I understand that Ivy schools do not give scholarships for athletic,s but I was wondering if recruited athletes would be given any admission support. My grades and SAT scores are on par for any Ivy league school but still any help through admissions would be a huge benefit. I was also wondering if anyone could guess what distance a discus thrower would have to throw to be given any consideration. I am currently throwing around 150’ and have received numerous recruitment letters but the majority (if not all) of them are from D3 schools. I think I should be able to hit 165-170 by the end of the summer this year. I have found sources with general walk on requirements the majority of which are 155-180. If I can throw a 165-170 by the end of the summer, does that increase my chances of getting into any Ivy league school?
First of all, walk on and recruitment are two very different things. Being recruited will help you much, much more in admissions. For Ivy Leagues, likely letters are usually intended for recruited athletes and the top of their applicant pool.
But yes, if you meet their recruitment standards (which can be found on their websites, Columbia’s is 155’ for disc) you should have s good chance unless they aren’t in need of any throwers. When they intend to recruit you, they put you on a list to send to admissions, and admissions will most likely (not guaranteed) admit you. To one of my D2 schools they told me I was 99.5% admitted, the admissions office just wants the last word.
No better place to find out if you will be recruited or not by filling out each schools recruiting questionnaire and shooting an email to the recruiting coordinator coach or head coach.
If you’re a recruit - meaning the coach is using one of his/her limited spots/Likely Letters - that can help quite substantially with Ivy admissions.
There’s a post at Tier One athletics that gives a good sense of what it takes to be in the ballpark for recruiting in the Ivies - obviously ultimately at a particular school it will depend on what their needs are that year and who else is available. Princeton also posts guidelines for recruits and walk-ons on the team website.
Some Ivies will only have a couple of throwers on the roster and in general there aren’t as many spots as for sprinters or distance runners. If you can also throw another implement in addition to discus that would be ideal. A lot of the Ivy season is indoor where weight throw and shot put are the throwing events.
Thank you both for your replies. I didn’t realize there was such variation between Ivy League standards. Columbia’s is 155’ while Harvard’s is 195’. For anyone that may find this page here are some links to specific schools:
All good advice above. Yes, being a recruited athlete is a huge boost in Ivy admissions, provided the academics are there. You can search ‘academic index’ to get a feel for what that means in the Ivy League. In your case, just painting with a broad brush, I would say SAT scores around 700 per section and an unweighted GPA >3.5 and throwing 170 by the end of Jr. year will make you a reasonably good candidate.
As others have said, a lot will depend on team needs. If Princeton just picked up 2 great freshman throwers - they may not be in the market. I’m a little surprised by Columbia’s posted standard of 155’, other Ivies are looking for 190 for target recruits.
Another factor may be your perceived upside potential. If you have good mechanics and a frame that could support more mass - you might be okay if you’re a little shy of the recruiting standards. At any rate, yes, go ahead and initiate a conversation with coaches - their opinions are the ones that actually matter.
Good advice above, except a little understated on the “boost.”
If you are a recruited athlete (i.e., given a coach’s slot) with an acceptable AI (which would get you pre-cleared by admissions), it’s more than a boost or even a huge boost, it’s pretty much a guarantee.
In my experience, there really is no real boost for “walk ons.” There are occasionally walk ons at some sports at some Ivies, but IMO they got in on their own merits. That subject is a bit murky, though. It’s hard to get a straight answer from Ivy coaches on that one.
^ absolutely right. If you are a LL recruit, it’s not a “boost”, it’s pretty much a lock. Getting to that point of being offered the LL, however, can be a drawn-out, mentally exhausting ordeal - but it all starts with initiating a conversation with the coach.
Walk-on support, as @8bagels said, is very difficult to gauge. Athletic departments and coaches are able to support a limited number of athletes per Ivy League rules. Any support for athletes exceeding the number of allotted recruits is “murky”, indeed.
I wouldn’t place too much stock in the exact numbers posted on school websites - as varska said the coach is the one who can really say. E.g. the Harvard ones appear to have some typos as for hammer the walk on distances are longer than the recruit distances. Also for female pole vault and high jump, the recruit and walk on numbers are the same. I take that as an indication that some of the posted numbers may not be exhaustively vetted.
It could be though that Columbia is more actively in the market for throwers than some others as they currently have no male throwers on the roster and one female thrower. It could also mean that the coach chooses to focus his limited recruiting spots on other events and once in a while gets a walk on thrower.