<p>Would a 4-year varsity athlete on a state champion HS team, be given consideration as a strong intramural player if she is just below recruitment standards?
My daughter is too late to be recruited for freshman year, but may end up playing for ND her sophomore year if she's lucky, in the meantime would be a strong intramural player. I know that ND takes its intramurals seriously. I wonder if that helps?</p>
<p>I don't think it would help in admissions, if that is what you mean, other than the fact that it shows strong involvement and commitment to a sport. However, it can't hurt. Also, if she is that close to being recruited, it may be worth talking to the coaches about her walking on. They could put in a good word for her which definitely could help admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks. I just have heard so much about ND being huge on athletics, even intramurals, so I thought it might improve her chances.<br>
We've contacted the coach, but just received a form letter response due to the lateness. She has to be accepted first in this case, and THEN the coach will consider her possibly.</p>
<p>Ahh, okay. ND does look for varsity athletes (you don't have to be one but it helps) so that is something that they value. However, I don't know how much they look into it beyond that. For instance, I swam in high school and lettered varsity but never made state. Would a non-recruited swimmer who made state have a leg up over me? I kind of doubt it, but it is hard to say.</p>
<p>Don't know where the caliber of an athlete fits into the application decision, other than those being actively recruited, besides the fact that sports participation shows a high degree of commitment, team play, and all sorts of other intangible qualities sports are ostensibly supposed to promote.</p>
<p>Intramurals are awesome. My son is on his hall's first "B" basketball team--meaning he's one of the better hoopsters in his dorm, but not on the "A" level. The "A" level is filled with kids who could have gone to college the athletic route, just not at Notre Dame's level. </p>
<p>I think there is a club level of competition, too, if your daughter is interested in intercollegiate competition at something a bit less than the D-1 Big East level, but more than intramurals.</p>
<p>Then, there is hanging out in the gym, getting into pickup games with the guys. Great way to polish the game at a high level...and meet guys. I was fortunate enough as a freshman to live next to the Rock, and have a good buddy who was all-state in California in basketball...back in the days before any of us knew what a Title IX was, despite the fact that it existed then.</p>
<p>yeah I always wondered... does level of athlete make a difference? should I have even put that I was All-conference in football on my app cuz im obviously not being recruited...</p>
<p>My daughter is from Massahusetts, but spending her first semester senior year at a sepcialized school for athletes in FL (golf) before coming back and graduating with her class. Talk about devotion to a sport! We just wish we had thought to do it when she was a soph or junior and she would have been recruited. Hopefully, it will still help.</p>
<p>" should I have even put that I was All-conference in football"</p>
<p>of couse Jvon!</p>
<p>this shows them that you were a stud!..... showing that you were all conferene is something great....... idk how to explain it... but def put that in</p>
<p>its just that they barely give you room for awards and so you gotta choose which ones mean the most you kno...</p>
<p>well... you can always add in a personal resume</p>
<p>I think it means a lot. It's about hard work, dedication, and goal setting. We e-mailed admissions with an update when my daughter's cross country team finished third in state, even though, as seventh runner, she wasn't at anyone's intercollegiate level. Her leadership, though, mattered a lot.</p>
<p>The reasons you want to put sporting accomplishments on an application, even if you have no chance of playing anything for the Fighting Irish, are the very same ones sports are ostensibly supposed to be about. Teamwork, dedication, persistence. The whole nine yards.</p>
<p>Notre Dame doesn't have such a preponderance of athletes enrolled because they need them for their teams. It is, rather, because they are stacked with hard-working, team-playing leaders.</p>
<p>Hmmm...interesting point. So, someone could be a phenomenal athlete, but if they do not exhibit leadership and teamwork skills it really wouldn't matter, right?</p>
<p>that's what I'm thinking... why would they care if you are all-conference or whatever... that doesn't really matter... i mean the only thing i can think of is we have a lot of kids on our team just taggin along for the ride no really committed so that shows i'm committed i guess but i already have that im a captain so they already know im committed... w/e i already sent my app but i keep going over it again and again in my head! lol</p>
<p>but you are the captain!</p>
<p>that shows leadership.. and respect by your peers...and dedication</p>
<p>You dont get appointed a captain role by drawing your name out of a hat......atleast not where i come from</p>
<p>I'd argue, sunshadow, that any athlete that lacks leadership and teamwork skills isn't all that phenomenal. Just look at a guy like Terrell Owens--one of the best there is, and the Eagles thought the organization was better off to pay him a fortune to not play, than endure the negative effects he brought to the clubhouse. To me, that's not phenomenal.</p>
<p>Jvon, I do really hope that, when you speak of kids "just tagging along for the ride", you are talking about kids who don't put out the same effort or have the same intensity as the rest of you, rather than talking about a specific level of skill, right? Sometimes, the kids who aren't the most gifted athletes are nonetheless invaluable to a team's success. </p>
