<p>I will be applying to selective, small colleges like UChicago, Harvey Mudd, CalTech, and MIT. I'm a competitive applicant (2350, 800/790 subject tests, 4.00 unweighted, great writer) but I'm also a white male and I could use all the help I can get. I run the 400 and am about half of a second away from being a consistent scorer on most of these teams (51.35 PR). I could really use that supporting letter from the track coach at these schools as something that could move me from the waitlist pool into the admit pool, but I'm not sure my times will get me that. Does anyone have any insight on how this works? Do schools have cutoff times? Also, is filling out the Front Rush forms enough, or should I be establishing personal contact with all of these coaches? If coaches like me, are they any more likely to flag my application on my behalf? Thanks</p>
<p>Hey tracknerd, yes, establish personal contact with the coaches. The online recruiting forms have a way of disappearing into cyberspace, it seems. As for the likelihood of getting admissions support, that will be dependent on the particular school and the team needs at any given time. Don’t be shy about asking if athletic support exists and if you might be a candidate. </p>
<p>One last thing - the schools you mentioned are all terrific schools, obviously. But the yield rates (percentage of accepted students that actually enroll) are pretty low (exc MIT). Coaches at lower yielding schools are leery of being used as safeties. So in your communication, make it clear that you specifically want to attend THAT college.</p>
<p>Thanks varska, excellent advice. Hard to believe places like UChicago are being used as safety schools. Anyone willing to second the “don’t be shy about asking if athletic support exists and if you might be a candidate”? I don’t want to come across as insecure about my application, but again, anyone applying to these schools can use all the help they can get.</p>
<p>Call (or send an email to) the coaches! You have no reason to be insecure about anything. It’s possible you can help the track teams at these schools and the coaches know this, of course. I believe there’s a good chance you ultimately will be invited to a Fall recruiting trip to one or more of those schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>You need to start emailing as soon as possible, assuming you are a junior, and call your top three choices. They can call you starting July 1st (again, if you are a junior).</p>
<p>I’m not sure why the subject is D3 supporting letter - if you don’t have a relationship with any of the coaches, I don’t think that’s anywhere near on the table. </p>
<p>I would think you’ll be fine with or without sports to get into at least some of your target schools. </p>
<p>The quality of the track programs and the amount of “pull” that coaches will have at these schools are very different, so you should do some homework on each of them. Check out the times of the athletes at these schools on the athletic portion of the web sites for these schools. MIT and Chicago have very good programs and the coaches have a little pull but not a lot, especially if you would be in the middle of the pack from an athletic standpoint. Harvey Mudd teams up with CMC and is less competitive – so your time would be more impressive there. The coaches for Mudd have some pull in admissions. Caltech has the weakest program, but I think the coach also would have the least pull with the administration in admissions. </p>
<p>@ReallyOk How do you know which schools have more pull?</p>
<p>D3 schools don’t follow by the July 1st deadline. I am also a D3 track recruit and have been called by numerous NESCAC schools already. A couple are going a pre-read process to see my realistic chances with admissions before they flag me. If you want a small selective school, consider the NESCAC ( Connecticut College, Bates, Hamilton, Trinity, Tufts and a few others)</p>
<p>@sg20194949 How serious is the pre-read process? What if I still plan to take the SAT again in the fall with the hopes of bringing my score up further? My concern is that a pre-read could form such a negative impression that they would not consider me again if I were to get my score up in October. Not that my score is bad, but it’s slightly below the median at some places that interest me. </p>