<p>My son recently received a letter from Dartmouth baseball coach to invite him for an one day event in Feb. The events will discuss admission process and meet baseball coach and players. My question is how improtant is this event? My son is a junior and a baseball player in High school. His academic is good (GPA 3.5/4.0) and takes all the APs. He is also an excellent baseball player although he is not big (150lb and 5'10). I think my son should be able to get into one of the campus in University of California (We live in CA), but I do not think he has good chance to get to Ivy. Should we go to this event?</p>
<p>I think only you can answer that, obviously cost is an issue. If he wants to go to Dartmouth as one of his top choices then by all means do it. If he wants to stay in Calif and play ball there, don’t waste the money. By the way my son attends a UC in Calif and plays a sport. He got plenty of invites for out of state stuff but we did not go because he was not interested in going out of state for college. Good luck…</p>
<p>Dartmouth baseball casts one of the wider nets in the Ivy League.</p>
<p>The coaches will be at the Stanford summer camp.</p>
<p>Getting seen on te diamond is far more valuable to your recruiting chances then traveling cross country to see D in the winter.</p>
<p>If you email the coaches to express interest in Dartmouth, and seek out the coach at the Stanford camp, the coach will pay attention to your appearances at the camp. If he likes what he sees, and you have the grades to get over baseball’s academic hurdles, you will get a call from D.</p>
<p>I would not waste a trip to D at this point. I would focus on getting baseball ready for the season and summer and continue the never ceasing focus on academics.</p>
<p>If your family vacations take you through a college and your son has interest in the college, track down the coach. Generally, if the coach is on campus and it’s not a dead period, the coach will talk with him. Have a transcript ready.</p>
<p>Has he taken the SAT/ACT or at least the PSAT yet? A 3.5 is very borderline to get into an Ivy without stellar test scores to back that up for an athlete. I guess it depends on if making the trip is affordable for you knowing chances of getting in are slim.</p>
<p>I agree with everything stemit has shared. Keep in mind Ivys recruit nationally so they have to attend national showcases such as Stanford camp. If you look at any ivy baseball roster it has many CA and west of the Mississippi players. I think your best shot at D (or any ivy) is to start a dialogue with the coaches, have a great showcase event @ Stanford, and score well on the SAT or ACT. That has the best possiblity of getting the Ivy coaches attention. </p>
<p>Currently there is interest on their part, but genuine interest will come when they see your son in action, and he nails his board scores. Once there is genuine interest, then it is time to go to get on a plane to go to D if your son is interested in D. JMO.</p>
<p>I would let the D coaches tell your son about his admission chances rather than make assumptions. They look at thousands of recruits for 6-10 roster spots depending on the recruiting year. They don’t want to waste your time anymore than they want to waste their time. If they are genuinely interested they will guide your son through the process.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s valuable inputs. My son went to Stanford baseball camp last year that is how one of the D coach noticed him and contacted him. My son will join this summer’s Stanford camp, and focus on his grades. He will take SAT this spring. Thanks!</p>
<p>fenwaysouth: Thanks as always for your great advice.</p>
<p>swchen5293: The D coach might indeed be interested in your S, but our’s also went to the Stanford camp last summer, didn’t think he did very well, doesn’t remember the D coach ever paying any attention to him, and also received an invite to the D camp. Perhaps his self-esteem might have been a little low… but he tossed the letter in his ever-growing-but-soon-to-be-recycled pile of post-PSAT college junk mail… and like your son is now focusing on his grades, getting ready for the SAT, and planning on heading back to Stanford this summer!</p>