<p>I have been eye-balling the Dartmouth track team for about a year now and I was wondering how I should approach the Dartmouth coach. </p>
<p>Do I simply email him at the end of the spring season with my stats and academics?
Do they pull strings academically to get athletes on the team? I am fairly qualified already 2200 and 3.85 UW but do they go to great lengths to get athletes on the team even if they aren't quite qualified academically?</p>
<p>Yes, yes, yes.</p>
<p>The caveat is this:* how good exactly are your times?* Could you make the team with your stats right now? If so, shouldn’t you hedge your bets and contact multiple colleges’ track coaches? The more you have to choose from the more leverage you’ll wield come decision time on your part.</p>
<p>Consider reading through some threads here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/</a></p>
<p>My times aren’t quite good enough yet so what I think I might do is wait for late May or early June and contact Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Vassar, Middlebury and maybe Brown and Yale and see what they say in June.</p>
<p>You should speak with your school’s coaching staff too. Don’t forget to register with ncaa.org</p>
<p>I have a brother who went through the recruiting process for track and he runs for a d1 school. </p>
<p>Email the coach. If you think you have strong (recruitable) times now, email and keep updating with any PRs. The coaches are usually honest if you ask them if you’re good enough to be recruited.
So there’s no way to tell without contacting a coach, and don’t be afraid to do that.</p>
<p>If you DO have good enough creds to earn a spot, then you’re fine academically unless something catastrophic happens</p>
<p>Also, I’m assuming you’re a junior.</p>
<p>@T26E4</p>
<p>I will but it costs 70 dollars.</p>
<p>@hjr7778 </p>
<p>Thanks, I’m a junior</p>
<p>Speak with your coaches about ncaa.org. It might be a necessity of you’re truly considering being a recruitable athlete – I’m not 100% positive.</p>
<p>
This is mix of D1 and D3 teams with very different standards for recruiting. If your times are close to good enough for recruiting to Dartmouth which is a D1 school you are most likely already a strong D3 recruit … and Williams, Bowdoin, Vasser, and Middlebury are D3 schools.</p>
<p>^ I agree with that. For example, if you are a male 400m runner D1 (Dartmouth, Brown and Yale) will probably want to see times under 48-49. At a D3 you might be a solid recruit in the 52-53 range.</p>
<p>As for NCAA Eligibility Center - you’ll have to register if you want to run D1. If you’re a Junior, you should do it now. Registration isn’t necessary if you compete in D3.</p>
<p>3togo
I know that. The NESCAC D3 schools are like back-ups if I can’t jump as far as I would like to this year. And if I were to do the NCAA Eligibility sign up it would probably be in May.</p>
<p>If I can long jump 21 feet and triple 43 then I’ll talk to Dartmouth and Yale But if I can only do 20 and 41 then I will talk to Williams and Middlebury.</p>
<p>22’6 and 45 might be a better goal for D1</p>
<p>@Varska
No but for junior year. Those stats are for the athletes already in college. The guys that can jump 22’6 at Yale were probably jumping 20 feet junior year. They get better when they get to college and have a better coaching staff. </p>
<p>For example, Reid P. is in his second year a Williams. He jumped about 21’6 last week but as a junior in high school he was only jumping 18’4, indoors! indoors! I can jump 18’4 indoors.</p>
<p>It really comes down to a numbers game, bookbook. Last year there were over 500 HS Juniors that jumped better than 21 feet. It took 22’3 just to make it to State where I live. Granted, they don’t all have the academic chops to get admitted to the Ivy League, but at 21’, you’re still part of a very large pool. 22’6, on the other hand, would put you in the top 100 HS Juniors - much better chances of making it in D1</p>
<p>As for coaches recruiting on potential - sure, there is some of that. If a kid has blazing sprint speed and just started jumping, they may realize he has a lot of upside. But given a choice between bringing in an athlete that can score points immediately or bring in someone that may (or may not) develop - they’ll go with the former.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be mean - just suggesting where best to focus your energy.</p>
<p>these may help some … certainly not the bible of recruiting … but one set of reasonable guidelines … [Men’s</a> Track Recruiting Information | NCSA Athletic Recruiting | NCSA](<a href=“http://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting-tools/mens-high-school-track/mens-track-recruiting-guidelines]Men’s”>http://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting-tools/mens-high-school-track/mens-track-recruiting-guidelines)</p>
<p>Definitely register with the NCAA now. Also, make sure you take your ACT/SAT asap. Although DI is very competitive, going DIII to a Williams or Amherst is a gamble. There is no definite “commit”, even with support from the coach, you basically are an early acceptance at a DIII with an invite to try out for the team. Money is not athletically based either. Grades, merit, need…etc. At an Ivy ( Dartmouth), the coach may present the team as a group, therefore using the AI. ( academic index). With strong grades and test scores, you may be what they call the “swimmer” which is the person used to get others into the school. You don’t have to have to best track times if you have the best grades, you don’t have to have the best grades if you have the best track times. Also, the relationship between the coach and admissions is crucial. Find out how many recruits the coach gets through admissions, and where you would fall on the coach’s support list. If he is presenting 8 student/athletes to admissions, what number are you? At an Ivy you should be able to get a 'likely letter", sometimes as early as 6 months before early decision applications are due. That is the Ivy equivalent to a NLI. ( national letter of intent at a Duke, Stanford, UNC…) Remember, there is no athletic based scholarship at an Ivy. Money can come from need based, merit, etc…not athletics. Have 3 DI athletes, one at Dartmouth. ( not track) Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>The earliest that an Ivy League school can issue a likely letter is Oct 1st of an athleteÂ’s senior year. Early decision applications are generally due Nov. 1st.</p>
<p>Not true. Had one in July before my sons senior year in high school.</p>
<p>Ice Hockey has been known to give likely letters in the Junior year of high school.</p>
<p>What I should explain is you are sent an email with the " soft" copy of the likely letter from admissions that is sent to the coach from the admissions read. You are then sent the “hard” copy via mail before early decision applications are due. The email sent soft copy and mailed hard copy are exactly the same.</p>
<p>So basically what I’m getting is that I should sign up for NCAA now?</p>
<p>And @wearing red what I’ll do is I’ll email the schools and then the sickest or the one that shows most interest in me I will do ED to.</p>
<p>But what is the typical protocol if Williams or another D3 says that they are interested in me? Do they invite me to campus or do I just keep on emailing them my PR’s until ED deadline?</p>