DD2 is a high school Junior and we are beginning a college list. She is interested in swimming in college and would be a good swimmer for Vassar. Does being a swimmer improve her chances of being admitted? How does that work at Vassar?
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Not sure about swimming specifically, but can say there is a sort of tip process for other sports. My impression is that in general the student must be in the admissible range academically and be wanted by the coach of the team because of his or her ability to strengthen the team. If both of those things are true, the coach can provide some help in the form of a pre-read from Admissions and guidance on whether to apply early decision, but there are no guarantees. Sports are an important part of the Vassar experience and the school wants successful teams, but there is less willingness to stretch for students to assure winning than at some peer schools in the NESCAC, for example.
She just took the ACT but based on her practice tests, she will probably get a 30 or 31. Not great for Vassar but probably in the middle 50%.
I think she would be maybe 2nd or 3rd fastest 200 freestyle on the team right now, as a high school Jr. Not amazing, but solid and has another year to improve. It sounds like it might be worth contacting the coach anyway. Thanks for the information.
@much2learn - YES, YES, YES, being wanted on the swimming team will help your daughterâs chances TREMENDOUSLY. Here is what you MUST do NOW if you havenâtâŠgo to Vassarâs website and then to the Athletics page and then Womenâs Swimming and Diving and fill out the Recruitment Questionnaire. Contrary to popular belief, most colleges will not actively seek athletes unless they are absolute super stars, and then itâs the D1 schools that TYPICALLY do that. There is definitely some unsolicited recruiting at the D3 level, but mostly they want to know that your daughter is interested. So, here is the typical process:
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Fill out the questionnaire. The questionnaire asks for times, GPA, SAT or ACT, etc. Since she doesnât have ACT or SAT scores yet, just leave that blank for now. You can add that she hasnât yet taken either test in the Additional Comments section at the bottom of the questionnaire.
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If they are interested in your daughter (and it sounds like you know they will be), the coach or a recruiting coordinator will contact her, and if you believe what it says at the bottom of the questionnaire, they will do it âsoonâ.
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Give them a couple weeks. If you donât hear from them, have your daughter (not you, your daughter) write an e-mail to the coach. E-mail addresses for the coach and assistant coach are on the website. Also e-mail them when your daughter gets her ACT score back.
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At some point the coach (or recruiting coordinator) will e-mail or call your daughter. They will then describe the rest of the process. Hereâs how that is likely to go â they will want a transcript from the current time from your daughterâs school that they can send to Admissions. They all realize she is just a junior. Admissions will then get back to the coach about whether itâs reasonable to pursue her as a swimmer. They might say, yes, your grades and strength of classes is strong enough, or they might say, no, you arenât strong enough academically, or they might say that she is on the edge and she needs to do better the first semester of her senior year.
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IF all is good at this point, your daughter should keep in contact with the coaches. If Vassar is indeed her top choice or one of her top choices, she should let them know that she is excited about the possibility of swimming for Vassar.
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Athletes that the coaches want to continue to pursue typically are invited to spend two days at the college in the fall of her senior year, staying with a swimmer overnight and then attending some classes and eating with others on the team, etc. Usually at this point the coaches are very interested and Admissions has had positive things to say. By now she will be able to add her ACT or SAT scores to her transcript, and they will ask for updated information. This is also a time when the others on the team get to see if she will be a good fit. Not a good idea to say something like âI hate swimmingâ or âI hate practiceâ or anything else that makes the team members think she wonât be a good addition. She is interviewing really.
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Now she goes home and waits. Admissions gets another look at her transcript and then if all is well, she is âpre-admittedâ. Basically this means that if she applies she will be accepted. The coach will call or e-mail to confirm (assuming the team members liked her).
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She now needs to apply to the college and wait for the official word. USUALLY the coaches will request that she apply Early Decision. You will have to work that out with them, but if you decide you want to wait for Regular Decision, in most cases you will not get help from the coach.
A 30 or 31 on the ACT is pretty good and likely good enough for the coach to want to pursue. The middle 50% for Vassar on the ACT is 30-33, and the typical student has an A- average and has taken lots of AP and honors classes and is in the top 10% of their class. Excellent athletes can be toward the bottom of this criteria and even a little below, but still, Vassar wants and expects strong students even for their athletic teams.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions, and good luck to your daughter!
@stepay Thank you for the information. I will reach out to you soon to follow up on the process and whether this could be a realistic option for her.
Predictably, right now I am stuck at a swim meet. 
Stepay, superb and informative post, however, I wouldnât put too much emphasis on class rank. Only 58% of the enrolled studentsâ high schools reported class rank, and of those that did, 31% were not in the top 10%. I only mention the statistics because I donât want prospective students to have the false belief that if they arenât at the top of their graduating class, etc., being admitted to Vassar is close to unattainable.
