<p>A funny thing happened along this path we call searching for colleges. S2 went for an over-night visit to Swarthmore and loved it. We had visited several colleges and we both thought his list was finalized. However, this list grew by one after visiting Swarthmore. He is a good student with good scores. My question is: Do recruited athletes have any advantage in getting in to this terrific college? I know this is a top college that attracts top kids, but is being a recruited athlete that little something extra to get you in? I was very impressed with everything about Swarthmore and could see S2 there and happy. Any thoughts would be appreciated as this was something I did not see coming.</p>
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<p>In my experience being a recruited athlete at Swarthmore does give a significant boost to admissions chances, assuming that all other academic qualifications like SATs, GPA and high school course selection are in the range of recently admitted students. By recruited athlete, I would mean an athlete who could make a significant positive impact on Swarthmore's team and who would be an applicant that the coach will wholeheartedly support with the admissions office.</p>
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<p>Yes being a recruited athlete does help in admissions. How much it helps depends on the school, the sport, the coach.</p>
<p>At Swarthmore, it certainly can help, but it depends very much on the coach, the sport, and the overall qualifications of the student. </p>
<p>Two ways that the whole process of talking to the coach can help at Swarthmore, outside of whether a tip comes into play or not: The student will learn a lot more about the school, which can come into play in his Why Swarthmore essay, and the coach will talk to the admissions office about the student's interest, letting them know that he's someone who's been in serious conversations about being a part of the team and a part of the college. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I don't know if this reply will post, but I'll try:</p>
<p>The short answer is YES. Swarthmore uses the same system of "tips" for recruited athletes as most liberal arts colleges. Swarthmore reserves about 15% of the slots in each class for recruited athletes. These slots are filled with students from lists supplied by the Athletic Department.</p>
<p>It's a complex equation to figure out if a specific student would be helped by a tip. It depends on the sport, the student's perceived impact on his or her team, and an assessment by the coaches of the player's chances of getting accepted without a tip slot (i.e. super strong academic applicants are less likely to get a tip than an impact athlete who needs the tip).</p>
<p>Interest in attending Swarthmore is also helpful in landing one of the tips. The athletic department doesn't like to waste them.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice for your son to immediately contact the coach in his sport. He should pursue a dual-track admissions approach: through the admissions office AND through the team coach.</p>
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<p>NOTE: To those who have PM'd me in the last week. I'm not ignoring your questions. College Confidential is broken for me and I am unable to reliably post a reply. Include an e-mail address in your PM and I'll reply.</p>
<p>Wow, what thoughtful replies! Thank you to all. I thought this would take a couple weeks to get a reply. To answer a couple questions: 4.0 GPA, ~2000 SAT's and told he was Swarthmore's top recruit of his sport (a major sport). He stayed in a Quad with another recruit and four team members and texted me that he was having "Mad fun" with them. I think this is good. S2 and I spend a great deal of time with the coach and were both really impressed. I know it is really hard to get in and that nearly everyone who applies is a top notch student. We both left campus thoroughly impressed with everything about Swarthmore. I find myself nervous, excited, exhausted, flabbergasted and really happy about the prospect of S2 at Swarthmore. We still have some over-nights to do at other great colleges, but I know Swarthmore is definitely in his top five. Wow - S2 a Swattie? Could it be?</p>
<p>Jollymon:</p>
<p>I'll see if I can get lucky with two replies in a day:</p>
<p>a) Your son's experience is probably a lot like that of many of our kids. Visiting Swarthmore tends to have that kind of effect.</p>
<p>b) If I were the parent of a student athlete with no professional sports ambitions, I would really love the approach Swarthmore takes to college athletics. Certainly compared to any D-I program and, increasingly compared to D-III programs, Swarthmore is closer to the old-school ideals of a student-athlete. The athletes at Swarthmore are Swarthmore students first, athletes second. They are fully integrated in to the campus community. In most sports, you won't be playing for national championships, but you'll have a really healthy academic/sports balance. It sounds perfectly normal, but it is not the case at all DIVIII schools.</p>
<p>c) When the coach of a major sport tells your son that he is the team's "top recruit", that is a very strong indication that you son would get one of the coveted "tip" slots. Basically, if your son is "admittable" from an admissions department standpoint (meaning that his stats and general fit with Swarthmore are comparable to students who are admitted), then the athletic department can basically ensure that he is admitted over the thousands of similarly qualified applicants who are not admitted. Just based on the rudimentary stats you provide, you son would fall in the "admittable" category. The GPA is a big plus.</p>
