<p>When is the right time to start contacting coaches? I'm not elite in my sport, but I still have much needed time to improve and I see myself being able to contribute to college teams my freshman year. Mainly I am interested in some top schools such as Duke, WashU, CMU, NYU. But I know UAA schools don't have much pull for athletes correct? These are my top choices right now.</p>
<p>Also, on a smalle scale I am interested in the Ivies (not HYP, but others). Do these schools have strong pull for athletes or no?</p>
<p>How exactly do I get recruited? Do I have to stand out at competition and hope for letters, or do most recruits start the contact by getting in touch with the coaches?</p>
<p>What sport do you play? IMO with so many athletes in ALL sports out there it is important you contact coaches where you are interested in going to school. Your question leaves many blanks so it is hard to give you much of an answer. Your sport, your age, where you stack up against the rest? etc…</p>
<p>I agree. Give us more details, i.e. your sport, your skill level, times, etc., your year in HS, and your academic credentials, and we’ll walk you through it. There are many helpful posters here, with knowledge of athletic recruiting for just about every sport at every type of school.</p>
<p>I have just been accepted at an UAA school after being recruited. The coaches there do have pull, as long as you meet the average stats at my school. My coach told me that “you get one foot over the fence, we’ll get the other foot over.”</p>
<p>I run cross country and track and field. I’m a junior and my times from sophomore year are average but I plan to have a breakout junior track season, and I’m not just saying that. I won’t be elite by any means, but I do plan to see a big jump to better times.</p>
<p>Justspice, what sport do you play? Also do all the UAA schools have pull or some more so than others? Also, how exactly did they recruit you? (If it’s football or a more major sport then I’m sure it was easier for you to get recruited from your perfomances in big games or something?)</p>
<p>You should email all of the coaches, in addition to filling out the prospective athlete questionnaire on the school athletic pages. You can email them now, or wait until spring break if you are visiting schools then, and want to put down some times first.
Introduce yourself in the email, give them your times and running background, gpa and psat (or SAT/ACT!) scores, and ask a few questions about the programs. Don’t wait for the coaches to contact you, because it probably won’t happen. If you college tripping over spring break you can meet with the coaches then, or go back for overnight visits with the team in the fall of your senior year. </p>
<p>Assuming that your times are competitive enough to give you a spot on the NYU/WashU roster, the coach will give your name to admissions. Support could range anywhere from “He plans to compete in college; if you admit him I can use him” to a substantial push. There are a lot of variables (how much influence the coach actually has, the other recruits in your class, how much potential the coach thinks you have). Duke is DI and has a fairly good mens team, so you might get a very different response (maybe a form email along the lines of “Contact us when you run 4:25 or 9:30”)</p>
<p>Sorry if this was kind of curt (there is just so much to say!). I would be happy to answer any questions you have or read over an email draft.</p>
<p>Edit: I am a current senior who is going through the DIII recruiting process and has read enough dyestat threads and milesplit/flotrack features that I fancy myself an expert.
Also, sorry if I’m not coherent right now- I’m tired and it takes too much effort to form real sentences :-)</p>
<p>I don’t really want to give out what sport I play considering it’d be really easy to identify who I am… I’ll just say I don’t play a helmet sport.</p>
<p>When I ran a search for the UAA Conference in this forum I read that Carnegie Mellon definitely has admissions advantages for athletes, and so does Emory. I don’t know about the others though.</p>
<p>I contacted the coach first, and later he put me on a shortlist of about 30 guys he would pursue. Took a paid overnight visit, applied ED, was accepted (had a ‘likely’ call from the coach a couple weeks before acceptance) and will likely be joining the team next fall.</p>
<p>Thank you dontknow. The only things are that:</p>
<ol>
<li>I am not taking the ACT until the beginning of April</li>
<li>My current PR’s are really nothing special, but I plan to lower them by a LOT this season</li>
</ol>
<p>So with that being taken into account, I am just hesitating on contacting coaches now because they won’t have my ACT score, and they won’t be impressed by my times. So is it still worth it to show interest now and say hello, or should I just wait until track season ends to email them with my ACT and faster times?</p>
<p>justspice, when you say paid overnight visit, did the school/coach pay or this was out of your own pocket? I know DI does official visits where the athlete is flown out and doesn’t pay for anything. Does DIII do this too? And did the coach tell you he was putting you on the shortlist immediately via email or was this like after the visit and once he decided better if you would fit the team?</p>
<p>I definitely think you should email them without the scores, so you get yourself on the radar. And yes, NYU paid for my visit (plane ticket, food, stayed in a NYU dorm)… I think it’s only a UAA thing though. I know Williams, a NECSAC school, does not pay for visits. And the coach told me I was on the list and invited me to a visit shortly after.</p>
<p>I really think NYU is a great school to play sports at… not so much for the student body support, but for the sheer amounts of money the school throws at you if you’re away playing a game and such.</p>
<p>I was in the same situation last winter–only PSAT scores and mediocre track times. Things don’t always work out how you plan them though; you might have an embarrassing ACT score the first time for whatever reason, and injuries and illnesses have a way of popping up. You might get to April and have nothing to show but excuses, and then it’s awkward. (That was phrased badly, but maybe you know what I mean). I agree with justspice-- show your interest now, tell them that you’re planning to take the ACT in April, are bumping your mileage up to xx, and give them your high school coach’s email/phone so they can contact him if they have any questions about you as a runner/your potential.
I’ve never heard of DIII schools giving travel $ except where the senior couldn’t pay for transportation otherwise. I got 3 free meal tickets.</p>
<p>NYU was ranked pretty highly in cross country this year.</p>
<p>Given that you have no test scores or performance times that show a coach (or you) whether you are a viable candidate for that particular school, I advise you to wait until you are well into or done with your spring track season and have at least preliminary test scores in hand. You then will either have the break out times you are hoping for or you won´t. D is a track athlete who started this process last June. Track seems to have a later timeline. That is definitely not too late.</p>