<p>I was wondering if someone could tell me their opinion of how my situation would affect me. I wasn't able to run track until the end of 10th grade because I was looking after a family member full-time. If I manage to get times good enough to be recruited, will the fact that I have only taken part for two years significantly affect me in terms of recruitment? I'd like to go to an Ivy League but money is a significant factor so I'm definately considering schools where I could get an athletic scholarship. </p>
<p>I don't know very much about the recruitment process or the likelihood of getting an athletic scholarship so don't be too harsh. :) </p>
<p>I know it's unlikely I'll be able to make the sort of times required but just assume I can for the sake of this question?</p>
<p>If you manage to get times that are good enough to be recruited, it won’t matter if you didn’t participate your freshman and soph years. In fact, it could make you an even more desirable recruit - showing that you have a lot of natural ability and upside potential.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re a junior this year - this is the year to put up those marks. The track scholarship boat will have sailed by your senior season. A few other things - don’t disregard the Ivies as too expensive. While you won’t get an athletic scholarship, the need based aid can be excellent. Also, in T&F, the proverbial ‘full ride’ scholarship is a pretty rare bird. There are 12 mens and 18 womens scholarships to spread across an entire team so each year may have 4 scholarships available (in a fully funded program). Coach will need to spread those around all the incoming freshman. If you get those times this year, you might only get books or a small percentage from a D1 scholarship program.</p>
<p>If your grades are very good, look seriously at the Ivy option as well the D3 option which can often put together a much better FA packge than you’ll find at State U. Good luck!</p>
<p>Try emailing the T & F coaches for the schools that you are interested in. They will want to know your events, your times, your awards. They would like to come and see you compete if you are in their local area so notify them about your upcoming events. They will also be extremely interested in your GPA, courses taken and SAT or ACT scores. If you are someone who interests them, they may invite you to campus. They will give you a tour and you may meet some team members. They can run your numbers by admissions to see if you would qualify to be admitted. You must have your transcript and SAT/ACT scores for them to run you by admissions. If you are close to the admitted range, the coach may advise you to take the SAT/ACT again aiming for a certain number. Remember there are contact restrictions in the NCAA guidelines. You can call, email and visit them but their direct contact with you is limited until Sept 1 of your junior year. If you make an appt to visit them on their campus, you will have the most meaningful conversation.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for replying, both of you!</p>
<p>I’m still at the very beginning of the admission process; I’m only a sophomore. It’s pretty lucky really as I don’t know anyone who’s very knowledgeable about the process and have a lot of research to do.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken the SAT yet but I’m consistently making 2250+ on practice tests from the blue book. Do you think it’s necessary to take the SAT prior to my junior year for recruitment purposes or would the October date be okay? I’m testing in an international location so it’s around 6 hours to the nearest testing centre. I’m planning to test in October by requesting a centre closer to home but I’ve missed the early registration deadline for June so I can’t request it for that date. If it’s important that I take the June test, I could probably manage it, however. What do you think?</p>
<p>I’ve only recently (within the last month) started running again although I did run non-competitively a few years ago. My times are good and I think I get them to the times I need. My coach has faith in me which is encouraging. :)</p>
<p>To make things even more complicated, I’m homeschooled which obviously makes it difficult to evaluate my academics but I’m planning to take six subject tests rather than two or three. I’ve taken college-level math all through high school so I think I have a chance of getting into an Ivy and if I get in, I’ll be on full aid but it’s the ‘getting in’ part that’s the problem which is why I’m looking at other schools with athletic scholarships although obviously they’re rarer than I’d hoped.</p>
<p>I really appreciate you both taking the time to reply!</p>
<p>You sound to me like someone with a good head on your shoulders and someone that makes mature decisions. You’ve already received excellent advice. I would caution you in one area…don’t cross schools off the list that you think you can’t afford. Ivy League schools give ALOT of NEED based Financial Aid which can sometime be better than athletic scholarships or academic scholarships depending on your situation. Any Ivy League school may be alot more within your reach than you know. Do some research and ask some questions on this board. There is a lot of wisdom & experience on this site. The “old timers” (like myself!) on this site like to help people that ask good questions and make the effort to understand the answers. Good luck.</p>
<p>Bluespiano, I’m confused. You’ve also posted that you were rejected from Harvard, Dartmouth and Princeton this year. How did you even apply without SAT/ACT scores as you indicate above that you haven’t taken them yet? You’ve also stated in other posts that you applied “early”, as in 2 years early? </p>
<p>So you’ve applied to colleges and been rejected and you haven’t actually put up any significant times yet, but you want to be recruited. Other posts would also indicate that you are home-schooled and residing in a foreign country. Taking care of a sick relative for 2 years and your other particulars are certainly extenuating circumstances, but recruiting is a pretty competitive process. The unique-ness of your situation might throw some coaches off. That said, if you could put up some times that would be amongst the best on a college team you still might have a shot, but probably not at the schools that already rejected you once. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I was honestly expecting a bad reaction to my question partially because of the fact that I’m a sophomore and partially because of the likelihood of getting the times I want. The people on this board tend to be more brutal and inconsiderate than they would be in real life so I really appreciate the kind answers. </p>
<p>Like I said, I know that if I am accepted to an Ivy League school I’ll more than likely get full financial aid because of my family’s income but I’m looking at schools that provide athletic scholarships as my back up as I’m not likely to receive a need-based scholarship at non-Ivy schools (I’m an international). I would love to go to an Ivy because of the other opportunities offered but admissions are never a guarantee and I know I’m quite the anomaly which makes me feel even more uncertain.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your reply though! It’s made me feel a lot more comfortable about posting on here. :)</p>
<p>I was given a testing waiver but I realised after I applied that I wouldn’t have been happy at two of the three schools I applied to anyway so I won’t be reapplying to them. Like I’ve said, I know it’s going to be difficult because of the ‘uniqueness’ of my application but that wasn’t what this question was about. That’s an entirely seperate issue. :D</p>
I was honestly expecting a bad reaction to my question partially because of the fact that I’m a sophomore and partially because of the likelihood of getting the times I want. The people on this board tend to be more brutal and inconsiderate than they would be in real life so I really appreciate the kind answers. </p>