<p>I am a Junior and I am starting the receive mail from a lot of the NESCAC Schools about playing football. I am looking to play baseball as well. I am a good student, but not at the tier that I see on the Bowdoin Admission facts website. I was wondering if anyone is an athlete there who could give me some advice about the college. I</p>
<p>I'm not an athlete but I do know a little bit about the system for admitting athletes. </p>
<p>Each coach is given "tips" depending upon the team's need for new incoming players. These "tipped" athletes get a break in the admissions process. There are three levels of tipping - A, B, and C band recruits, with the C tips being reserved for the high impact athletes (likely 4-year starters) who otherwise would not be admitted. All the NESCAC schools follow similar rules, with the number of tips ranging from something like 66 to 74 per year. Out of this total number of tips, something like 10 tips would be reserved for C-band recruits, with the remaining divided up betwen A and B band recruits. </p>
<p>As I understand it, an A-band tip goes to an athlete whose GPA and SATs fall within the school's range of acceptability and the tip assures that he will be admitted over other similarly qualified applicants. The B-band tip is reserved for athletes whose qualifications are toward the bottom of the range of acceptability. In the past, C-band tips have been used to admit students with GPAs of maybe 3.3 and SATs of maybe 1850. (I'm approximating here as the actual numbers are closely guarded secrets but you get the picture - there's a chance to be admitted if you are a good athlete and would not otherwise fall within the SAT and GPA range of the typical Bowdoin student.) The football team usually is granted about 14 tips per year.</p>
<p>You should probably start by contacting the football and baseball coaches - that will give you a quick read on your chances both in terms of your athletic and academic qualifications. If there is any sense of a match, you can visit Bowdoin and spend some time with the guys on the baseball and football teams - they can provide more feedback on your chances based on their own experiences. And because you hope to be a two-sport athlete in college that should expand your options. Good luck!</p>
<p>Wait, you play football? You'll probably get in. Have you not heard? Bowdoin is full of jocks, but they're not smart jocks, you know, like the ones you find at Williams and Amherst.</p>
<p>I'm assuming the tips they hand out aren't for club sports...but how much influence do you think a letter from a coach would have on admissions especially if everything is in the school's range for scores? I met with the crew coach and he said he'd write a letter to admissions explaining that he would like me to be on the team. He also said I'd be able to get into some of the top boats right away with my experience.
I know this isn't a tip but will it have influence anyways?</p>
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I met with the crew coach and he said he'd write a letter to admissions explaining that he would like me to be on the team. He also said I'd be able to get into some of the top boats right away with my experience.
I know this isn't a tip but will it have influence anyways?
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<p>It will help in the sense that it says that you are serious about this particular EC and that you intend to pursue in college and you will be a contributing member of the crew team. Obviously it's not as good as a tip and won't compensate for other deficiencies in your record but it's definitively a positive addition to your record if you are in the running for possible admission to Bowdoin.</p>