Lots of great info on this board. This is my first time through the recruiting process and my D is a cross country/distance runner hoping to run at an Ivy or NESCAC school. She reached out to a few local schools to visit and talk with the coach over Feb break. Bowdoin told her that athletics does not help in the admissions process and that she would have to get in on her own first. I see elsewhere in these posts that Bowdoin does recruit and that athletics helps in admissions. Looking for some guidance.
My daughter was strongly recruited by Bowdoin, as were others we know in various sports. (Not XC).
It may be the sport and the Bowdoin coach may be telling the truth - there are no ‘tips’ or ‘slots’ available to that team. I’ll bet the hockey team is another story. At other schools the track/xc teams may be offering admission assistance.
So either your daughter isn’t a “prospie” or the college doesn’t give any “slots” to XC…They definitely recruit and “help” in admissions for other NESCAC sports.
I am leaning towards no slots as her times are more than competitive with other women on the team
Mcr,
Bowdoin, like the other NESCAC schools, does offer tips and slots for most sports. I would do a little research on this. If you Google the Bowdoin Orient and athletic recruiting, you will find articles that may prove informative. However, even if no slots are offered for cross country, I have to believe that if your daughter is competitive in the admissions mix, the coach’s support would put her over the top. This would be the equivalent of a “tip” in NESCAC parlance. Assuming she wants to go to Bowdoin, the best thing to do is to ask for a pre-read from the coach.
Thanks for the advice. Re-reading the response sounds as if they would love to have my D run varsity but her academics would have to get her in first. Maybe they are holding slots for a faster runner with less academic quals?
There is a three part series about recruiting at Bowdoin in the Bowdoin Orient, which is why I suggested a look-see. There are sports at Bowdoin for which there are no slots (e.g., sailing and rugby). I didn’t read far enough to see what they said about cross country. Maybe there are no slots, which could mean one of two things: 1) get in yourself and your performance in cross country is the equivalent to other ecs, like playing in the orchestra (this is explained in the article); or 2) because so many cross country runners have high academic achievement, the school does not need to give slots to the athletes. Thus, you can get coach’s support, which will help, but you still need to have the academic chops to get in without support. I would still ask the coach for a pre-read.
Thx I will have her do that. Just read the articles and the track coach is even quoted about recruited athletes. Not sure why he didn’t say anything in his response to my D.
At this point he may have other favorite recruits. However, conditions in recruiting can change quickly, so do not give up hope. Continue expressing daughter’s interest, perhaps his faves will take other offers and he will be more supportive. Do look for other schools where she is “loved” so she has back-ups.
Does she have the academics to be a likely admittee at Bowdoin?
I think so She is in the top 10% of her class with a 3.7 GPA and is class secretary (as well as other ECs). She is taking the ACT and SAT in the next two months.
Went through the same process as your daughter last year. I talked to Slovenski (bowdoin coach) and tried to see if he could help me in admissions. I would have been a varsity XC runner. He said the same thing to me as your daughter, that he didn’t really have influence in admissions and I would have to get in on my own through academics. I think it might just be that the Bowdion coach is really old-school (he actually wrote a book titled “Old School”–look it up) or that their track program isn’t allowed to slot athletes.
Good luck to your daughter! Middlebury has a great program, too!!!
Interesting that the Slovenski boys went on to compete in the Ivy League
From what I gather, there are 3 boys that competed in the Ivies and not Bowdoin
Princeton, Princeton, and Harvard for the boys. Father has a degree from Dartmouth and mother has one from Stanford.
Peter Slovenski’s dad, Walter, was the long-time (and well loved) track and field coach at Bates. Peter’s brother Paul, as well as his sisters Patty and Sally competed for Bates as well. This family is a serious track and field dynasty!
http://www.bates.edu/news/1999/09/08/walter-slovenski/
My D was talking to a coach at one of the Little Ivies and another NESCAC school both of whom said that there is a spot on the team if she gets in. I either take that as she needs to improve her times to gain athletic support or that the school doesn’t provide athletic support (athletes need to maintain same academic standards of admission as the general applicant pool?). These are her top 2 choices and we will need to decide which one she should apply ED.
I think that it is important for your daughter to stay in contact with these coaches. She can continue to ask specific questions about the process which might garner further information that she would like to know. If you are speculating that she needs to have faster times, I think it is fine to ask. Also, have they done a pre read? If that passes muster then her academics will be ‘good enough’ for the school, otherwise I would expect she would be told what improvements would be needed. It sounds like they are interested if they say there is a spot on the team if she gets in! In our experience with D3 school, even when everything is a go and your application is in for the ED, there was still an element of not being completely sure about admission. It would be less stressful if there was a guarantee, and the surprise was removed.
I would probably ask if there is a goal she can reach which will allow the coach to support her through admissions, or whether they simply will not support athletes in the particular events in this recruiting cycle. Not to be too negative, but there is a world of difference between “you have a spot on the team if you show up next year” and “you are one of the athletes we have targeted in this recruiting cycle”. If participating in the sport is really important to your daughter, she might want to keep looking for a school where she might have a better shot at an opportunity to contribute.