<p>I'm captain of my high school softball team, but I know that I'm not a top athlete. I didn't contact any coaches during the application process, but I recently got in to MIT and I have applied to some other highly academic but not very sports-oriented schools as well (such as UChicago and Carnegie Mellon). I have been thinking about possibly trying to walk-on to the softball team if I end up at one of these schools, but I really have no idea how my ability level compares to theirs. Both in my specific case and more generally, how can you figure out if you're good enough to play for a certain team in a sport like softball, where you can't simply compare your times to current team members?</p>
<p>Ask your high school coach for an honest assessment. How did you do compared to teams you played? What’s your position? Baseball (and I assume softball) needs lots and lots of pitchers. Pitchers do have stats and speeds. Does softball have different kinds of pitches? If you are a pitcher you should know if you are good or not. If you can pitch you stand a good shot at making a team. </p>
<p>How was your batting average? on base percentage? Your fielding percentage (errors etc.) There ARE stats kept in baseball (once again I assume in softball.) Are you fast? Speed matters in the outfield and on the bases. I would assume you need to stand out in at least one area, or be good in ALL of them…</p>
<p>Hopefully your HS coach has a clue and can tell you how you compare to the typical college bound athlete from his/her experience.</p>
<p>Finally, Softball may have a fall “practice” season. Find out if you would be eligible to participate if you weren’t recruited. I suppose that is the “walking on” part. Just contact the coach. Ideally you would call, but you could start with an email, or fill out the prospective athlete form on their website. You will probably be asked about your stats, so find them out. My son played freshman baseball before giving it up for football. Even at freshman level they had tons of stats so hopefully you have some.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I was googling what % of high school athletes play collegiate softball and stumbled upon this website, maybe it can be of help…
[A</a> Guide to the Recruitment Process for Collegiate Softball | iSport.com](<a href=“http://softball.isport.com/softball-guides/a-guide-to-the-recruitment-process-for-collegiate-softball]A”>http://softball.isport.com/softball-guides/a-guide-to-the-recruitment-process-for-collegiate-softball)</p>
<p>MIT is division III. It’s very possible you can just send the coach an email and introduce yourself, find out about tryouts, etc. Since they don’t offer scholarships, I’m sure they get a lot of walk on’s to try out too. Look at the team websites for the various colleges, look at the stats for whomever is playing your position–what year they are too and see if you match up. Now, consider that pitching is probably better so take that into consideration for batting averages, etc.</p>
<p>I imagine MIT accepts walkons in every sport. Contact the coach, nothing to lose.</p>
<p>Emmy: You accomplished the difficult part, academic acceptance to
MIT ! Congratulations!</p>
<p>I would immediately send the softball coach an email introduing yourself, letting her know you’re a Class of '16 admit, along with your high school or club coaches contact information for follow-up calls. If you have a stat sheet with your batting average, OBP, ERA, WHIP (if a pitcher) send those along as well.</p>
<p>MIT is in Florida this week at a tournament, so it may be a few days befroe you hear from the Coach. Below is the link to the website to see who is on the roster and what positions they play.</p>
<p>Best of Luck!!</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.mitathletics.com/sports/w-softbl/index]MIT[/url”>General - Massachusetts Institute of Technology]MIT[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of your help! I’m on Spring Break this week, so I’ll wait until Monday to consult with my coach. I don’t know my actual batting average, OBP, or fielding statistics (I’m an outfielder), so I want to check with my coach before contacting MIT’s. However, I’m really grateful for all of your advice, and I know I’ll enjoy MIT even if I can’t be on the team!</p>