<p>Which ivies are more towards tier 1, and more towards tier 2....</p>
<p>I am a sophomore, and my best 800 time last year was 2:22, and during relays I am said to have gotten 2:20. My times are at/ a bit slower than tier 2 times. What time should I get down to for certain ivies...? Is it the same recruiting time for all ivies, or does each ivy have different standards? I am hoping to break 2:20 this year, and i am staying hopeful. I know my times are high now, but do you believe it is possible I am "close enough" to be able to get my times down? ~ thanks!</p>
<p>(BTW, my top ivies are Princeton, Dartmouth, and UPenn)</p>
<p>Honestly, it’s impossible to say.
First of all, coaches look to recruit runners who will be able to run all 3 seasons as they only have so many available spots. So as an 800 runner you would expected to do xc. Also, your junior year is important for times, especially as girls often tend to peak early in their high school careers.
And no one can predict which ivy will be the heaviest recruiter for a certain person. It all depends on what the team needs at the time (they may need that spot for a thrower or another sprinter, etc).
Of course, a school like yale will have a harder time pushing admissions for athletes that may be borderline recruitable academically in comparison to cornell.
Basically, you won’t know until you hear back from coaches going into your senior year.</p>
<p>Thanks! I do participate in cross country, and grades I am not highly worried about (1st in class), so I guess pertaining to my sports career, only time will tell. :)</p>
<p>hjr brings up a good point that every school will have different recruiting needs to fill in any given year. If you want to run for Dartmouth, for example, but they are roster-heavy with freshman mid-distance girls when you are being recruited, well, that’s out of your hands.</p>
<p>Grades are important but what are your test scores? The #1 girl in our kids’ class scored a 24 on the ACT. She had her sights set on Ivy’s too. Most of us knew that was not realistic because while she had a high GPA, she studied ALL the time to get those grades. The low ACT was not a surprise to anyone but her and her family. I would suggest you take a couple practice tests online to get a baseline for a score before you go any further with your dreams. If you really want to run in college you do need to bring your times down as well as pick up a couple other events. You will be expected to run the 400 or the 1500 along with the 800 at least.</p>
<p>My best advice to you is to just email the coaches and ask yourself! They’ll tell you the times they’re looking for, and it’s a good way to get your name out there</p>
<p>Email the coaches! I did that when I was a sophomore, and a couple of them replied. My friend just got admitted to an ivy as a recruited 800 runner and she runs a 2:12, for a reference.</p>
<p>Ok, so the best thing to do this year is concentrate on getting my time down (my goal is 2:18 or lower by the end of indoor) and to make sure I can get high enough test scores (which I know I can do as long as I study), and to email the coaches of D1 schools I am interested in during the very beginning of my junior year. My 5K times are not below 20:00 though, so would it even be worth emailing my XC times? THANKYOU for all of the replies!</p>
<p>Hi karategirl,
Yes, it’s too soon to email coaches at Ivies. It would be acceptable to email coaches after track season this spring, and after your grades are final. You could also wait until after next fall’s XC season, but you would need to be showing a sub-19:00 time to want to brag about it. 18:30 would be really great.
Only do the spring update if your times in the 800m are below about 2:18. 2:15 would be very nice news.<br>
This email should be very short- a couple of sentences, including your GPA and your PRs and your wish to run in the Ivy League. </p>
<p>Many of these schools have summer camps. If you can figure out which ones are actually coached by the track/XC staff, and have the time and money to attend, this can be a way to demonstrate interest, improve your times, and evaluate the coach and school before it’s time to make decisions.</p>
<p>Here is the link to some generally accepted recruiting times. Ivies tend to look for athletes with times somewhere between the “recruitable” and “walk-on” DI numbers, and obviously love to find kids with the best possible times.</p>
<p>This has been discussed here before. It is a grey area.</p>
<p>In the back of the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, emails are listed in the section having to do with recruiting materials such as letters, brochures and general admissions information.</p>
<p>I think Varska’s first post is probably a little more accurate:</p>
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<p>Again, I wish the NCAA would just be specific about it like they are with phone calls.</p>
<p>Besides the vagueness of the rules, one reason D1 coaches for track don’t usually respond to sophs is that it’s just too early to know how these athletes will stack up at 18 years old. Some early-blooming track stars plateau or slow as they grow. Some overtrain, become injured, and can never repeat times run at 15 years old. </p>
<p>Track coaches (and their very busy assistants and work-study helpers) receive thousands of inquiries from prospective athletes. They are most interested in filling the next class and must back-burner emails from younger athletes. </p>
<p>Track and field is strictly about the numbers and it’s very easy for coaches to find the top performers, verify times and find racers who are able to repeat fast times, meet after meet. </p>
<p>Athletes who have fast times and solid academic stats and are in their junior year should not hesitate to introduce themselves to coaches at schools of interest. Coaches will send general invitations to fill out the athlete questionnaire to top runners across the nation, but don’t have much time to court athletes. It’s all about self-recruiting, as has been said on this forum so very many times!</p>