<p>D is a junior at a small school. She is an enthusiastic field hockey player, decent though not exceptional. By coincidence, she has attended and will again be attending a summer sports camp directed by the coach from the college she would like to attend. D liked the coach and has contacted her informally during the year. She has also submitted a preliminary recruitment form. My question is: at a selective D3 school, would her interest and contact with the coach be a hook even if her talent is not of the caliber to get her admitted for sports alone? She is a good candidate otherwise (academically and EC), though again, not extraordinary by their standards.</p>
<p>It depends on the school (how important are sports there?), but generally speaking, it's a plus.</p>
<p>I would say so. D3 does not give sports scholarships, so depends on having enough incoming students with the interest.</p>
<p>Except that she is a swimmer, not a field hockey player, my D sounds similar to yours.</p>
<p>My D's experience to date has been mixed. At some schools (Amherst, Williams, Washington University at St. Louis etc) the team is full of recruited or very high performing athletes and, frankly, the coaches have had no interest in her. At other schools, her swimming ability and interests seem to be a small plus. One coach told her that he contacted the admission's office on her behalf.</p>
<p>Even in the schools where the coaches aren't interested in my D, however, I would think that an admissions' officer would look favorably on a kid who has had significant athletic experience. It shows discipline and ability to work with others.</p>
<p>The admissions committee may well be impressed by this EC or some other EC. But, if you want the coach to use whatever pull she has, you probably have to be on the coach's short list.</p>
<p>It will help more if her academics are less than stellar by the school's standards. Among the LACs, few coaches will spend their "tips" on students who would have stood a good chance of getting in anyway. The flipside is that if the academics are subpar, the coaches are likely to be looking for "stars".</p>
<p>So it will look well as a committed EC, but might or might not help beyond that.</p>
<p>Can she get a tip if she is not recruited? My daughter is also interested in playing sports in college and I thought she would have to get recruited in order to receive a tip for sports.
Do you know if this is true?</p>
<p>I guess I was hoping that even if she doesn't make the "short list", the personal contact might give her an edge in the general admissions pool. The coach seemed to like her attitude,etc. at camp. We've seen the team play and it was hard for me to tell how competitive they are. It couldn't hurt to pursue the recruitment path, could it? If she weren't accepted as athlete, they wouldn't discount her other qualifications, would they? As of now, it would still be her first choice, with or without playing field hockey.</p>
<p>I would say that an above average athlete without stellar stats had better apply ed. Our d is now playing her sport as a recruited player at a D-1 school. Her states were well above average and ranked in the top 5% of her high school. She was a club player, MVP, and 3 time all league selection in her sport. When visiting D-3 schools coaches were urging her to commit to ED, as their thinking was "they" need to know before they give a nod to admissions whether or not the athlete is considering their school as their #1 choice. Our d was not willing to do this and therefore did not get admitted to the "elite" D-3 schools she applied to. She is happy with her school which is also a highly ranked lac, but tells friends within her sport who are applying this year to consider ED if they have a #1 choice. The coach can tip the scales for you but they are reluctant to do it unless they are your first choice. At D's school, her coach told them in November she already had 10 committed recruits, not much room left for RD applicants.</p>
<p>"it would still be her first choice, with or without playing field hockey"</p>
<p>Ah, playing may be a different question from admissions hook or even admission small advantage. Ask about walk-on opportunities.</p>
<p>"Tips" are for impact players who might not otherwise get in. Recruits only. However, that doesn't mean that a competent varsity athlete who expresses interest in playing in college can't benefit from making this known to a D-3 coach. They only have a limited number of stars, and they need walk-ons to provide depth. I know for a fact that a Williams coach talked my (non-recruit) daughter up with the admissions committee, despite telling her that there was no guarantee she'd even make the team (she did). On the other hand, a Dartmouth coach took one look at her stats, snorted "you don't need my help--you'll get in" and told her to show up at the equipment room and draw gear if she wanted to play when she got there. IMO, the scenario described by the OP isn't a hook, but it's a positive at small schools, even if it's not a decisive tip.</p>
<p>Thanks, driver. That is a good piece of information. My daughter may not want to apply ED, so it's good to hear about other ways she might be able to play in college.</p>
<p>My D now a first yr med school. Was varsity soccer and swimmer in high school. Was division 1 material but she came from a magnet school in La. that focused on academics not sports. She did not swim her last yr of high school due to coach conflict with swim time and school time. She applied to Div 1 schools went to top soccer and swim summer camps. Did not go to Div 1 school went to all girls division 3 school on academic scholarship. She got the best of both worlds. Played Varisity soccer and swam and got an excellent education. Played with the USA soccer team in Australia.Her school did not have sororities so sports was a major part of her social life. She said she wouldn't give up this experience and thought this way she got to focus on school even though sports took up a good portion of free time and make good grades to get into med school. Which was the goal for her. A division 1 school may have taken up more of her study time since the focus could have been on sports not school. Hard decision for any child but life is all about choices.</p>
<p>Helpful comments all around. D is not D1 material. I don't even know if she is D3 material. Even a nudge from the coach to the adcom would be nice and I think the possibility of walking-on would be okay with her. She may apply ED anyway. I hope that when the coach sees her this summer, she can give her an honest appraisal for what its worth. And we can take it from there.</p>
<p>When your D plays in front of the coach I believe they will give her an honest evaluation. Most coaches in camp situations are very helpful, and insightful. They will tell her what her skill level is as compared to the "team". They are also very honest about walk-ons and what their stats have been in the past. Some teams take 1 walk-on and others 7 or 8. It all depends on what they need that year. Good luck to your D.</p>
<p>"A division 1 school may have taken up more of her study time since the focus could have been on sports not school."</p>
<p>A relative of my played Big-10 sports, starting as a freshman, and loved it but quit to salvage his grades. It just took up too much time. His son walked on to an Ivy team and enjoyed it for two years (but didn't start) before a year abroad made continuation impossible.</p>
<p>Hi all, I have a question regarding girls soccer. The U-16 girls travel soccer coach wants the girls at every practice (2 x a week) however, we found this year during the Spring season many of the travel soccer girls also made and played on their JV and Varsity high school team. This resulted in some conflicts between high school games scheduled at the same time as Travel soccer practice. The travel coaches wants the girls to just not play High School and concentrate on travel because they believe the high school training is not as competitive. Did anyone else run into this problem with their daughter? If so, how was it resolved? More importantly, does anyone know if D3 schools prefer travel playing to High School playing or vice versa? Thanks!</p>
<p>teammanager: There is an Athletics Thread on CC under Specialty Admissions. Lots of parents on that thread with soccer backgrounds.</p>
<p>I’ve been ably assisted to date by the other field hockey/softball parents who have opined on our travels thru the recruiting worls with D '15.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Please don’t pull up 7 year old threads. People will start answering the original poster…</p>