I have heard many stories about people who get into amazing collages (obviously above their academic level) because of sports. I was wondering if girls soccer could help someone get into a top tier school such as MIT, Princeton, or even Yale. Personally I would love to go to one of these schools. I am a female and have very high SAT scores as well as a 4.25 GPA. If the coaches were interested in me would I have a chance at one of these schools?
Recruited athletes are known to have an advantage in admissions to top colleges. The degree of advantage varies, of course, and depends on many factors such as how your application stands in addition to being an athlete and whether or not you excel at your sport to an extent to which the schools you are interested in would want you to play for them. Ivy League and comparable top schools may lower their admissions standards for athletes somewhat (possibly not at all, depending on the particular school and its priorities), but you must nevertheless be a competitive applicant anyway to expect any more than someone else.
Note: MIT is known for being an outlier even among the top schools for its very narrow focus on STEM; thus, because of its culture (which does not emphasize sports to the degree that other schools do), you may not recieve as significant of an admissions boost here as you would at another top school.
If the hockey team needs a new goalie, and you happen to be a decent goalie, you will be accepted.
“It doesn’t make or break your application, but it helps us decide.”
Ivy League schools heavily invest in sports.
Alumni and donors like sports.
EA is filled with recruited athletes.
The above quote is what they say up front; what they really mean is,
“We know it’s bad, but we honestly don’t care if you’re a good enough athlete.”
claire: I don’t mean to be dismissive but if you were the level of athletic prowess that schools like Yale or Princeton might be interested in recruiting you for soccer, you wouldn’t even be asking the question. You’ll have had coaches calling your home and tons of mailers directed at your home since 8th or 9th grade. Becoming a recruit-worthy athlete isn’t something you just don in the 11th or 12th grade. I could be completely wrong and you may be a fantastic star – has your HS ever had athletes sign w/colleges? What did they look like? What would your current coaches say about you? Are you an all-district or all-state level player? In 20 years, my local HS has produced one Div-1 football player.
These are the rare athletes that colleges notice. Does this describe you? If not, then you’ll have to get in based on your non-athletic attributes.
Yes, but not much. If you will be a valuable addition to the team, the coach has some sport of communication with admissions, but you still need to pass scrutiny with admissions. I suspect the coaches have some kind of quota so they need to use their ‘communications’ wisely.
It is possible that soccer might push you over into the acceptance pool, but only if you are a highly recruited soccer player. Since soccer is not recruited out of HS, but usually from top-level club teams, are you currently playing at a very high level? Since you have already taken SAT’s I am guessing you are a junior- usually the top level players have already been recruited by this point, or at least have had a lot of contact with coaches who are interested.
there is a forum here that is better for your questions – http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/
Are you considering any LACs? While they don’t formally recruit athletes, your soccer may help get you into a top tier D3 school.
Apart from T26, you’ve received some pretty poor information. Perhaps it was because you mixed a D3 school known for coaches having very limited admissions influence (MIT) with the D1 IVy league (which has a totally different set of internal rules) which recruits heavily from the best and brightest athletes.
I have a recruited athlete who attended an Ivy (and was “recruited” by MIT). The Ivy process is very very different from the regular applicants and MITs process. The Ivy League has very strict rules regarding the academic bar an athlete must clear to be admitted. (Use Google to look up the Athletic Index.) Those that contend that it helps “but not much” should point out that the statement is accurate ONLY as to MIT but not to the Ivies. Likewise, the fact that a good goalie would be admitted, if needed, is also not accurate (the observation would be true if the goalie ALSO satisfied the AI).
If you want to learn more about the process from posters who are either recruited athletes, wanna be recruited athletes and parents who have gone through the process, post your questions in the athletic forum.
Ivy League athletes are the rarest of combinations: great students and great athletes. These men and women have devoted - in most cases - a decade of hard work to their sport. That hard work (now referred to as a “passion”) - combined with their academics - got them into the league.
I second @T26E4 . If you’ve taken your SAT’s, that implies that you are probably a junior. If you were recruitable for the Ivy League, those coaches would long ago have had you on their radar. For D3 schools, the answer may be different. Good luck!
Even being recruited by an LAC or a d3 school is far from a guarentee. There was a kid from my school recruited by Middlebury for lacrosse. She was in love with the school, academically qualified, and applied early decision. She was rejected. It really depends on how good an athlete you are, what kind of student you are, and how competitive the schools you’re applying to are.
