she will support your daughter for admission. Best of luck to her.
@HVbaseballDad I appreciate the heads up about Engineering. I know how difficult it is. DD1 is an Engineering student at Penn. The work load is both very difficult and time consuming. Many amazing students can not handle it.
I am glad your son is happy in Economics. I teach my kids that there is no shame in trying the most difficult thing and failing, the shame is in being afraid to try.
Do you recall what the primary weed-out courses were? I am hoping she can get a 5 on AP Calc BC and AP Chem because she likes them. I think that would allow her to skip Math 32 and Math 36 plus intro Chem. If she had that behind her, I am hoping it will make the initial semester more survivable.
Son is a swimmer at Tufts swimming team. He joined the team in freshman year after got in Tufts since he just loves swimming. He just mailed the coach his time and his desire to be on the team before the school started. He is not the fast ones in the team. The men’s team is about 45-50 kids. He said each yr, coach can get 2 swimmers based on their time, it means they are really fast.
@fromcalifornia Thank you for that information. I appreciate it.
Perhaps Tufts is not the best fit for DD2 in that case. If they can only give a tip to the top 2 students, I doubt that she would get it.
The data that DD2 showed me had 17 Tufts women competing in her best event last year, and DD2s best Junior-year high school time would be the 4th fastest of those, which is solid because 2 of the 3 faster girls appear to be graduating, and the third will be a senior. She would be able to contribute to events and relays immediately and improve the team, but would not be a top 2, star performer. If it were football, I would say that it looks to me like she could be a starter as a freshman, but not be a star.
Definitely contact the coach since she is among the top. My son might be wrong. As one parent said Men’s coach will be women’s next year as well. The coach is really nice. All the kids love him.
Much2learn
Physics and advanced Calculus