My Chances as a D3 recruit?

Athletic Recruits
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<p>I'm a senior in Canada applying ED to Washington University in St. Louis as a recruited baseball player. Could anybody give some opinions on how my chances of admission look? </p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2160 composite 740 M 740 R 680 W 10 Essay
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~92% average, equates to 4.0 unweighted
Rank: top 5 perentile in class of about 450-500
AP: not offered, but I am in the 'Gifted' program
IB: not offered
Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars :
-Baseball: 12 years, Varsity team all 3 years at school, won regional championship all 3 years, 3rd place provincially 2 years, played on multiple all star teams, including one that won a province-wide all star tournament
-Duke of Edinburgh: Bronze program in grade 9, Gold in grade 12
-Nominated by teachers to attend school's leadership camp all 3 years, couldn't attend grade 11 due to baseball
-Math contests, a few awards including 1 top score in school for a grade 12 contest i wrote in grade 11
-Tae-Kwon-Do black belt</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:
-Umpiring, 5 years</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service:
-Founder of an initiative to send baseball equipment to youth in Cuba, started late grade 11
-About 30 hours of assisting at baseball tournaments by running kiosks, selling raffle tickets, manicuring diamonds, etc,
-About 120 hours coaching younger kids and helping out at instructional camps and clinics, including the Toronto Blue Jays Honda Supercamp held in the Rogers centre</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
-Elite travel baseball and attending showcases in the U.S.
-umping and volunteer work</p>

<p>Essays: In progress, fairly unique
Teacher Recommendation: 1 from chem and physics teacher in grade 11 and 12 which should be just above average, 1 from grade 10 history teacher which should be good
Counselor Rec: Very good
Additional Rec: 1 from HS baseball coach, should be strong, 1 from umpire in chief who assisting me with the drive to cuba
Interview: At WashU in St. Louis, had it with the baseball coach, went alright but it was really just me asking him questions about the program</p>

<p>Other
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: Large Public with around 2000 students
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Probably 100-200k
Hooks: Baseball Recruit . Wash U doesn't have 'slots' to offer (no slam dunks), but the coach said he would let admissions know I am a baseball recruit, but doesn't have much pull.</p>

<p>Apart from ED at Washington University in St. Louis, I'll apply RD at Tufts, Bates, Stevens Institute of Technology, Uchiacago, and more. Feel free to suggest any RD schools!</p>

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<p>Anybody? Please?</p>

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<p>I think you will get into Wash U with coach support. That said, for RD why don’t you apply to the other schools in UAA conference? In addition to WashU and UChicago, there is Emory, NYU, Case, URochester, CMU and Brandeis. All good schools, similar in some respects, and probably if you are a good recruit for one, you should be competitive for the others.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input! I’m just worried because the coach told me outright that they do see recruits get rejected with support since academics are definitely the top priority at WashU. That’s a good idea about the other uaa schools. I just listed other schools that have recruited me.</p>

<p>Anyone else have anything to say?</p>

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<p>BaseballEh,</p>

<p>Your academics are very, very good and SHOULD be enough to get you in on their own merit whether RD or ED to many of the schools you’ve noted inclduing Tufts, Bates, Stevens Institute of Technology, Uchiacago. Tufts will have the most competitive baseball team (top 10) of these schools you’ve noted, and coach does have a little influence with Admission through tips and slots. Case’s program is also on the rise.</p>

<p>I fully understand baseball recruiting and I’m fluent in coach speak. You’ve listed baseball as your hook. I’m most interested in understanding your strategy for ED and Washington U if the baseball coach is giving you a lukewarm response at best for your hook. Is D3 a good fit for your baseball skills? You have outstanding academic credentials, help me understand your motivation for WashU, ED, and baseball hook. Could you use this hook elsewhere?</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>About WashU - straight from a coach - admissions make all the decisions, but coaches do tell admissions who they are interested in and would like to see on their team, and then stay on top of admissions about the recruits that interest them.</p>

<p>It really all depends on whether admissions deems you acceptable and your baseball talent.</p>

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<p>@fenwaysouth
Thanks for the reply! I visited Wash U a couple weeks ago on an unofficial overnight visit with the baseball team. While I was there the coach said I would have no problem making the team, but I’d have to fight for playing time, especially as a freshman and sophomore (a couple other incoming catchers and ones on the team). However, I liked the school’s campus, facilities, and mostly the atmosphere on campus and the attitudes of all the students and faculty I met. I guess you could say that of the schools I’ve visited, WashU definitely felt the most ‘Canadian’ to me lol. I do think d3 baseball is a good fit for me athletically, as the U Mass coach told me at a showcase that I was definitely a college ball player, but because I’m a bit small for my position it’d be difficult to get recruited for d1. Nonetheless Wash U is a school I’d love to go to even if I (knock on wood) couldn’t play ball for some reason. I could also probably get a push in admissions from Bates, Stevens, and Franklin & Marshall.</p>

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<p>@myluckydog
Thanks for the info. That’s pretty parallel with what I’ve heard about Wash U recruiting. If I’m not mistaken isn’t that the way recruiting and admissions go about things at many selective d3’s?
What do you mean by ‘stay on top of admissions’?
Sorry to you and everyone if any of my questions seem redundant btw… Being from Canada I don’t have many people going through the recruiting (or even application) process to US schools that I can talk to for guidance, especially to strong academic schools.</p>

