ive contacted the coaches for the cross country and track programs at all my schools with most responding back.
I’m getting the impression that most are just assuming off of my stats that i shold have a good shot at getting accepted and arent seeking out any sort of verabl commitment and using me for one of their recruited spots. Granted i understand that they might want to save their spots for some less qualified/more athletic people, but is there anything i can do, at least for my number one, to get the coach to help me out in admissions?
and for all the coachs that have yet to respond (been about two weeks now) should i contact them again or seek out another coach? Ive mainly only e-mailed the head coaches and recieved 5/8 responses, nothing from harvard, dartmouth, or princeton
<p>Your academic qualifications have nothing to do with your athletic recruitment -- if they want you enough athletics-wise, they will do what is in their power to make sure you get in - their power being everything or nothing, depending on the school and your opinion...</p>
<p>How do your times compare with those of last year's recruits or the current freshman/sophs? Would you be a "franchise player" so to speak?<br>
You might have to come out and be very direct with the coach if you believe you can really add to the program. Do the programs allow walk-ons? If so, the coaches may be unwilling to put you on "the list" because they are saving the spots for less academically qualified kids. Are you distance, field or sprints?</p>
<p>What you can do is ask for a likely letter. The Ivy coaches can send likely letters in January or February. However, they tend to fill their teams during Early Decision/Early action. You may still have a chance though because I think they are allowed to add one or two more to their teams regular decision.</p>
<p>im a distance runner, and my times and stats wouldve been more stellar if i didnt get injured the week before league meet, but im at 16:16 for a 5k at lehigh and a 15:31 3 mile, decent times i believe. Projected wouldve had a low 15:15 or so at PA District I meet, been one of the top 20 seniors in the state meet and gone on to mideast championships, but ill never know now... :-(. So i suppose that mightve hurt the chances of recruiting at DI schools that im applying to, princeton, dartmouth, harvard, bc. Im applying to haverford and williams as well, ive had most regular contact with these two, williams being my number one choice right now. Connecticut college and ithaca are more or less the safeties and contact's been made there too. Im mostly concerned with what i can do with the d3 schools, i should probably put a lot more care and effort into the ivies and D1s but im really apathetic about applying to those schools. No ones mentioned anything except BC who recruits at track times that are faster then what im currently at, and to notify them if i get close to them. Going on 2 months healing from the injury though...hopefully back on the track soon.</p>
<p>Speeddemon608, you are not really in the postion to pressure a coach to do anything at this point. You know where you are at each of your prospective schools. You have made initial contact with the coaches. I am assuming you filled out the recruit forms on the athletics websites. You have talked to the coaches. You are not a hot prospect from what you have said. For now, get an athletic prospect book at borders, put together a sports resume with references and talk to your highschool coach. Give him a copy of your resume and ask him for references. Give him stamped addressed envelopes for each coach you are targetting. Talk to him and find out where he might have some ins. My son's club coach had a strong relationship with the Tufts coach, and his highschool coach was bestfriends with the recruiting coach for his sport at Dartmouth. That sort of info can be very valuable. You should also find out who the recruiting coach is for your sport. It is usually a junior coach, not the head coach. At least in my son's sport it was. You then call after the holidays, and send an e-mail letting them know you are visiting the school and since you want to run, you want to meet the coaches and look at the athletic facilities and set up a date when they can do this. When you meet with the coach, have another copy of your sports resume and unofficial copies of your testscores and transcript. You can then try to gauge the interest level and test the waters about a likely letter.</p>
<p>Most of the top recruits are identified in the D1 schools and contacted by now. But there is still a lot of activity going on. Things change day to day. Unless there is a file on you with some paper and numbers, a phone call or e-mail will be quickly forgotten unless you are a top prospect.</p>
<p>Don't rely too much on coaches. I have heard of two kids this week who did not get into their ED schools despite extensive contact with coaches who led them to believe that they were likely to get in. Also, my older daughter contacted track coaches a couple of years ago when she was applying and didn't get a reply until two nights before All State when two coaches e-mailed to say they would be there and although they were not allowed to talk to her during the meet would be willing to meet the next day or after the meet if she had any further questions about the college. It seems to me that they only make contact if they really need you. My D did not have a good run at All States and the interest fizzeled out. Fortunately by then she had fallen in love with another school and was encouraged by the Field Hockey coach. She was admitted, got injured the first week and decided after seeing all that college had to offer that she did not want to spend her weekends travelling to other schools to play. After sitting on the bench for a few weeks she quit and has not regretted her decision.</p>
<p>Speeddemon, I have been told that it is the junior year track times that are most important in recruiting- especially for the early round. Did you have some strong mile/3200 times as a junior? The advice above is good- keep us posted. Karen</p>
<p>my junior times were ok but nothing D1 recruit worthy junior year, im not so much talking about getting recruited but squeezing out whatever help i can from a coach, thanks for all the advice so far</p>
<p>Princeton always seems to bring in a lot of in state talent for XC and track. It would be hard fought to receive any athletic aid from them coming from PA, unless you were running national level times. One athlete that was recruited by them among my graduating class 2002-03, Ken Sinkovitz, had run a 1:52.1 800m to place 10th at nationals. They usually bring in that level of talent. I personally didn't get much contact from any schools, had to contact them with a 1:56.8 800m, so going after them is definitely the way things get done. It basically goes like this, if you aren't being recruited then they won't waste aid on you. If you get your time down to sub 16 you could have a shot of walking on at Princeton. Work hard, keep at it, and have patience, pr's will come with time.</p>
<p>There is a ton of misinformation about athletic recruiting, and so much mystique surrounding it that it is impossible to discern the info from the dis-info.</p>
<p>My take:</p>
<h1>1 -- I disagree that your academics and athletics are not intertwined. Can't prove it, but I don't see how it helps any athlete to have poor academic credentials.</h1>
<h1>2 -- "likely letters". I think it may depend upon the school, or maybe even the sport or the coach. Athletes are certainly admitted without them.</h1>
<h1>3 -- "Don't rely too much on coaches". True and false. I don't think any reputable Ivy coach would tell you s/he can guarantee admission. Listen very carefully to the exact words that are spoken -- write them down so there is no cognitive dissonance. We want to hope for the best even when we hear the least, and then when our hopes are dashed, we want someone to blame. Which is not to say that there aren't some coaches out there who will mislead athletes, but it is by no means across the board and to assume such is unfair to the honorable coaches.</h1>
<h1>4 -- Remember that each school, each sport and each coach is an apple and an orange. Each coach obviously has a different recruiting style. Perhaps each sport has a different degree of "pull" at the admissions office. And the needs change from one year to another. Infinite variables. Who can possibly know?</h1>