Anyone have experience walking on Dartmouth Sports Teams?
Not specific to Dartmouth athletics, but some sports have specific times or distances (e.g., track & field and swimming) needed to be eligible to tryout as a walk-on.
If you share the particular sport, you should generate more meaningful comments.
The above includes recruiting & walk-on standards for both men & women at all 8 Ivy League schools and Vanderbilt University (scroll to bottom of page for the other 7 Ivies & Vanderbilt. Click on “Men” or “Women” at top of page).
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If you are interested in potentially walking on, contact the coach sooner rather than later.
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+1 to this.
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While potentially not impossible, I believe the chance to walk on would be vanishingly small.
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This. My child was interested in a couple of ivy programs that were not actively recruiting her. When she approached those coaches at showcases they told her “If you’re admitted, come talk to me.” So, there might be a chance but you need to be proactive.
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Have to hard-disagree here. Depends entirely on the sport, but even then you might be shocked. I walked on (rowing), my bestie walked on (football…as a back up QB no less, but he’d not been recruited at all). It really depends on the sport (and coach).
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Recently? I know rowing and t/f and swimming have walk ons, but “ball” sports would be much tougher.
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What are the chances of walking on Dartmouth’s varsity Soccer Team?
What did the coach say when you asked?
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Way less rowing walk-on for the smaller programs (Ivy, NESCAC) vs a bit more opportunity at the larger schools (UW, UT, Cal).
Rosters are kept to a tight number and the days of freshman/walk-on boat are almost over. A bit sad, as it was a way that former all around HS athletes could pick up a sport and be on a team. Pretty rare now vs many years ago where the coach would walk around and look for kids on campus that fit the body type or ask admissions to provide a list of HS athletes that were admitted and contact them for interest.
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If you are really interested in continuing to play soccer in college, it would be wise to look at schools that offer strong club teams as well as their Varsity team. Not saying it is impossible to walk on, but if soccer is how you see yourself building community and you have the desire to play and not just be on the bench - I would make sure there is a way you can play and contribute even if you are not on the Varsity team through club - some schools even have co-ed club teams.
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My son has played with 6 current Harvard soccer players. Some of those players start, others don’t get much playing time. All were highly recruited by several schools. They’re having an average year, currently ranked at #80. It would be really hard to walk on, but almost impossible to make the field. Give it a shot. You have nothing to lose.
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Seconding this advice. My daughter enjoyed playing on her college’s club team. Recruited players who decided varsity sports were not for them were on the roster so the team was very competitive.
It was not an open club sport—they held tryouts—and a high level of skill was required to make the team. But it was a good option for my daughter to continue playing the sport she loved at a competitive level.
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I think this is important. I see many kids arrive at college assuming they will join the club team, it’s not varsity after all, and end up extremely disappointed not making the team that turned out to be quite competitive. It’s good to know what you are getting into when exploring different colleges.
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Haha I shall not reveal my age! I’m still close enough to both programs to know it’s a thing for both. (Btw to be clear I’m not saying that you can be an out of shape lump and get a seat on the bench…simply that there are non-recruits on many rosters).
Yeah, it gets really college-specific. There can be A and B club teams. There can be pretty serious IM options. If you are OK doing whatever works out, great. If you have specific goals for what experience you want, you may need to be pretty careful about which college you choose.
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Yes. Two examples of very competitive women’s soccer club team tryouts this fall:
- Cal Poly SLO: 6 spots available. 150 showed up for tryouts the first day.
- UCLA: 8 spots. 150-200 hopefuls
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It is not like it use to be.
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Don’t tell that to the students I know.
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