I’m an athlete in the HS class of 2019 (will graduate college in 2023) and I’ve just recently begun the recruiting process from my sport. September 1st was the first day schools could reach out to me since I’m a rising junior, and I received roughly 30 emails from Division 1 programs on that day alone. While I heard from many ivies, in addition to programs at the top of my sport such as UVA, University of Michigan, and USC, I did not hear from my number 1 choice: Stanford.
I reached out to the Stanford coach and the assistant a few days later and quickly received a response. In it he asked for my transcript, my test scores ( I don’t have any yet, but I’m taking the ACT October 28th), my current class schedule, and my anticipated senior class schedule. In addition, he sent a recruiting questionnaire that is NOT available on there website and had to be filled out by hand and then scanned into a PDF.
He seemed genuinely interested, congratulated me on my past successes in my sport, and asked for my competition schedule this year.
Is this normally how the Stanford recruiting process goes down? Do they go straight to academics from the start? Since he’s already this interested in academics, does that mean I’m at or near their athletic standards already? I assume Stanford is interested in me as an athlete if they already want so much detail into my academics. Can anyone with experience in Stanford’s recruiting process or similar experiences share some insight? It’d be much appreciated.
I have two older brothers who are D1 athletes (at Ivies) but their recruiting process didn’t start this soon, and didn’t seem to be as formal or extensive as mine is. I’ve already been invited to junior days, had phone calls, in person meetings with coaches this summer. I’d love any information people have regarding this process. FYI, I’m NOT in a revenue sport, although my sport has become increasingly popular throughout the US over the last decade or so.
If you have their initial interest, for football head coach will assign to position coach and the first questions asked are transcripts, scores, grades and schedule.
Good luck and congrats. Sounds like you will beat the odds.
@tonymom I’m in a non-revenue sport. From what I’ve gathered, the process is fairly similar for the sports outside of football/basketball. I’m really just looking for general information on recruitment at Stanford.
Stanford doesn’t follow the AI model that the Ivys do but has a similar take on academics. An athlete may garner attention for being a stand out in their sport but the academics need to be there to pass an academic pre-read. Once you’ve don’t that the coach will be very forthcoming about anOV and you may have a sense going into that where you stand on their list. I can only speak to men’s rowing but Stanford has more recruiting spots than HYP for their student athletes.
Good luck!
@tonymom Without the AI model, does Stanford have higher academic standards for athletes? For comparison, do AI scores hold Ivy league student-athletes to lower or higher standards than a recruit at Stanford? Furthermore, is sending a coach my transcript considered a pre-read or is that a separate process? I’ve also heard that test scores are more important than GPA, is this true? I’m definitely a solid student (A- average) but not quite at Stanford level, although my test scores are much better comparatively. Do you have any insight on this? Thanks!
Stanford can take any NCAA qualified athlete. It is a sliding scale, but if you have a 2.0 gpa, you need a an SAT of 1020 or 86 ACT points. If you have a 3.5, you only need a 420 SAT or 39 ACT points. Stanford decides what it wants, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t taking many with the minimum scores.
The difference between basketball/football recruits and the other athletes is number of scholarships as the other sports for males can split their scholarships. It’s just a little difference in how coaches approach the best athletes, how other financial aid can come into play, how many Olympians are on the teams.
Stanford doesn’t hold their student athletes to a higher standard than the Ivies they just don’t have a standardized matrix that they make known. The revenue generating sports will likely have more flexibility in terms of academics but Stanford will expect a certain level of academic excellence. Both Stanford and the Ivies aren’t going to admit a student who can’t do the work and keep pace. It would end up being a wasted recruiting spot in the long run.
If the coach asked for your current transcript, school profile and test scores they may submit them to the AO for a pre-read but from your stats you’ve said you are a junior? If that’s the case it’s not too early for coaches to be looking at you seriously but they will wait to see how you progress both academically and athletically. Much can happen in the span of a year.
I’d keep contact with the coach sending him/her any updates on both fronts and make sure to inquire about their program. Coaches like to get a sense of how invested you are in their program and your thoughts on the school.
As to test scores some schools put more emphasis on them VS GPA but even a perfect test score won’t make up for a less than stellar GPA. In this day and age there are just too many talented student athletes that “have it all”: excellent test scores, GPA, athletic stats etc. it’s both crazy and impressive at the same time.
Good luck and keep your eye on the prize. You seem to have a very mature attitude which will serve you well.
@twoinanddone I’m sorry, but I’m unfamiliar with “ACT points” The highest score on the ACT is 36, but you mentioned 86 and 39 points, what does this mean?
ACT points aren’t really relevant for Stanford or any academic oriented school. You may be a world champion in your sport, but you still aren’t going to Stanford with a 10 on your ACT.
This really only matters for students who are trying to meet the bare minimum NCAA standards, not someone looking at Stanford, etc.
Academically, Stanford athletes score in the bottom quartile in SATs compared to the rest of the student body.
Stanford’s athletic peers are D1 FBS schools (Berkeley, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas etc)… and academic requirements probably depends on the sport with sports such as football having the most leeway.
Stanford contacts their top recruits early as do many D1 FBS schools (football has already offered admission and scholarship spots for the 2018 admission cycle - last year Walker Little was admitted in August prior to official early admission results in December - early admission maybe unusual but hey it’s football and Stanford has USC to beat - except this year:)
so while their response is encouraging… I would ask the coach at some point if they are willing to support your admission with the admissions office, because you’re interested in attending schools where your admission will be supported (ie ivy schools, Michigan etc that have contacted you)… be friendly of course but use this as a negotiating tool to hopefully 1. get a commitment from them so they are pulling strings for you at the admissions office… or 2. gauge where you really stand and make your decision about which schools to actively pursue.
On the plus side you’ve already demonstrated initiative by contacting the coach… and keeping in contact with updates is good advice. It shows persistence and initiative. Having an advocate pulling for you can make the difference if you’re on the bubble. good luck.
@dadof4kids I’ve heard the same. From my current knowledge, I understand that Stanford puts a lot of emphasis on test scores with recruited athletes. I’ve heard that a 30 composite is the minimum but 33 and up should be the target. Does this agree with what you’ve heard about the process?
It really depends on the sport. Football had the most flexibility at most schools. My S athlete is in your class, so he hasn’t talked to everyone he wants to yet, including Stanford. But he has talked to several Ivy and similar caliber coaches. S is a wrestler, the demographics of that sport aren’t the same as crew or tennis. So in order to field a competitive team the coaches usually get to dip a bit lower. S had been given a range from several different coaches of 26-30 as his absolute minimum. The 26 isn’t the lowest caliber school, and the 30 isn’t the highest. It depends on how much leeway a school chooses to give a particular coach. It also depends on how highly the coach values you personally. Pretty much all of the coaches will dip further for their top couple guys, which may mean the last couple guys on the squad might need 35’s to balance it all out.
Since your are in contact with a coach, just ask. Believe me, they want you to know because if they need a 33 and you are only capable of a 25 then it wastes everyone’s time for you to continue the conversation. Every coach either brought it up or gave an answer that told us what we needed to know. Some were specific, others a bit vague but all had a floor they shared.
Sidenote: S just had a visit at an athletic powerhouse in his sport. One of the coaches asked his GPA. When S said 4.25, coach just laughed and said, “Yeah, you’re good!” He didn’t even bother to ask ACT after he heard the GPA. I believe the NCAA chart said he needs a 10 with that GPA, which is all that school cares about.