<p>My daughter's high school boys varsity team won the state championship in basketball, quite a feat for a relatively small Catholic school on the outer exurban fringes of the metro area. The two standout players were absolutely leaders on that team. So, too, were the ones who busted their hind ends in practice, to maybe play a key role for just a few minutes in the big games. Without every single one of those kids, the unlikely Cindarella story doesn't happen. Because the program has a coach who recognizes it, it is the school's 4th state championship in 15 years. </p>
<p>There are so many character stories in sports. There are so few who ever make it to the pros, even the first-stringer on the Irish. I went to school with Mark Bavaro, who was a multiple Pro-Bowler with the Giants; Greg Bell, Alan Pinkett, Stacey Toran (a standout defensive end for the Oakland Raiders until he died tragically in a car accident in the peak of his career). I also went to school, and knew well, all kinds of guys who were first-string blue chip recruits who started on the Irish as freshmen, and are now accountants and attorneys. One, in particular, actually made the Cowboys under Tom Landry, then decided he didn't care to endure the punishing pain of the NFL for the next decade of his life, opting instead for law school. </p>
<p>If blue-chippers heavily recruited by one of the perennial powerhouses of college football ended up relying on their non-athletic qualities to succeed by the time they were 22, then what is the case with the rest of high school standout athletes in the context of life? The greatest athlete career can end in an instant with one tough hit to the knee. The only thing that lasts is the character gained in the experience.</p>
<p>Ok... hold on though.....</p>
<p>I am not an all-region or captain of my baseball team.... but that doesn't mean that i dont
*work my ass off at every practive
*try to become better every day
* cheer on my team,, and get the best out of them
*overall team player</p>
<p>so im starting to get teh impression that only all state players have that drive....... but I'd disagree</p>
<p>Chillin, you are the kind of kid coaches love--and need--to have on any successful team. I don't for a second believe that only all-state players have that drive. I know better.</p>
<p>In fact, if you took the four bullet points you listed, took them out of an athletic context, and applied them in any workplace or problem-solving situation--working your ass off every day, trying to improve, trying to bring out the best in your teammates as well, and being a team player--those are the ingredients for success not in sports, but in society.</p>
<p>That's exactly what Notre Dame wants. It's not just about what admitted students do for the years they are on campus. It is the impact they have on the community around them long after they graduate.</p>
<p>You should be very proud of what you've accomplished chillin. You know what your contribution is. I have no doubt your coaches and teammates do, too.</p>
<p>I just read my post and i kind of sound like im "tooting my own horn"
and for that I apologize</p>
<p>I totally agree with you though DD jones.......</p>
<p>I know kids who have incredible amounts of talent, yet they don’t apply it and therefore don’t get much out of it</p>
<p>Something you learn in a Jesuit education... is working for others</p>
<p>or "men for others".. </p>
<ul>
<li>like basically becoming selfless.........You work hard to achieve results for yourself, sure, but what is more important is what you get out of... not the end result</li>
</ul>
<p>If the end result is an all-state... state championship MVP, that’s great but that’s not what should be most important</p>
<p>I remember reading a Bishops conference letter that was about the dignity of work... - mainly toward the Mexican immigrants and how they were exploited</p>
<p>It talked about 2 different kinds of 'work'
1. Objective- which focuses only on the end result </p>
<ol>
<li> Subjective- what the worker experiences ( in this instance, it would be the teamwork (bonding), the memories, the sweat, the blood, the good times, the bad, the wins, the overall atmosphere and development of a team)
Pope Johnny said that this is the more important aspect.......... and it truly is </li>
</ol>
<p>Sure everyone wants that All-conference recognition ( I applaud you Jvon, a great achievement) but to me that’s not what’s important ( even though it's a great honor)… Maybe I’m crazy
IDK</p>
<p>You're not crazy. </p>
<p>A bestselling author in the field of business leadership recently noted that one of the biggest pitfalls that stand in the way of strong leaders is the tendency to want to be the best at absolutely everything, to the point where such a pursuit gets in the way. As you note, some people, in putting out their full effort have natural abilities that make them, in a given context, "the best". That's a good thing. It is when that desire to be the best is vested in vanity and self-interest, rather than a natural desire to fulfill one's potential that the resulting arrogance drags down the tide, rather than raising it.</p>
<p>I like the way your mind works, chillin. You show a lot of maturity for a junior in high school! Took me many, many more years to figure out the things it appears you already know...</p>
<p>i agree... without several "scout players" that work hard our team wouldnt go anywhere, but we also had several players on my fball team at least that did absolutely nothing and still got a jersey (thats all they wanted) and you can't cut anyone from our fball team which sucked cuz they didn't even deserve a jersey...</p>