<p>Does MIT recruit for sports teams like fencing? I know their fencing team is Div. I... does that mean that you'd have to be really good to join?</p>
<p>As far as I know, all MIT teams recruit in the same way -- you can fill out the recruitment</a> form, which gets sent to the coach, who knows you're interested in the sport. It's nothing like the "recruiting" that goes on at all-DI schools.</p>
<p>I've definitely seen posters up encouraging people to come try out for fencing, so I'm sure there are some (many?) members of the team who never fenced before coming to MIT.</p>
<p>ambryllien: about the MIT Fencing team - from a brief visit to their web site:</p>
<p>"Fencing at MIT</p>
<p>MIT is ranked NCAA Division III, but fencing is one of two sports here that competes in NCAA Division I. MIT fencers compete either as a team or individually through three major organizations: the NCAA, the NEIFC, and the IFA (the oldest collegiate athletics organization in existence). "</p>
<p>Competitors: Regional schools: Harvard, Yale, NYU, St. John's, Brandeis, Boston College, Brown, Columbia, Vassar, Yeshiva.
Other schools: Notre Dame, Penn State, Stanford, UPenn, Duke, UNC, Rutgers, Air Force.</p>
<p>Do they recruit? well, here is what their web site says:</p>
<p>Try out for the team - No Experience Necessary</p>
<pre><code>* Tryouts for the 2006-2007 season begin in September 18, 2006, in the DuPont Fencing Room and continue on until the 29th. All students interested in trying out should email the men's team captain, [edited], or the women's team captain, [edited], for more information, or simply show up for tryouts.
* Experience is not necessary to make the team! We will teach you everything you need to know to make the team during tryouts.
</code></pre>
<hr>
<p>Now, some interpretation:
MIT walks a fine line in NCAA terms. By the strict rules of the NCAA - and these days, there is nothing more legalistic than the NCAA rules - MIT is classified as a D3 school. They are <em>not</em> one of the 7 specific exception schools that compete primarily in D3 but have one or two sports in D1 (think: Johns Hopkins - D3 in all sports, except D1 in men's and Women's Lacrosse.</p>
<p>What does D3 mean? No scholarships for players. Period. Some limited (or even intense) recruiting, but no scholarships - and if you get in, no requirement to play in order to stay. </p>
<p>What does D1 mean? Intense recruiting, but not always a scholarship. A sports commitment that can entail two to four hours of time a day, often 7 days a week - all year. If you get a scholie, you in effect have a very demanding job, in addition to school. Believe me, that ain't sports at MIT.</p>
<p>So to answer your question based on the evidence above:
1) MIT may "recruit" (lower case r) for fencing - a chat with the choaches might help just help your case a little in the admissions office. But they have no "tips" or guaranteed admits, and no scholarships to offer; the school, not the team, offers need based help only.
2) They do compete with a mix of schools: real D1 (Stanford, Duke, BC - with scholarships for some sports), semi-D1 (Harvard, Brown - no scholarships for any sports (in theory)), and pure D3 (Vassar, Yeshiva - need based help only). Fencing is an interesting sport - not money driven, and it tends to show up at schools with top academic reputations (Columbia, MIT).
3) The team seems very inclusive - their ads on web site (and according to Mollie) on campus want to reach out to the community. Not many sports teams are that willing to reach out to beginners and new comers.</p>
<p>The net: If you fence now, give it a shot - contact a coach. Go to a meet - they are big sprawling events with people roaming around - see if you can talk to the kids or coach to get a feel for it. </p>
<p>If you don't fence but want to - well, get into MIT (the not so easy part) and give the fencing team a shot. But be sure of one thing: At MIT, fencing won't help you pay for the education. Then again, only a very very few D1 schools are likely to offer even partial scholarships for a non-money sport like fencing.</p>
<p>And best wishes in the college search!</p>
<p>I've been fencing since last September. I've never competed, but I plan to start next season. My school doesn't offer it, so I do it at a fencing gym nearby. Do you think it's worth it to fill out the form?</p>
<p>According to the MIT Sports Annual 06-07, page 2,</p>
<p>
[quote]
MIT s primary league affiliation lies with the New England Women s and Men s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) as a Division III member of the NCAA, while the Engineers rowing programs compete at the Division I level.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The booklet is available as a .pdf file from the link above, and describes all of MIT's athletic programs. See pages 24 and 25 for varsity fencing.</p>
<p><a href="http://mitathletics.cstv.com/%5B/url%5D">http://mitathletics.cstv.com/</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you think it's worth it to fill out the form?
