I plan on playing lacrosse for a nescac school, what are my chances of getting in if my GPA is a 3.4 and my ACT is a 30. Both of my parents do not have Bachelor degrees, does that play into my admission? Hamilton, Tufts, Amherst, Wesleyan, and Middlebury are all recruiting me for lacrosse, I assume that helps as well.
I have taken 5 honors courses and will take 1 AP senior year, does my poor course selection hinder my chances?
Your data are borderline. If you are high on the coach’s list then lucky you. I suggest a minimum of 2 APs. Get great grades senior year 1st quarter. Study the ACT guidebook (go hard) and take ACT again. Good luck.
It sounds as if you are highly desirable as a lacrosse player, so that really will make a difference. Broadly speaking, you are more likely to be accepted at the less academically rigorous schools, but the real determining factor is likely to be the exact level of interest in your by the particular coaching staff and the relative importance of lacrosse to the institution as whole. You are definitely more in a position to gauge that than I am.
My best guess is that your chances range from around 20% on the low end to maybe 40% on the high end, but this is highly dependent on the factors I mentioned previously. I’d rank the schools this way from lower to higher chances:
Tufts
Amherst
Middlebury
Wesleyan
Hamilton
Academically, these schools are likely to be fairly challenging, especially with the demands of playing a varsity sport. I would consider looking at some other options (maybe Bates, Colby, Connecticut College, Holy Cross) where you might be a better fit academically. (and have even better chances at admission.) If those schools haven’t tried to recruit you, you might try to get in touch with the coaches there and see if there is interest.
I just went through this process with my son. Did you request a pre-read?
My gut tells me you are a B band recruit for all the NESCAC schools except Conn. College and Trinity, where you are an A band. I doubt a 30 and 3.4 puts you in the C Band but you have some risk.
The B band recruit is usually the best place to be when it comes to admissions because they view the chance you will attend higher.
You must get preread. It is critical you know how you are being viewed by admissions.
Another thing, athletic recruiting is done in ED in the vast majority of cases. Given your stats, your chances of getting in and getting on the team drop precipitously.
You will have to make a decision in ED. Unfortunately, NESCAC schools are not allowed to issue likely letters, so even if you are read safe to recruit you have some risk.
During this process you have to judge the coach’s body language. If you get invited for an overnight that is a very good thing. If you don’t it is too risky to use ED on that school. Schools generally will not extend an invitation for an overnight unless admissions is on board.
If you’re a recruited athlete and the coach wants you and you have a modicum of academic competence (which you do) then you’re in.
In the absence of the athletic hook however, you are well below-the-line for all the schools you mentioned, so it really will come down to which coaches want you.