<p>Part of that dance will be his level of interest in Swarthmore. To the extent that he is strongly interested, he needs to be sure to keep the coach advised of that. He could probably make the coach send him a box of chocolates with an Early Decision app.</p>
<p>interesteddad, thank you so much for your insite to this incredible college. I guess his level of interest would be shown by his wearing of a Swarthmore (insert sport here) t-shirt to school on Monday. I would say it is early in the game, but ED1 decisions are due by November 15th and the colleges S2 are looking at are all encouraging him to go ED1. I agree with you and love the approach Swarthmore takes with athletics. I can also tell you I am a very very happy dad at this point.</p>
<p>The key to realize with Swatis that admissions is tasked with having 15% ATTEND Swarthmore, not be recruited. So I suspect more than 15% of the admitted class is made up of recruited athletes.</p>
<p>Arador:</p>
<p>The acceptance rate for recruited athletes is very high, but that's in large part because the pool of recruited athletes has already been culled before applications are submitted. The coaches have advised potential recruits whether it's even worth applying and recruits have advised the coaches whether there is any chance they would attend if accepted.</p>
<p>Yield is for non-tipped recruited athletes is about the same as for the overall first year class. Yield is somewhat higher for tipped recruits.</p>
<p>Here are the stats for this year's senior class:</p>
<p>254 applications from recruited athletes (after culling)</p>
<p>213 of those were deemed "admissable" (with or without athletic consideration)</p>
<p>167 were accepted (18% of acceptances)
108 with tipped athletic consideration (11% of acceptances)
59 without athletic consideration</p>
<p>89 enrolled (23% of class)
63 with athletic consideration (16% of class)
26 without athletic consideration</p>
<p>Of the 89 recruited athletes in the class of 2009, 49 were rated as an athletic 1 (potential all-american) or 2 (potential 4-year starter or similar impact player).</p>
<p>All this data was from the 2006 periodic review of the athletic programs that used to be available on the website but doesn't seem to be now. I saved the PDF.</p>
<p>Interesteddad - after reading your reply and getting an email from the coach that says S2 is the top recruit in a major sport and that the coach will write a great recommendation to admissions, I would take this as a great sign. Am I correct, or just a hoping dad? The email says the coach wants to build his program around S2. Am I getting my hopes up too high or is this a really good sign? Thanks so much for your thoughtful replies. I love reading your responces! Are you associated with Swarthmore or just some one who knows a lot? Thanks again!</p>
<p>jollymon: I hope I can post a reply. I lost the last one I tried to send.</p>
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<p>You are completely correct in your assessment. If a student is academically "admissable" (which it sounds like your son is) and the top recruit in a major sport, the odds of acceptance are very high. That's what the coach is telling you. </p>
<p>I don't like to make predictions, but let's just say that, if I were you, I would feel very good about son's chances. The number of impact athletes in the United States who can meet Swarthmore's academic standards is very small, sqeezed even tighter by the attractiveness of these athletes to the Ivy League programs.</p>
<p>The thing that would derail an acceptance letter would be if the coach comes to believe that your son is unlikely to attend Swarthmore. Say for the sake of argument that the coach is sure your son will accept Princeton's offer, then the coach might move on to his number two recruit. Given that your son had been in extensive contact with the coach on an overnight, that situation is not likely to develop.</p>
<p>Conversely, you need to closely monitor what your son is thinking. If it develops that Swarthmore really is his undisputed #1 choice (and if finances permit), then an Early Decision app would in all likelihood guarantee acceptance. Admissable academics, top recruit in a major sport, binding Early Decision -- that's pretty much a no-brainer for the College.</p>
<p>I think I know which sport you're talking about. It is very very very likely that your son will get a tip, and his chances of getting in are pretty good. If he is really into Swarthmore, and if finances allow, he should definitely consider applying ED. Also, encourage him to keep the coach updated- it wouldn't hurt for the coach to know when he's applying (ED1, ED2, or RD).</p>
<p>Again, thank you so much for your thoughtful replies. I can honestly say that the more I find out about Swarthmore, the more I like. I can also say that all the 150 mile round trips for AAU practice in the dead of the winter, the six hour practices for Empire State Game practices that were 100 miles away(New York's version of the Olympics) and the 200 shots a day in rain and snow are now paying off as it may be the "extra" that gets him in to Swarthmore. Sometimes good things do happen to good people.</p>