<p>As I reported here in my initial thread, D had an injury which sidelined her for 3 weeks (thankfully not the 6-8 initially feared!). She recently received her March SAT scores and one section didn't quite meet the bar set by the Ivy coaches who are interested in her (though she hasn't written yet; they had mentioned the SAT composite they want to see in earlier emails). The other sections met the bar. She was not able to take the Jan. SAT due to unforeseen circumstances.</p>
<p>Anyway, ACT coming up this weekend but HER coach would very much like to have her back in the game this Saturday (well, we'd all like to see that!). She has not had any ACT prep. </p>
<p>Problem is, she will not be able to sit the May SAT owing to a major competition that day... and if all goes well athletically, she'll miss the June ACT date too. She will definitely be able to take SAT2 subjects tests in June, no conflicts there. So what we are possibly looking at is Sept. ACT (yes, she'll have prepped over the summer!) or even Oct. SAT. Are those dates just too late for athletic recruiting? She's a strong student at highly competitive prep school and her athletic stats place her pretty high on coach radar. But it will all come tumbling down we know if the academics don't pass muster. What are thoughts... Will coaches wait for late September, even late October scores?</p>
<p>As long as she has the coaches interest by then, and they are aware that she is sitting for them, I don’t think it will be a problem. It’s important that she get onto the coach’s radar before other girls who might have better SAT scores than she. One guy I know thought he was going to have to ‘settle’ for a non-ivy rowing school like UDelaware because of his subpar grades/SATs. He did very well his first semester senior year and retook the SATs in November (mightve been October) and did well enough for the coach at UPenn to reconsider and take him in as a recruit. He was accepted RD. Another kid on the same team is an EXTREMELY good rower (mult. national teams, etc) and he was looking to go to Berkeley, but also did not have the scores. He had to retake all of his SAT IIs to get them above 600. Once he did that, he was given the green light.</p>
<p>That is good to hear hey_pal. Confirms our instinct that it’s perhaps better at this point to look for a strong athletic push for the end of junior year and rate that above the standardized testing for now. Our hope is that as she’s on their screens already, and she appears to be, then the recruiting coaches will let the academics continue to unfurl through early/mid fall perhaps.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that your daughter is healthy again. I am wondering if she had taken the ACT before? Some kids do better on the ACT, some the SAT and probably many have comparable scores on both. My kids both did much better on the ACT…I would be inclined to have her test unprepared and see how she does. Have her read about the science section though so she understands it is mostly charts and graphs. </p>
<p>Both my kids had testing done by spring of jr year. My Ivy-recruited kid had all his trips planned by early September. Fall of senior year is so, so busy…I can not imagine adding more to those busy months…esp. something that important.</p>
<p>“Are those dates just too late for athletic recruiting?”</p>
<p>I think it is late. </p>
<p>Many top athletes essentially cut their deals with coaches (based on winter SAT) in april/may. sure there’s still a lot of stuff through summer and fall and officials, but many athletes and Ivy (or ivy-esq) coaches have an understanding by May. You can not get that understanding if admissions doesn’t approve your pre-read because your SAT is low.</p>
<p>I think whether it’s too late depends on the sport. For track & field, it would definitely not be too late. I agree with previous posters, however, that fall of senior year is very busy between senior courseload, athletic visits, etc. D. had to take SAT IIs in October and had no time to prepare for them. There is an ACT administered in early September.</p>
<p>My two cents…Absolutely agree with pacheight on this. You want to have a clear path after junior year, because senior year is really tough. It is not going to get easier going forward into her senior year, and I think you may have some tough choices ahead. I would sit down with D and re-discuss goals, priorities and timelines. Some have stated that it is not too late. That may be possible and true, BUT what gives your D the BEST CHANCE to get a verbal commitment, likely letter, and eventual acceptance…probably getting this done now. Typically. most people don’t get two shots at this, and Ivy coaches will continue to look around to fill their rosters. If an Ivy is her first choice dream school, I would get the testing done ASAP no matter what is on the calendar. In addition, if it doesn’t work out at one Ivy school, she may have time to establish recruitment with another Ivy or non-Ivy. I hope this helps and makes sense.</p>
<p>elileo, I think this board will have additional intel that could really help if we know her sport. i’m guessing those spring sat test dates land on a regional event, which your daughter would rather die than miss…what about going to a SAT test center near regionals.</p>
<p>also, per above advice start looking at schools that fit her current scores, test scores don’t always go up.</p>
<p>Not going to one game will not significantly affect her performance for recruiting purposes. Thinking long term, your D stands to gain much more by taking the ACT this weekend, because if she can score relatively better than on the SAT, she could improve her chances of being recruited to an Ivy. Also, then you’d know for certain where she stands and can target your efforts this spring toward the schools were she would fit well academically. Have her study a little every day the next 3 days in her weakest area.</p>
<p>minofrau–D already had Ivy official visits for track set up by late August before senior year, as did other track athletes she knew. While it might be possible to still get recruited with fall-of-senior-year scores, the OP’s D also might run the risk of losing out to better-prepared kids who get in their official visits in Sept. and early Oct. and then commit early. This is particularly true if the athlete is a distance runner who is also being recruited for cross country.</p>
<p>Yes, timing may be affected by caliber of your athlete and schools targeted. D. was not looking at Ivys, but NESCAC and Patriot League Schools, that she initially contacted in late June of junior year. While all responded right away, we found that the real recruiting for her did not heat up until late August. It was as if all of these coaches were in summer mode and suddenly switched gears.</p>
<p>I will add that D. is part of a program that routinely produces national caliber distance runners and these kids routinely do not even take their visits (Ivy or otherwise)let alone commit, until January, when national competition is over.</p>
<p>Sorry to respond late to all the good advice; college tripping with another child (not an athletic recruit, thanks be!). The update is that D DID take April ACT (with full coach support as it happens; he didn’t want her to compete until fully healed and he understood conflicts with upcoming standardized tests). She found the content-based format of ACT much more agreeable than SAT, so we’ll see what happens. Pacheight, loved your idea of taking SAT at competition venue and looked into it, but on further reflection we decided D should focus on just one thing that day: either sport or test. Thanks again, to those who weighed in, for your counsel.</p>