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<p>BaseballEh,</p>

<p>Okay, gotcha. You see your baseball level in line with WashU baseball. You’d have the opportunity to earn a spot…which is all you can ask from a coach. It appears the coach knows you, and wants you which is a real important aspect to D3 baseball recruiting. It sounds like WashU is your dream school, so I think WashU makes a lot of sense to apply ED. You have the academic background to get in just about anywhere, and if you got hurt you’d remain at WashU. I can’t disagree with the logic and approach. Truthfully, you sound like a very mature young man who understands where he fits in the baseball hierarchy, and wants a great education at a great school. You should be proud of your self awareness, because there are many baseball players your age who don’t.</p>

<p>You may want to reach out to some other schools/baeball coaches as a backup before you apply ED (Nov 15) to WashU. I would inform them that you plan to apply RD to the other schools, and see what they say. if things don’t work out at WashU, you will have started a dialogue with the other RD schools and coaches. I understand your first goal is education but you want to play baseball too. At the very least, these RD coaches will know who you are if you re-contacted them about their program and possible Fall tryouts. I hope that makes sense becasue the last thing you want to do is show up at Fall tryouts and the RD Coach has no idea who you are.</p>

<p>Good luck and please let me know if I can help.</p>

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<p>By “stay on top” I mean they call over and talk to admissions, remind admissions that they’re interested in you, and ask about the likelihood of them admitting you.</p>

<p>It may not sound like a lot, but having someone shepherd your application through admissions can make all the difference in the world.</p>

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<p>Son’s friend just went throught the process w/ Wash U (decided on a NESCAC school instead) and was offered a fast-track pre-read. Is that an option for you??</p>

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<p>@fenwaysouth
Yeah, WashU is definitely my top choice school. Thanks for the comment! I’ve learned that seeing everything in the right perspective is an important part of living happily :slight_smile: I have been in contact with some coaches about potentially applying to their schools for RD if I don’t get in to Wash U, and I’m going to make sure I contact the coaches of all the schools apply RD to if I do end up having to. Do you mind me asking how you’ve become familiar with the recruiting process yourself?</p>

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<p>@myluckydog
I’m assuming you mean they do this after I’ve sent my application? That does sound like it could be really helpful! I haven’t talked to the coach about anything like that yet, so is that something I should bring up with him, or would that be kinda rude? If I should ask, how do you suggest doing so?</p>

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<p>@momochan
So your friend applied to his schools RD? A while ago I asked the coach to do a pre-read for me, and he said he’d run my SAT and GPA and senior course load by admissions. A few weeks later he said “the feedback [he] received from admissions was positive - [I’m] in the range of a typical admit - but just to be clear, there’s still no guarantee. [He does like my] chances, however.” Wash U doesn’t offer ‘likely letters’ though.</p>

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<p>BaseballEh - You have a private message</p>

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<p>@fenwaysouth</p>

<p>Got it!</p>

<p>Also, bump.</p>

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<p>I don’t think anything asked in good faith and in a courteous manner, no matter how direct, is rude.</p>

<p>You have a right and a duty to yourself to make sure you understand everything that is being told to you.</p>

<p>I suggest you ask the coach what level of support he will give your application, what that includes, and where that falls in the continuum of support that he can provide recruits (i.e., is it the highest level of support, medium level, etc.)</p>

<p>Listen to what he tells you and if you don’t understand anything, ask him to kindly explain it further. You will likely get a lot of touchy feel/hard to pin down answers. This doesn’t mean that the coach is snowing you, it’s just that his relationship with admissions is more like a conversation and there are no hard and fast rules like there might be in D1 or even in the Ivies.</p>

<p>Having said that, just because a coach may be giving a higher level of support to another recruit does not mean that you should write the school and the coach off.</p>

<p>At the end of the day there will likely be no assurances and you might well decide to move forward (enthusiastically) with several schools at the same time.</p>

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<p>We have been through this process and I agree with myluckydog^^, especially the part about finding out where you are on the Wash U’s coach’s continuum of support.<br>
You mentioned applying RD to Tufts and Bates. Is that for baseball as well? I believe they still have ED2 and Bates could be a backup. Have you spoken to those coaches?</p>

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<p>BaseballEh,</p>

<p>You have a reply to your PM.</p>

<p>I agree with myluckydog and lftcoastmom in terms of asking for what level of support you will receive, and where you rank in their recruiting hierarchy. That should be a standard question for any recruit at any level prior to application. In your case that ship has already sailed, so now you have to determine that information with the coach after you have already submitted your ED application. The truth of the matter is most coaches do not get all the recruits they want. I know in the case of ivy and nescac it is about 50%, and that came right from the horses mouth. So if you are an impact player and you have the grades (which I think you do) then your chances are very good. I would still ask the coach about his level of support to give you an idea of what to include in your backup plan.</p>

<p>Besides the academics, Tufts is going to be a harder team to walk-on/tryout as a potential RD applicant than possibly the others. Their D3 program has been a top program for a number of years, and they have a lot of team depth. Almost all of their top recruits typically apply ED. They do have an ED2 (Jan 3) deadline, so I would consider getting more info as lftcoastmom suggests as well as look at other options.</p>