Unfortunately, the other posters are right. Coming from someone who has played soccer at a high school level, I am familiar with the process and the works. For Ivy and D1 schools, they would already have you on their radar. It’s not like you can just pop an email to the Yale coach and be like “Hey, I’d like to play at your school.” Usually, the kids they get are like sports prodigies who have had great accomplishments in middle school and early high school years (ODP, attending US National Team camps). Their attention is attracted early like “whoa this kid is in 8th grade and made the final ODP pool and is going to Germany…”
I don’t know your HS achievements or the caliber of your HS team, but they need to be pretty impressive for someone of that level to look at you. How about club teams? You really should be a valued STARTER on a Top 5-Top 10 team if you’re looking at Ivy/D1 levels. Plus your grades need to be top notch as well. You would have needed to be in contact, had visits, demonstrated interest, attended summer camps and clinics at the college, been in correspondence with the coach…
However, D3 is a much softer, nicer process than that. You don’t need to be on a Top 5-Top 10 team but still being a valued starter is important. I personally didn’t start talking to coaches until fall of senior year. Seems late, I know, but I wasn’t really focused on soccer at the time. I was focusing more on my academics. However, for the two places I was interested in, it seems to be semi-successful. I’ve been in contact and will be participating in showcases in the spring for them to potentially watch me. Just being an athlete isn’t enough though. I have the scores and GPA to carry myself at these places and show that I’m not just riding on athletics to get in.
- What is your SAT/ACT and your UW (unweighted GPA)?
- Have you been in contact with any coaches at all?
- What position are you? Have you looked at the individual college athletic websites to see if the team even needs someone in your position? The coach might have just picked up two freshmen for, say center midfielder, and already has two-three other people who are center mids.
- Be honest with yourself...this is the hardest part...how good are you?
This isn’t meant to be rude in any ways but you should at least know what the competition really is. I know kids who at your age, are committed and set for schools. They’ve been involved with national teams, college clinics and ID camps, and ODP. ODP is the big one. You can still play in college. I never thought that I would be in a position to be recruited either but I’m definitely not Ivy or D1 status. The sooner that you’re honest with yourself about where you can go, the sooner you can work to actually get there.
Good luck!
Parent of male soccer player who hopes to play D3 – an additional consideration is that women’s soccer recruiting begins much earlier than men’s, often 9th and 10th grade girls have committed. My understanding is that, for a female player, 11th grade is on the late side to start recruiting conversations. Coaches would have been all over players from national showcases etc before this year.
Of course, schools want students who can handle multiple commitments, and success as a high school student athlete shows schools that you can handle a busy schedule. So serious athletic commitment, even if not recruitable, is a plus in college applications (as long as the academics are there too).
Good luck, and hang in there.
ECNL is bigger than ODP by far for girls soccer.
Recruiting = getting the attention of the coach and the coach wanting you enough, that is, you being a top choice enough for him to stick his neck out and contact admissions about you as someone he wants on his team.
D3 schools that are first or second in their conferences tend to have a chip on their shoulder about recruiting so if you have those stats and have a great soccer resume, you could be a recruit, but otherwise you’d just be one of a hundred prospects.
A coach showing interest is meaningless until he actually says and does something for you. And if you haven’t talked to coaches, and if coaches haven’t contacted you, you need to hurry up and make yourself known.
All the schools have a “recruitment” form up on their website for each individual sport on their Athletics page. If for some reason you feel you have been overlooked but have something to offer to these schools, fill out the form which asks for your stats and some info on your playing ability. It also asks for the name and contact info of your current coach. The form is sent directly to the head or assistant coach at that particular school for review.
@rhandco Don’t know how I forgot about ECNL. EDP’s another one. If you’re on a team that plays in one of those leagues, you’re at a decent/good level.
I found in personal experience that randomly filling out the recruiting forms isn’t very effective. It’s like going on Harvard admissions and putting your email down to request some information. Sure, they’ll send you stuff and write you but that doesn’t mean they’re interested.
Major tip, OP, go for the coach that shows interest in you. Is he going to put a good word for you in admissions and help you through? Is he actively involved and genuinely interested or could he not really care less? You don’t want the coach that doesn’t want you. You can find more information about this on the athletic recruit board.
Our experience was different with the recruiting forms - D got a return email from every coach. Also, there was at least one college application that my D completed that specifically asked if you played a varsity sport. If the answer was yes, the form automatically popped up for you to complete it.
Obviously, I think most athletes know that if they are one of the most desirable recruits a coach is going to reach out to them first. But certainly at some very good colleges the coaches do not get their pick and are looking down the list. We really do not have enough info about OP to really help but reaching out to a coach can never hurt, and is actively encouraged by some GC’s at some high schools. It’s one more contact point and another potential thing that an applicant can bring to the table.
No I am a sophomore and I was recruited by two of the schools above. They highly recommended that I take the SAT’s early for commitment purposes and the possibility of signing a letter of intent. Despite this, I was curious to see if others have gone through a similar process and what they outcome tends to be. I do play on a high level team and travel around the U.S.
Well that bodes well Claire – you’re 3 semesters in, have fantastic grades and have already done well in your SATs. Keep off the injury bench and you’ll have many options. Best of luck to you.
Broader discussion happens here: