thanks for the pointer, those conference championships would be Ivy, NESCAC (Amherst, Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan), UAA (Chicago, Carnegie Mellon)? Any other?
Wouldn’t each athletes’ Personal Best for each race/distance be even more relevant?
Not to mention the facilities are top notch. As is Middlebury’s for that matter.
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@TonyGrace , those facilities wpuld make even the water-phobic want to do doubles every day!
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WashU in St. Louis is also another D3 school with strong academics. At this point, don’t put all your eggs in the Ivy basket. Identify 20-25 schools that would fit academically and athletically. Reach out to those coaches and fill out their recruiting questionnaires.
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What are your daughter’s best events/times; what is your “need” and budget?
“100Y Free SC <53s (corresponds to Dartmouth’s current #1 points swimmer out of 15)
50 Y Fly SC < 27s”
This isn’t much to go on; a ~53, 100 free time would be on the slow end of ivy & D3 champs (around 60th place). This year’s D3 champs 100 Free times were 1) 49.90 - 16) 51.20 [+.31]; Ivy Champs 100 free times were 1) 46.63- 16) 50.97 [+.15]; NESCAC champs 100 free times were 1) 50.52 - 16) 53.30 [+.93].
NESCAC champs 50 fly times were 1) 24.56 - 16) 26.39 [+.21].
Any time with a [+.xx] after it indicates the 16th place swimmer added time at finals; I noted the added times because they tend to throw off the overall picture of times.
For recruiting purposes, coaches want swimmers who can score points, especially ones who have a shot at the podium. For best results, you’ll want to flood schools within conferences where she has a good shot at scoring; by all means look at them all, but be objective in her placement on the team. Good luck!
On a side note, did you guys see the times that came out of NAGs this past weekend?
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It was absolutely nuts. It’s incredible how fast (and how young) these swimmers are going.
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scoring: are points accorded to all the swimmers in a conference championship final? And how many points go to each?
teams have 20-35 swimmers, assuming 25% join each year (5-9), 2/3 are recruited (3-5), it’s unlikely a university will be able to recruit exclusively podium finishers
They certainly try. And if they have to settle they hope it will be for future podium finishes. Coaches are looking at times AND potential.
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I’ve lost track of whether you will qualify for need based aid or need merit aid.
If you do need aid (merit or need basd) I think you should add a lot more schools that give merit aid or athletic aid. As an international, you may not get what you need from a ‘need only’ school because what you think of as your need may not be what the school determines is your need. Plus there will be extra needs like travel, maybe medical insurance, maybe clothing for northern New Hampshire or Maine.
A friend’s daughter was a swimmer at Fordham. They increased her athletic scholarship every year and she had a very good experience there.
Personal bests are relevant if they fall within those top 16 prelim times. That is what the coaches are looking for-swimmers to place and earn points at the championships.
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Just because Dartmouth is an ivy, does not mean that it is a fit for your daughter. Oftentimes, we have international students applying to these schools who have no idea what the school environment feels like. This school is a great school but it is not for everyone.
Don’t focus on “getting her into a US Ivy school”. Focus on seeing if a school will match her goals and fit her personality. She has to be happy and content, with HER choice, in order to do well at the school. Mental health issues are at an all time high with our young people. I wouldn’t want to add that to her full plate.
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In the early stages of this topic, at least, Dartmouth was the only Ivy League school mentioned:
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In an earlier post they inquired about all Ivies. May that is why there is the impression that others are being considered. Swimming Recruiting for Int’l Jr. Targeting Highly Selective Colleges
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her parents are certainly not Ivy chasing having both both turned down Harvard. but she is very focused on attending a very academic institution. we understand fit and her commitment to swim competitively, which is why she would only apply to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, or Virginia (excellent academics, non Ivies, but where she wouldn’t qualify to swim team) in the RD round of no swim school recruits her.
need isn’t the focus, as we have carefully saved enough to support her
Based on this Forbes article, Dartmouth would be worth its expense:
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within the range of targets schools, there will be a preference for schools which do reliably issue LLs (ivies, non NESCAC) vs schools that either don’t issue LLs (NESCAC) or have a demonstrated track record of not systemically translating “full support with pre-read” into LLs (Wesleyan, MIT, etc)
the preference will definitely be given to schools that provide certainty by issuing LLs (ivy, non-NESCAC) vs schools that don’t issue LLs (NESCAC) or have a history of not coverting “full support & positive pre-read” into LLs (Wesleyan, MIT, etc)
But you do realize, @NiVo , that if a NESCAC coach fully supports an athlete, there will have been a pre-read by admissions to confirm that support. The LL doesn’t come until after you apply. It’s an early decision, not an actionable opinion.
I think, as came up before, that you are attaching an importance to the LL that it perhaps doesn’t deserve. If you apply to Dartmouth SCEA, you won’t be applying to any NESCAC ED, so you will still be making your decision on where to apply without anything in hand. Of course, if you go D1, you can commit on signing day, but again, you need to make the choice first.
With that said, looks like you have a plan! Fingers crossed for you.
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my understanding is that Dartmouth Early decision (contrary to Harvard, Princeton, Yale & Stanford) allows for simultaneous non-binding Early Action at other schools.
The prioritization of coach support/pre-read/LL over coach support/pre-read is probably a general preference (which can change with visits and/or time) for Universities over LACs
as it stands, her swim times would position her top 5-15 in every target school roster, and lower down for ivies & Chicago. The next 6 months could be critical in pushing her up on the rosters of ivies. She could have a good chance of being recruited if she can make top 10-15 of Dartmouth with good coach vibe