<p>Could someone please point me in the direction of an old thread about people's experiences? Also, I vaguely remember seeing one father's web page about his son's experience with Div. I football. I have tried searching for both with no luck. Thanks.</p>
<p>Here you go. Read this thread and I think it references the football dad's website. I don't have the link handy right now.</p>
<p>Thirdtime -- I came to CC seeking info about this very subject and tried to contribute as much as I could about my own experience.</p>
<p>I was curious as to why, with the wealth of information in general about college on this site there was so little to be found about athletic recruitment. </p>
<p>If you note the current thread where students and parents are venting about their dislike of athletes taking the spaces at colleges that would otherwise be occupied by non-athletes or legacies or URM's, you will learn that there are some here fundamentally opposed to the existence of athletic recruiting. </p>
<p>Actually, there are some -- especially those disappointed in their college admissions outcome this year -- who are opposed to athletes period. I suspect they would like to put them all in a pot and serve them as beefcake bourguignon They must be the folks I see when I'm out and about and realize there are only a few of us in the streets while the rest of the world is watching the Superbowl and the NBA playoffs each year..;)</p>
<p>I'm naive, so it took me months to figure out. I felt like I was in a massive sorority rush and couldn't come up with the secret handshake. Consider your learning curve fast-forwarded. Good luck to your student -- if he/she is in a ball sport I cannot help you, but otherwise feel free to pm me.</p>
<p>Thanks Momof Wc. Dizzymom, as of this spring I am happily, mercifully, joyously finished with this whole business after the third time, but am researching for my nephew. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Here is another thread.</p>
<p>YES!! That's the one, thank you, great searching skills</p>
<p>Dizzymom, as the father of a formerly recruited athelete. And, as a moderator here at CC, I can assure you that not everyone is "anti-athlete."</p>
<p>concerneddad, she didn't say "everyone".....just "some" :)</p>
<p>and I've noticed that sentiment (by a few people) too. But I don't think it represents an overwhelming majority or anything. I've often wondered if either parents or their kids have been bullied/picked on by an athlete during junior high or HS, so they have generalized that they are all jerks :( . I can assure you there are both good kids and troublemakers in sports....and in every other area of life too (job, school, neighbors, etc).</p>
<p>concerneddad -- I hope I put enough "some's" into my post to indicate that. There's been a myriad of athlete-bashing in the past few weeks, possibly part of the general grousing from those unhappy with their admissions process, but with so many URM-boosting parents chiming in that if we'd been in anything other than a virtual community I would have imposed a curfew on my kid to keep him safe.</p>
<p>At least it keeps people from discussing politics or religion ;)</p>
<p>IIRC, much of that website written by the dad concerning his son's football journey into ivy league admissions and elsewhere was very good. I think the overall theme from everything I've read is: be careful and don't believe/trust everyone. The coach/assistant will lie if he/she has to.</p>
<p>A young man in the same sport as my S shared this with me. He will be attending a large state university (a good one) next fall. I am sharing this with his permission, but am not revealing full information. My personal feeling is that this young athlete would have gotten in ED.</p>
<p>"I was 'recruited' by both princeton and columbia university. I contacted princeton early in my senior year The coach's interest grew after I did so well in senior fall season and I went there in the fall for a recruiting trip. I kept in contact with the Princeton coach for almost the entire year. For columbia, I got in contact with the coach later (fall) and took a recruting trip there in the spring. The only schools I applied to were those two ivies and State U. The columbia coach told me that I would basically have a guaranteed admission if I chose to be on his list, but I would have had to make that choice in the early spring and it was verbally binding (ie, no princeton) so I chose to say no and was rejected from columbia because I wasn't on 'the list'. Princeton coach told me that he put me on the recruiting list for princeton, and both he and the head/old coach felt like I had a really good chance of getting in, better than almost all of the other recruits based on my academics (he stated that I had a stronger application than the guys that got in on early admission). My grades and such- 103 GPA at public high