Recruited Athlete at an Ivy League School

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi college confidential friends,

I’m currently a sophomore in high school, and a recruited athlete for my sport to many public universities. Recently, 5 Ivy League schools have shown interest in me through contacting my coach and coming to watch me play. Most of the time these universities start recruiting juniors and seniors, so I felt special in that they’re considering me this early.

Long story-short: I feel that it’s really pathetic for these schools to accept someone who wouldn’t normally get in, and I do not want to cheat the system.

Would someone mind to look over my scenario and “chances”? If so…

(PSA: I’m aware that I’m slim on EC’s, but through research I’ve discovered that the sport is considered my main ED and takes a lot of weight)

Freshman: Retained all A’s in normal classes, took the only AP class offered for 9th graders (AP Government, A in the class, got a 5 on the test)
In the “Gifted/Talented” program, A-Honor Roll, Varsity (sport) letter winner and starter, played competitive (sport) for the rest of the year, in Choir and Women’s Choral ensemble…

Sophomore: AP European History, (A- average for grade throughout the year, haven’t taken the exam yet), Varsity Choir and Women’s Choral Ensemble, “Gifted/Talented” program member. Varsity letter winner/starter again for the sport, competitive JO team (sport), all conference Honorable Mention for sport, volunteer at my sports “club” and coach younger players, A-Honor Roll, Model United Nations member, on traveling team for that as well…

Junior Year: I will be taking…AP US Literature, AP US History, AP Comp. Govt., Enriched Spanish, Concert Choir, I will continue with my sport and be a Junior captain for it, Model UN member, and I am starting a FIDM Fashion Club, on my own, as well as a political club with other peers.

GPA (u)=3.98 (w)=4.12…ranked top 10-ish% class at Top 100 Public High School with class size of around 1,000…ACT unknown, but now taking the test in June because of the Ivy League attention.

I also have interest from highly academic schools that are non-Ivy, but I’m wondering if this is a decent list of things as I don’t want to simply get in to an Ivy because “I’m a recruited athlete”.

2

You’re solid enough, if they want you as a “recruited athlete,” go for it! It’s the kids who aren’t taking any challenging classes and/or ranked bottom 75% I would worry about… that said, make sure you choose a school you are comfortable with in an all-around way. Sit in on classes when you visit. Good luck!

3

My D was a recruited Ivy athlete, if you score 32 on the ACT or 2100+ SAT, you would be right in the range of admitted athletes and as well as a fair percentage of non-athlete admittees. These still represent scores in the 90+ percentile…

4

You are not cheating in any way.
The rules of the system are clear: there is a different standards for hooked candidates (which includes athletes) than un-hooked candidates. If you have that card to play, and you don’t play it, you’re really just cheating yourself.

5

"…as I don’t want to simply get in to an Ivy because “I’m a recruited athlete”. "

I can appreciate that sentiment, but, when everything is over and the dust settles, you have to decide what outcome you can live with. My kids had a list of 5 or 6 schools that they’d have been happy to go to. They had preferences, of course, and in some places, the coach appeared willing to place them on a list, but, in the end, they decided they’d rather get the admission on their own, without assistance and then walk on. That worked out for them, but if there is a chance you will end up going somewhere that makes you unhappy, I’d say you should weigh that feeling carefully.

I will tell you that the attitude of athletes not being academically worthy admits or students is real and pervasive.

6

Furthering what @justonedad spoke about, one my old college teammates was a coach at an Ivy, and his son was A recruited two-sport athlete, but even in his situation, that required him doing a prep year and raising his SAT to north of 2100—which he did. All in all, it placed him somewhat squarely with the mean of his admission class. Certainly do what is right for you, but in environment with an admission rate of 5%, it is certainly that should be given consideration.

7

I took the ACT with no prep or studying in June and I got a 10 on the writing with a composite of 27…I’m throughly disappointing as well as confused because I am normally a good test taker and in my state’s standardized tests I normally score fairly high. I also have gotten 5’s on the AP US Gov and Euro History tests, so I am curious as to if I can consider my attempt a fluke for the test? I’m taking it again in December and am curious as how I can prep without paying thousands of dollars for a tutor. Thank you all for your help!

8

Get the Red Book and look for old ACT tests on the internet. Just go through all of them and drill yourself to stop making the mistakes you are making. Always try to use ACT made tests, not those of other companies (Barrons/Kaplan etc.).

9

@highschool217, I believe there are strict rules on how early the NCAA allows coaches and athletic personnel to make direct contact with prospective athletes. You may indeed be “special” in your sport, and their interest is an encouraging sign, but I don’t believe they are allowed to make contact with you until after July 1 following your junior year. The NCAA also strictly defines “contact” as anything more than saying hello to you or your parents outside of their campus. They can show interest indirectly by coming to watch you play, and through non-specific conversations with your coach.

The rules do NOT prevent you from identifying potential programs of interest and writing those coaches to express your potential interest. It will be important for you to meet with your coaches and GC and put together a timetable and plan for marketing yourself.

There’s a lot of discussion of this on the CC athletic forum. A number of posters have gone through this themselves, or with their children. @sherpa appears to be incredibly knowledgeable about this kind of thing.

10

Take the SAT instead of the ACT.
And repost your original post on the recruited athlete forum on college confidential. You’ll get a lot of very good advise from parents who’s kids were recruited and know the drill .

11

The Ivy’s use the “academic index” for athletes. Some info here: https://www.mka.org/uploaded/college_counseling/Publications/AI_Guidelines_Worksheet.pdf
You can easily Google “academic index” for more info and for an ai calculator.
No experience with the recruiting process myself, so I can’t comment on what other factors besides ai they use for recruits, or even if they still use it anymore.

12

@renaissancedad I’ll clarify here because I made this sound very illegal. I visited 2 Ivies and 2 non-Ivies(tough academic schools) throughout the year which is where I talked with the collegiate coaches. Last month, I was invited to an elite camp at one of the Ivies so I attended that and talked with that coach. Yes, the emails were very non-specific but the visits were where I got the specific interest. Hope that makes better sense, and I am very excited for September 1st to occur!

13

I was not implying that anything wrong was done. But be aware that there are strict rules, and familiarize yourself with how to best position yourself. There are others much more knowledgeable about this area.

As far as getting in and not deserving it, it takes a huge amount of effort to master a sport to a recruitable level while still maintaining your academics. There are different tiers of recruits, but if your AI is above 210 you will generally not be much of a stretch. Maintaining your current 3.98 UW GPA and getting 700’s on your SAT I sections and SAT IIs would give you an AI of around 219, which should be plenty for any Ivy that wants to recruit you.

14

@renaissancedad - Thanks!

I agree that it would be pathetic if they were to accept students who would otherwise have no chance admittance, but that isn’t how it works. Generally speaking, Ivy League athletes are students who were qualified to be admitted but, rather than dealing with 5-10% (front door) acceptance rates like the general applicant pool, they were ushered in through the 90-100% (side door) mode reserved for applicants who offer something that meets one of the schools’ institutional needs (athletes, development cases, offspring of prominent politicians, etc.)