<p>I tend to agree with TheGFG on this. Track camp in general is not critical for recruiting. It will give the student a chance to live on campus, possibly meet current athletes if they are helping at camp, and observe/work with the coach if you’re lucky. But as GFG says this may not translate into a recruiting conversation. It’s not a connect-the-dots process. My D attended Princeton camp and enjoyed the experience: she met a lot of students who eventually did sign with Ivy teams as she did, but she never became a P recruit, and actually came away with more negatives than positives for the program. She also wasn’t quite fast enough to be a clear recruit for P who were #1 XC at the time, but went on to have a fine career at another school in the league.</p>
<p>It’s all very confusing plus a lot of juggling of dates. My D will be attending the track clinic at Harvard in July, but she’s also been invited to UPenn, Lehigh, Hillsdale in Michigan, FGCU in Florida, and some others here in the Southeast. So a wide variety because we have cast a wide net. Not sure if she’s fast enough for the Ivies but think it would be some good coaching as well as exposure for her. Should we spend the money to send her to, say, UPenn’s camp or just do a Nike or Warrior camp in our neck of the woods in addition to the Harvard clinic?</p>
<p>Track and field is stats-based. A college coach can very easily research online the times, distances, or heights an athlete has run/jumped/thrown. I don’t think camps matter for track recruiting, and especially not in the case of running. Your student can show interest in a school by way of an unofficial visit and meeting with the coach, or by calling and sending e-mails. My D was recruited without having attended camps, and did not even visit her school (top 10 program) before her OV.</p>
<p>So I would advise your D attend whatever camps she’s interested in and you can afford for their training value–not recruiting value.</p>
<p>If you are mainly thinking of recruiting exposure - I think your resources are best spent by competing in the big national meets (if you qualify). We made 2 road trips to Greensboro, NC the summer after junior year and it was a veritable ‘who’s-who’ of college track coaches. Email coaches prior to the meets to let them know you’re interested in their programs and will be at the meets. Again, they won’t be able to talk much, but you’ll be a highlighted name on their clipboards.</p>
<p>If you can’t attend the meets - I think the second best way to get exposure is to email the coach and arrange an unofficial visit to campus. You’ll get more one-on-one face time with the head coach and probably have a better opportunity to learn about the program. </p>
<p>Camps can be good - but as GFG said, they’re often more about making money for the program than a serious recruiting tool. But if you’re a thrower, jumper or hurdler - it can be valuable to learn technique and also get a feel for how your event is coached at the school (I think riverrunner mentioned that earlier in the thread)</p>
<p>Is anyone able to comment about the most to least generous financial aid available with for Ivy track recruits. I know which schools offer grants rather than loans as part of their needs based awards, but I can’t imagine what the actual range of support might be from school to school. </p>
<p>In other words, if you are lucky enough to get a likely letter and an understanding of the financial award that will accompany that admission, and you have to be ready to respond immediately, then it would be helpful to know how to prioritize official visits with the understanding of how far apart financial support is likely to be within the Ivy League.</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Princeton, Yale and Harvard seem to have the most generous FA. That would be for all students, regardless of whether you are an athlete. Each school has A FA calculator on its website to get a rough idea.</p>
<p>For us, Yale came in the best, then Princeton, and then Harvard and Penn, with Columbia agreeing to match whatever numbers Harvard gave us. But there was not more than a $2 or $3,000 difference per year, if I recall correctly. Our non-athlete son attended Dartmouth. At that point they were not quite as competitive in that there were loans included in the package. They then eliminated loans for new students, but switched back to loans again after the financial crisis. Not sure of the situation there now. But they and Cornell were still better in FA than top merit scholarships at most other schools.</p>
<p>So my S is a jumper only and does not run xcountry. Will that hurt him with an Ivy if they need a jumper of his caliber? His marks appear competitive but because his GPA is not as high as it could be, he is convinced he doesn’t have a shot. His AI is over 200 but is that really good enough for an Ivy if it is not much over? He plans to take the SAT again but I don’t know if that will matter. He does have other excellent extracurricular activities where he competed at the state level besides track but he doesn’t want to waste time worrying about the Ivies if there is no point. He has had two Ivies contact him re camps etc. so that is encouraging and he has placed at State for two years now in three jumping events. Thanks for any advice. He is a rising senior.</p>
<p>A 200 AI (650 per section SAT and 3.5 GPA?) is not a deal killer if the jumps are there. Ivy League has been pretty strong in the jumps lately. My guess would be that at least a few Ivy coaches would be happy with a 6’7" HJ, 23’6 LJ or 47’+ TJ with a 200AI.</p>
<p>Email coaches with scores and jumps and get their feedback</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. Got a lot of new info in the last 24 hrs including grades and SAT IIs so now solidly in the 208-210 range which seems to be a reasonable place to be. And received a very positive email from a third Ivy. A couple more questions…is it really worth the effort to take the SATs or ACTs over again to try to raise the academic index a few points. Or is the die pretty much cast at this point and the marks in S’s events really the determining factor now? And how important is it that we attend the open houses that we get invited to for prospective recruits? If we are planning a separate trip and can visit the school some other time this summer, is that good enough? With plane tickets across the country in the $600+ range, I am trying to consolidate visits as much as possible. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>In my opinion the crucial numbers at this point are athletic rather than academic. But ask the coaches if they think it would be wise to retake tests.