school, summa cum laude top 5% etc (our school doesn't give absolute ranks but I'd guess that I was probably top 10). SAT I scores were 770 verbal, 670 math (only took it one time, regret that) and my SAT II's were 790 writing, 740 physics, 740 math IIc. AP scores were 5 english, 5 calc AB, 5 world history, 4 computer science. PSAT was 223- made national merit scholar finalist. However, even with the coach's confidence that I probably would get in, I was rejected, and he seemed pretty shocked when I told him when I got the letter. I do feel that I should have gotten in as I felt like my times and application was stronger than most if not all of the other athletes, but the thing about admissions that I learned (especially for the ivies) is that they're just crapshoots, so hard to judge. A girl in my class who has the most stellar application I know of got rejected also, while a guy who didn't have the best got in."</p>
<p>MOWC - I agree ED at one of these schools would have really helped this kid. By showing the commitment, he probably would have been higher on the list. It struck me that his contact with the schools started a little late in the process.</p>
<p>Wow, Momofwildchild. That is one very real story of disappointment. I am glad he was wise enough to apply to the State U. Sounds like they are lucky to get him. </p>
<p>I am the mom of one athletic child, and though he was not good enough in any of the three sports he does to be recruited, I know I would have been delighted if he HAD been. Funny (and disconcerting) how this whole process works.</p>
<p>The boy is actually fine with going to the state u. It is tops in his sport and the price is right. It just emphasizes how hard the admissions process is- even for a top athlete.</p>
<p>I think reading <a href="http://www.johntreed.com%5B/url%5D">www.johntreed.com</a> is very valuable in understanding recruiting for even high level sports at the top schools. The admissions process is not easy even for a top athlete. And for a top student, too, it is often a balance between the money and the selectivity of the school. A good friend of our's has a D who is a national swimmer--went to Olympic Trials, and that was something that they had to weigh. They could have gotten some full rides; they could have gotten into schools a step above her stats, but both was not possible in her case.</p>
<p>MomofWildChild points out what many seem unwilling to accept -- there are NO guarantees for recruited athletes at Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>Yes, it seems to be handled quite differently at State U., but I haven't heard anyone here complain that an athlete "stole their place" at State U.</p>
<p>My impression is that as a recruited athlete at an Ivy, some coaches, or maybe even all, have one or two automatic admits, but beyond that, the students must stand on their own merits, which simply means that their applications are submitted to more scrutiny than the average applicant, for better or worse.</p>
<p>Compare that with the more than 40% minorities offered admission to Princeton this year (30-some % actually accepted admission). Athletes comprised 13.9% of the class and legacies 9.9%.</p>
<p>When completing your application to P, would you rather be "of color" (why, btw isn't "flesh-tone" considered a color?) or an athlete? I'd be searching my family tree for a trace of Chippewa instead of casting aspersions at athletes.</p>
<p>Maybe "casting aspersions" could be considered a recruitable sport?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Compare that with the more than 40% minorities offered admission to Princeton this year (30-some % actually accepted admission).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Before any minority bashing starts taking place keep in mind that the 40% minorities reflects all minorities; URM's, asians and international students,</p>
<p>But, of course, it's okay to bash athletes...so carry on...</p>
<p>Well, everyone gets bashed here, even (mostly?!) old line wasps. :)</p>
<p>Read johntreed.com for some unvarnished, opinionated, insights into elite university athletic recruiting. Look in the coaching section.</p>
<p>Its worth the read and it would have helped the young man above.</p>
<p>It really would not have helped him. The problem with "timed" sports is that sometimes a high school student develops a little later. Many high school kids don't show their real potential until winter or even spring of senior year. I think this kid did everything right- except for not applying ED. He was on the coach's list. He actually won state championships (in a big state for this sport) yesterday in his event, which will have some college coaches kicking themselves. As I said, where he wound up is possibly the best choice for him anyway. The lesson is that he seemed to be a shoe-in for admission to Princeton- but he wasn't.</p>