<p>My daughter is top swimmer in the state. She received many calls and emails. Coaches love her swimming records but no commitment or official visit. All the colleges are seems to be waiting for her SAT scores to go up. She now have 1600 out of 2400. We don't know what to do. Should she apply to many of the colleges that contacted her, let the coaches know that she applied and wait for their answer. Everyday more students are committed and don't know if this is the right way to go. Any advice or suggestion are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Is there a school where her test scores are competitive? Is she only looking at D1 or D3?</p>
<p>Yes, she should start applying for where she wants to go, but perhaps ask her swim coaches for help. They can contact certain coaches and get the athletic side of it going. It sounds like there will be a place for her on any team as a walk on, but if she needs money or help getting into the school, you need to make some noise now. She needs to get noticed. How about your state school? Is she interested? She needs to show interest to some of those schools who showed interest in her.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply.
She want to go to D1. Several Ivy league schools and other top schools showed interest in her. How much could a coach do to get her in? Should we look at test scores and choose colleges or should we rely on her swimming to get her in although she may have lower SAT than average college median. Do you think with this SAT score, would she have a chance at top private school? </p>
<p>Is she a junior or senior? If a senior, I’d say you probably aren’t going to get into an Ivy as if they had really wanted her, they would have taken her with her current scores. The ED applications are mostly due today, Nov 1. There is ED2 at some schools.</p>
<p>At some schools, a coach can do everything to get the athlete in as long as he/she meets NCAA minimums. At Ivies, they do have limited spots for students who do not meet the school’s standards. If she has a really high GPA, she might have a shot but honestly, probably not for an Ivy or NESCAC with those scores. Why does she want an Ivy? Is she a top student? Being on a D1 team in any sport, at any school, is a lot of work. If she is also going to struggle to keep up academically, it may not be worth it. There are a lot of D1 schools that would be thrilled to have her. Apply to those. If an Ivy works out, great.</p>
<p>I agree with twoinanddone - 1600 / 2400 SAT is probably not going to fly for an Ivy swimmer, but there are plenty of strong academic D1 schools outside the Ivy League that only need you to meet the NCAA minimums, which are not high. </p>
<p>AlphaMale, please give us more information about your daughter so we can give better suggestions.</p>
<p>What year is she in high school?</p>
<p>What state do you live in? What states or area of country does she want to go to college in?</p>
<p>What is her GPA ? Is it weighted or unweighted?</p>
<p>How much money can you afford to pay towards her college expenses each year?</p>
<p>What does she want to study in college?</p>
<p>How many times has she taken the SAT? In other words, if she is a junior and has only taken the SAT once, it could be that she could study more and retake the SAT and raise her score. Has she tried the ACT? It is a slightly different way of testing students. Some kids like the SAT better, others do better with the ACT. You really don’t know until you take both tests and see which one you do better on.</p>
<p>I think raising her test score is the best use of her time right now. It will greatly increase the interest from many top colleges.</p>
<p>I also have a swimmer that is a senior. If your daughter hasn’t had any official visit offers than she is aiming for the wrong level team. She should be having conversations at this point. My son has had three OVs but only one offer and one more visit. There isn’t much money for swimmers - although women’s teams have 14.9 scholarships vs 9.9 for men. Have the coaches asked her for her test scores and transcripts? If not, then that may not be the problem. Can she score in the conference she is looking to be recruited? There are a lot of walk ons on D1teams! This is a realization that we have found out ! </p>
<p>Thank you for you everyone’s reply.
She is a senior. She has taken few SAT’s and can only take November SAT because she has swim meet in December, same day as SAT. Her GPA is 3.3. Finance is fine as we could pay for her college.
I want her to get into the best possible college and also continue swimming as well.
How much can a swimming coach have an influence on the admission office?</p>
<p>Only the coach can answer your question. Stay in touch with coaches, ask if she is recruitable are they interested, can they help. Are you looking at schools that fit her SAT scores? “Best” school is one that fits for academics, too.</p>
<p>If money is not an issue, there are recruiting companies that you can pay to help you. No clue where to send you to look for a reputable one. But if you don’t have a clue how to proceed, and time is running out to get recruited, you might want to consider this option.</p>
<p>I would ask for recommendations, and get price quotes from at least 3 companies to compare before you commit. Getting good advice as to what is realistically possible for your daughter is the next step. You want to make sure you are pursuing colleges where your D has some kind of realistic chance of being admitted and being recruited to swim.</p>
<p>Alphamale,</p>
<p>With no offers or official visits at this point I would cast a wider net and contact more schools. Ivy league recruitment has not been finalized but I estimate at least 80% of the likely letters have been promised at this point and with an 1600 SAT your D is very close to the AI floor of 176 needed for recruitment. For the top D3 schools she will need much higher SAT score no matter how fast she is, same thing for Duke and Vanderbilt. Cal and Stanford have almost completed their recruitment classes at this point. Northwestern, Virginia, UCLA, and UNC may be possible. Keep in mind at this level the coaches will be looking at USA swimming JR Nats./ Senior Nats./YMCA/NCSA results, because most of the upper level swimmers are not completely rested for high school state championships.</p>
<p>Take a look at recent articles in Swimswam and at college swimming.com and find out where other swimmers have committed and where there are holes in a recruitment class that your swimmer may be able to fill. Collegeswimming.com also has a great feature that will suggest a list of schools based on an ACT score range (use converted SAT scores for this).</p>