[/quote]
There's no harm in filling out the form. It may or may not help, but it's never going to hurt your application. It's good to let the coach know you're interested.</p>
<p>i recently filled out a form for track, and got a very quick and personal reply from the coach. MIT is also a lot easier to get attention from as opposed to a big DI Ivy school. Go for it, you should get a response. If not, try emailing the coach directly</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you think it's worth it to fill out the form?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>When I applied to MIT, I had only been fencing for about 6 months, and I still haven't been to a competition. But I still filled out the form! I sincerely doubt it helped me at all, but I got in, so it can't have hurt!</p>
<p>when is a good time to start filling those forms out?</p>
<p>now (10char)</p>
<p>When I was applying to MIT early last year, I talked to a former MIT fencer who was related to a clubmate at a tournament a few days before the early results came in the mail (no online decisions in December 2006). She told me that if I got deferred she could get the coach to write a letter to the Admissions office on my behalf, but that she didn't know how much it would help. I found out a few days later that I got accepted, so nothing came of this exchange.</p>
<p>In short, I think the coach can put in a good word for you, but it's unclear how much it helps.</p>
<p>As a national-level fencer and class of 07 senior I went through the process of recruitment last year. Unfortunately, with fencing, you may find it tough to get recruited as it is a very competitive sport for the few positions available on each team's active roster each year.</p>
<p>To start off answering your question: no, the MIT fencing team does not recruit. The coach is a very nice man but tends to not respond to most aspiring freshman.</p>
<p>Some options for schools which recruit more actively (their coaches have more pull) are Duke, Princeton, UNC Chapel Hill, BC, OSU, Penn State, NYU, Columbia, Johns Hopkins. However, you may find that some schools will only talk to you for recruitment if you have junior/div1 points.</p>
<p>You will find in your searching that it if you want to be recruited you need to contact the coach and get some face time with them. If you have the time during fencing season you should go to one of your prospective school(s) meets and talk to a coach there. Do not be shy about approaching them, and don't get caught off gaurd if they ask you details about your fencing career (points, medals, USFA rank, etc.)</p>
<p>Also, remember that this upcoming season is the time for you to get noticed. Go to NACs and the JOs Coaches will be at these national events supporting their schools' talent (more in the Junior/Div 1 groupings). They also tend to wait until these events are over to give a "list" of who they strongly/moderately/etc want, so its basically never too late to impress them.</p>
<p>As a sidenote of personal experience, I got recognized by many coaches at the Junior Olympics (this event takes place after college applications are sent out) even though I had only been to one other junior competition before. One competition is all it takes for coaches from places like Duke and Princeton to start talking to you. I hope you are lucky enough to find that one competition.</p>
<p>I think CT_Woods response is misleading.</p>
<p>My impression was that MIT recruitment is/was limited to having the coach convince you to come. I don't think it helps in admissions much, if at all. They do give you credit for mastering an EC, but it's not like at other D3 schools where the admissions committee is looking to fill spots on a team.</p>
<p>My impression of recruiting:
Coaches know they don't have too much sway in the admission's decision because MIT is academics foremost. The coaches I contacted were extremely nice. They didn't mention much about the sport, but said my academics were great and encouraged me to apply. Even now, the emphasis is always on academics. They are very encouraging because they want you to play/try out for their team, but they realize that if you don't have great academics, you're not going to be admitted. This is very different from my experience with Ivy Recruiting where I was told that I didn't need help in the admission's process; they only supported recruits with weaker academics given their athletics first, academics second mentality. </p>
<p>BASICALLY: If you want an education and you put sports into prospective: go MIT. If you want to forfeit a portion of your education for sports: go Ivy.</p>
1 Like
<p>
[quote]
does that mean that you'd have to be really good to join?
[/quote]
I'm on crew (the other D1 sport). Most of the freshmen on the team were walkons, but we did have some "recruits". I know the coaches are excited to hear not only from stand out high school rowers, but also from anyone who wants to try the sport, especially someone with even a little prior experience. Training is pretty serious, and one can go from novice to experienced in a matter of months. By the end of the first year, its hard to tell the walkons and recruits apart.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does MIT recruit?
[/quote]
Both yes and no. I wasn't quite good enough to be a "recruit", but I did have experience. I'm not sure how actively the coaches endorsed my application, but it was exceedingly helpful to have a contact in the MIT community through the application process.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you think it's worth it to fill out the form?
[/quote]
absolutely.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you want an education and you put sports into prospective: go MIT.
[/quote]
It's definitely understood that class comes first here, but that doesn't mean that sports aren't taken seriously. Regardless of what school you go to, if you plan on doing a D1 sport you should plan on having both that sport and academics playing major roles in your life.</p>
<p>Does anyone reading this thread play soccer at MIT? Does the varsity soccer team have walk-ons?</p>
<p>This is just hearsay, but I think the soccer team is generally a little harder to get onto than some other teams MIT has. (Which is to say that I knew someone who had played soccer as a major EC in high school and didn't make the MIT team.)</p>
<p>Did they ever bring back junior varsity? They eliminated it in 2000 or so.</p>
<p>Soccer team has walkons, but it is definately competitive to make the team. I also had a pretty talented friend not make it. Here's</a> the V Soccer team's homepage:</p>
<p>Of course, there are tons</a> of club sports, which are still pretty competitive</p>
<p>and more</a> IM sports and teams than you can shake a stick at. There's 4 different levels of IM sports, the highest one is almost varsity level (its mostly people who decided they didn't have time for varsity athletics and everything else, but still like to play) and the lowest one is people who are just learning how to play. So even if you don't make the team, you can still play your sports at a competitive level.</p>
<p>the websites are really good sources of info. Varsity hopefuls (even walkons) should check out the</a> MIT athletics site and contact the coaches if you're interested in the sport. DAPER's</a> website is also a great resource, where you can read about club, IM, and varsity sports, all the facilities, and the phys ed options (which include 6 types of dancing, dozens of styles of aerobics, a good number of marshal arts, and everything from sailing to ping pong to unihoc)</p>
<p>for all of you on sports (particularly fencing)...how much time does practice/competitions consume per week? Is it possible to still have time to do serious research?</p>