As for camps and open houses, read some of the earlier posts in this thread. I think your travel $ may be better spent taking a visit and meeting the coach.</p>
<p>Hey Everyone!
First time poster and long time reader. I’m a distance runner, who is ranked pretty highly nationally in a couple different events. I had a couple quick questions for those experienced in Ivy League Recruiting.
1.) I have gone to the track open house at Yale, and will be intending the Harvard open house later this summer. Does this mean that the colleges are serious about recruiting you and how selective are the group of kids invited? Like is it a dozen or fifty? I went to the Yale open house in the winter when there were surely fewer kids than would go during their summer open house and I was just wondering what it means to be invited.
2.) After calculating my AI on a few different sites, it is generally between 215-222 with mediocre test scores (1940, 31 ACT), assuming that this fall I can get a good increase in my scores (both scores were the first time) and I am an athlete the coaches want on their team, what are my chances of getting through admission?</p>
<p>Thanks Everyone!</p>
<p>^ When you say Harvard open house, are you talking about the summer track and field clinic 7/20-21?</p>
<p>Massrunner,</p>
<p>I believe the average AI for recruited athletes for HYP now stands at about 214, so your test scores should be in line with other recruited athletes. However for HYP it is difficult to predict if the admission committee will accept a particular applicant until after an academic pre-read.</p>
<p>Varska,</p>
<p>No it is not the summer track and field clinic. It is the Harvard University Track and Field Junior Day, which are being held on July 22nd and August 16th. From what the coach said, it is just a day going through the admissions process, talking to your event coach, and getting a detailed tour of the Harvard Campus.</p>
<p>Hi
I have a question about the IVY Academic Index and prospects. He has decent times from his spring season - 4:25 in the mile and 4:22 in the 1600 and 1:55 in the 800M. He has competed at the New Balance Nationals, States and some competitive invitationals this spring. He has a 32 ACT and a 3.7 with rigorous curriculum - honors and APS. SAT 2’s were 650 and 680. His list of schools is short (he is really only emailing 4 coaches - 2 Ivies 2 D3) as he genuinely wants the right fit. He has had a few email exchanges, but no telephone calls from coaches. We know that he is on the second tier list, and are concerned that he is not laying his net wide enough. He has two unofficial visits scheduled this month (both Ivies), but one of them is an open house he was invited to and so for all we know they could be inviting 100 kids. I have read mixed messages about the academic index - some give points for rigor some don’t. He had 3 APS his junior year and is scheduled for 4 his senior year. When I calculate it without extra points for rigor he is only at 208 which is not high enough for track from what I read. Is it true you can add 5 extra points for rigor?</p>
<p>The main purpose of the AI is to provide an academic ‘snapshot’ of groups of athletes. So for that purpose I would say no, there isn’t a boost for course rigor - otherwise the top end of the scale would actually be 245. And when determining if Columbia, for example, is keeping their athletes within 1 standard deviation of the student body, they’re not going to get into the nuances of evaluating rigor.</p>
<p>Howevah, when a coach is evaluating your chances of getting through admissions, a rigorous transcript will work in your favor. Try not to get too hung up on 208 vs 210 being a make or break hurdle. For what it’s worth, I think he’s potentially recruitable if the times are there. But I think you are being very realistic that his times may not put him at a top D1 recruit level.
I think your instinct to expand his search is a good one.</p>
<p>I just wish the process was more transparent. Seems to create a great deal of anxiety in the child and parents. Our D is a rising senior with very top tier academic numbers (close to perfect AI) and very good but not top tier running numbers. She has been in contact with some of the IL coaches this past year and they seemed extremely interested, even asked for transcripts. Now, July 1st has come and gone. She got a couple of calls this week from IL programs but not the ones that generated a lot of interest previously. Does this mean the other coaches are no longer interested or is she just lower on the list than previously thought? Not sure how significant the July 1 date is for calls and level of interest. She has a friend in town who is a top tier recruit and received 4 calls on July 1 from top D1 schools. Also not sure how significant it is for a school to ask for transcripts.</p>
<p>We just encouraged her to continue reaching out to the schools she is very interested in and being proactive. This whole process seems like dating. You don’t know if the other person really likes you or not. Do they really want a long term relationship or not, etc.</p>
<p>I heard that Harvard and Brown are usually the most generous with financial aid. Obviously Harvard because they have a large endowment. This isn’t only track and field though.</p>
<p>Thanks Varska for your feedback! The rigor of his courses hurt his AI number unfortunately, but in the long run has him better prepared for college. Jadbow my son has not gotten any calls either. I believe the coaches are trying to spend their time and energy pursuing the top tier runners at this point which is only logical. As the dust settles, I am hoping that they then look at their roster to see what needs filling in, and will be evaluating slower kids with strong academics. It would not be right for coaches to be calling kids who are not their top choices. We have only had one transcript request as well. Although this is all new to us, I am trying to let common sense prevail. The tough part is getting the 17 year old to reach out to more coaches. He has had some coaches send friendly replies back and other coaches not answer any of them. We are half thinking that a coach may not use a recruitment spot for our son, but offer to help him with admissions since his testing falls in the mid 50% range of accepted applicants. Teenage boys do not have the same sense of urgency with time ticking away that parents do. He seems to believe that there is plenty of time. Cross Country in the fall, other extra curricular commitments and 4 APs makes for a very full schedule and very little time. I am learning a lot reading these threads so thank you to everyone for your contributions and especially those of you have the knowledge of the process, but not kids going through it right now :)</p>