Stepay did a great job of explaining the process overall. I think that applying regular decision is still an option - once you are on the coaches âradarâ, it may still help a bit. I have to stress that Vassar does (more than other colleges) require that athletes including swimmers have academic stats that are within its GPA and SAT/ACT ranges. The good news is that you can retake your SAT/ACT into fall of senior year and have another chance to improve it if needed. S2 did just that and improved his ACT score significantly and was accepted ED1. S1 found Vassar too late for ED and was accepted regular decision. It is hard to judge the coaches input on regular decision, but if you are a fit academically, it is a huge positive.
The current Vassar swim team has several D1 level athletes that chose Vassar because they liked the atmosphere and âvibeâ of the team. The team has been attracting stronger and stronger swimmers over the past seven years that we have been involved. They really are a great group of people also - it is a very positive environment. Five swimmers from the team sing an original arrangement of the National Anthem at every home meet. This week is the NY state championships in Rochester for four days so if you donât hear back from the coaches, that is probably the reason why. Please update us on her progress and decisions. I hope you will have time to visit Vassar and meet the coaches and team and see for yourself. You can PM me anytime with questions.
N.B.
Of interest:
@CrewDad - YepâŠdefinitely students out of the top 10% in their class at Vassar. The 10% figure comes from Vassarâs website, and it does say itâs an AVERAGE meaning, of course, that there are some below that level and some above. And, for sure being accepted to Vassar is attainable. It is still a tough school to get into though, and there are lots of potential athletes each year who are turned away because their academic stats arenât good enough. I would say though that anyone with a 30 on the ACT who could be a help to the swimming team, if they have more As than Bs, they should contact the coach and see what he/she says.
Sounds like @chemusic - might have some info specific to the swimming team with regard to ED vs. RD. Again, @Much2learn you and your daughter will need to find out from the coach what they really want. Coaches have the right to change their mind on this every year, and that change might be due to the number of quality prospects in that given year. Kind of a lean year, then they might still really be interested in someone applying RDâŠbumper crop year, they might only be interested in those applying ED. Only way to know for sure is to verify with the coach. I know of a few athletes who were shut out (none of them swimmers) because they decided to apply RD. One in particular even had very excellent test scores and GPA. She was denied. Not sure that was any sour grapes, but if the team is already set with incoming freshmen, and your application stands only due to the swimming (or other sport), itâs easy to get tossed aside. âOh, this person is a swimmer. Are they on the coachâs list? No. OkâŠdenied pile.â Not saying that will happen, but any athlete interested in Vassar needs to verify with the coach.
Stepay, I responded regarding class rank because you made sound as if being in 10% is a prerequisite for admission. Nothing could be further from the truth. No big deal. It is all good 
I also not sure where the Vassar website states the average class rank is top 10%
All Iâve read is:
Thank you all. We are at the beginning of the process and I appreciate the Information.
DD read though your responses today and we worked up a spring break plan for her to visit a few schools including Vassar.
She should be getting her initial ACT back this week, so that will establish a worst case test score. I think she will email the coach as soon as that score comes back.
Her best stroke is freestyle and her best at the 200 FR is 2:00.6 (tapered). Her best 100 FR is 0:56.2 (tapered/individual) and 0:55.4 (tapered/relay). Those are official times on USA swimming. She would not be their best, but I think she could contribute to the team, has a positive attitude, and is fiercely competitive under pressure. She should be faster this Fall for her senior high school season. She also fills in for the 50, 500, and 1000 FR when needed.
I will follow up as we learn more.
@Crewdad â No worries. Hereâs where I got the 10%âŠthe wording definitely has changed, so I donât know if they added the 20% in there too or I just donât remember that. - âOur typical applicants have an unweighted A- average, are within the top 10%-20% of their class, and have SAT and ACT scores that are within the above ranges.â Those ACT and SAT ranges are listed on their site as âThe middle 50% of last yearâs admitted class scored between 1360-1490 on the SAT critical reading and math sections (2050-2240 overall). The ACT middle 50% range was between 30-33.â
Hi much2learn!
Iâm actually going to be swimming for vassar next year, so I have some insight as to how the coaches handle recruiting! Technically, the coaches have no weight in admissions regardless of the studentâs ability. However, they can do a âpre-readâ for your daughter the beginning of her senior year where they send her transcript, test scores, and senior year classes to admissions who will review this information and notify the coaches if your daughter will be admitted Early Decision 1. They give either a firm yes, no, or yes with stipulation (i.e. raise your SAT 100 pts). Essentially, your daughter must meet Vassarâs academic standards first, but being a swimmer gives her a bit of an edge. PM me if you have any questions!