Brown (walk on). I understand that Brown has at least one, possibly two, good fliers (sub-54) coming in next year. I think a walk on isn’t guaranteed, unless you’ve been told otherwise.
They are open to it depending on swimmer’s speed. Walk-ons are pretty common in swimming.
walk-on possibilities are just included as a comment for certain schools where it is a possibility. assuming she’s admitted, it will depend on how much improvements she manages to achieve through senior year
Have you seen Brown’s 23 & 24 recruiting classes? While I understand D3s do have walk-on spots, it seem far less likely on D1 teams whose recruits all have power indexes between 6 and 18. Lane space aside, the issue of making intervals will come into play.
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I simply meant that coaches are open to walk ons, and there is no “you will never play” kind of thing as you often hear folks familiar with other sports advice. GTech for example, allows walk ons, the catch is that they need to have Summer JNats times.
I think it is highly unlikely that OP will invited to walk on at Brown and they should be aware of that.
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There may be an explanation about giving up on the colleges that provided pre-reads above, I’ve not been able to read all 2,145 posts yet (but have started - have read about 280 so far, where it seemed NiVO’s daugher wasn’t recruitable; but now it sounds like she is but not at the colleges she wants to attend/apply to, is that correct?)
SAT score is only indicative for internationals because some cultural issues may come into play. The school curriculum, grades, record of achievement, and IB score, will all matter much more.
I agree that being recruitable at some colleges but choosing to apply to a college where she’s not recruitable is an about-face that ruins the strategy and fragilizes her prospects.
Being a recruited athlete (or a “soft support recruit”) with a 40+ predicted IB score is pretty much a dream scenario for an international.
I’m not saying she should apply ED to a college she feels is the wrong fit - but rather that she should find a good fit that wants to recruit her.
If she likes Brown but can’t be recruited there, what about Wesleyan and Vassar? There’s a lot of overlap in what appeals to their applicants. What about Carleton or Grinnell?
What about Smith, Wellesley, Scripps, or Barnard - these 4 are academically excellent but rather different in terms of vibe, would one appeal to her and be suitable for her athletically?
In the “regular” international pool, without coach support/pre-read, her odds are okay due to the very high IB score but no higher than what Americans could expect (which is already better than for internationals). In other words, unpredictable and unlikely. As a result, the list without the athletic advantage could become a near shut-out save for McGill and she really doesn’t deserve that.
Isn’t there a college she likes AND where she can be recruited?
Any reason why Denison isn’t on the list?
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IIRC, she doesn’t have fast enough swim times for most of the schools you mentioned. And she doesn’t want to go to a women’s college.
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Although Grinnell might be in play, I’m now recalling without going back to re-read
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Okay thanks! it clears things up a bit
(it’s a very long thread and the first 200 posts seemed to be going in circles…)
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Grinnell was a possible swim school (my thinking it was one of the 2 or 3 offers). And Denison is freaky fast so that is a definite no go. She didn’t want women’s colleges. Wesleyan was another swim school mentioned in the last thousand posts. Those following this like a stock ticker, think Wesleyan may also be a potential offer as it has a new coach which was mentioned.
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Wait til you read the next 1900! 
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Yep. Pretty much back to where we started. Time is a flat circle!
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So much so that I question this entire thread and scenario. I think we are being played.
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Denison is a perennial powerhouse always at the top of D3 swimming; not an option for this swimmer. Also, not the academic prestige that is being sought.
Wesleyan and Grinnell have been on the list; maybe they are the schools without the right “vibe”.
Women’s colleges not of interest to daughter.
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I’ve been wondering for quite some time if this is real, but I don’t know very much about athletic recruiting so I really wasn’t sure. It’s certainly been interesting, though!
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Thanks.
I really hope they have a few likelies and safeties, only for psychological support and face-saving purpose when rejections come (as they’re likely without the top student/recruited athlete advantage.)
I suppose they could also be applying to a couple from Oxbridge/StAndrews/Edinburgh/King’s/UCL/LSE… in addition to McGill/UT/UBC.
Yes, I thought Denison would be an ideal combination of academic rigor, dynamic teaching, and athletic challenge when I thought OP’s daughter was a very fast swimmer - but upon reading it seems she’s an excellent swimmer but not Denison level – which is fine, very few are.
I’m having trouble figuring out how fast OP’s daughter is – at some point there’s a mention of a CA competition that seems extremely high level, then someone mentions her level seems more “regional”. OP may be trying to obscure who his daughter is.
I saw that you have provided lots of advice already and the decision is at hand, so perhaps I’ll just read from now on, to see where OP’s daughter is accepted and where she decides to go.
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One limit the OP has is that his daughter can only apply to 10 schools (all the UCs count as ‘1’) as that’s a limit her high school imposes. I do not think any outside the US and Canada are under consideration, but OP has said taking a gap year is a possibility, and then, I assume, she’d get another 10 applications.
You are very good at making recommendations, @MYOS1634, but the OP didn’t want any, especially for swimming schools that would be a good fit if the school has more than a 20% acceptance rate.
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D24 did her research and likes the Canadian schools, where admission is almost exclusively based on grades, and therefore work out to be safeties with a good fit for her. She’s not specifically seeking admission to the most selective US schools, rather US schools (most of which she visited) that she prefers to the Canadian Universities, which sets a pretty high bar.
At this juncture, the odds are (99% ED Swim offer + 99% Canadian Schools + UCs) vs (ED1/EA1/EA2/UC/ 99% Canada Schools/RD)
Of course, the first strategy is full of certainty / assurance / team comfort / competitive sport, whereas the second strategy will be much more random/rejective/dream based but acceptable since she’s comfortable with Canada, and accepts not being certain to be able to swim competitively until it’s confirmed by the coach either way in January.
We understand that many posters disagree that the Canadian schools are as good as other US schools they feel a better fit, but D24 is truly the only person who can truly affirm which schools are her best fit, and her views certainly differ from her parents.
That’ score of 44/45 is achieved by less than 1% of candidates - i am surprised you are submitting options test scores at all given that remarkable predicted score. Not really sure why the pre read failed in that case or why super reach schools are not more in play. With a 44 I would expect brilliant references, essays etc. seems odd (I am in part IB country )
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@jkb2 others will argue that the population applying to the T50 all form part of the top 1% of the student population, so that the field is leveled.
D24 attends a very selective IB school, which could be the Exeter (or similar) equivalent in the IB world, with 35% of her classmates having an expected IB grade of 45/45, and the school having a long tradition of placing many students in very rejective US/UK schools
For reference, in 2022:
152 / 18,038 ~ 0.9% scored 45 in 2022
329 / 18,038 ~ 1.8% scored 44 in 2022
So technically she’s ranked in the top 1-3% amongst IB candidates