Hello. I have just finished my junior year and a Coach at Washington and Lee has asked me to do a pre-read for athletic recruitment. My rankings/times/distances are at or above their standards (according to the coach and looking at the other athletes) but I would like to know what the academic standards generally are to receive a “green light” from the coach. What SAT/ACT and what GPA is usually sufficient to become a W&L athlete?
Did you ask the coach? He’d be the best one to give you that info.
You need the green light from Admissions, not the coach. Does the coach know what your scores are? Usually they review those before seriously recruiting an athlete. If the coach asked you to do a pre-read, you are probably in the academic ballpark. You have nothing to lose by submitting your information. Admissions usually gets back to the coach in July and the coach will let you know if it’s a green light from Admissions
@RB716593, you should definitely have this conversation with the coach. In our experience, an W & L coach said he did not have much pull with admissions. He sent over a list to admissions through the AD, and it was my impression that the top two were well supported but the remainder was a wish list. Remember, this experience likely will vary based on sport.
None of us will know the exact academic standards, as these do change and we have no idea how much the coach wants you. The good news is that, if you submit for a pre-read, you will know in a few weeks what those standards are for you. I also would try to get a sense of where you are on the list after receiving the pre-read results.
I have heard from W&L coaches that they do not have the same pull as NESCAC schools, CMC/Pomona, CM or some of the other high academic Division III schools. I don’t think it is the same as MIT or Univ. of Chicago, but it is likely somewhere in the middle.
I completely agree with @VADad1066. The athletes I know have consistently been told they need an ACT of 32 or SAT of 1400 to get through admissions. The message has been the same for the last 6 years. Every recruit presented by that coach, who meets those scores, has been accepted. I have never heard a GPA quoted. Recruits who did not reach those scores were accepted by NESCAC and CM. At the D1 level, I know of players who couldn’t get into W&L but are playing for Davidson and Lehigh.
Feedback should start being shared with kids over the next several weeks. 1400 SAT is not correct, may have previously the general (no pun intended!) threshold - but currently a 1450 min based on our experience (before people jump all over me- I’m sure there are exceptions - but this is the “number”). Found coach to be candid, forthcoming, and extremely open about the situation and where my kiddo fell in the pecking order - my advice if you have questions? Ask! Last thing any of these coaches want is to mislead parents/kids, most of whom have no idea how to navigate the process. Most coaches do cast a wide net, but will typically give clear feedback.
@chicobeans I am sure that’s what they told you. But it’s very strange that the athletic recruit has to be toward the top end of the 25 to 75 range of accepted students. The 1450 student doesn’t seem to be getting any help at all for playing the sport unless they help with low gpas or ecs or something.
From their admissions page for the most recent year.
“1360-1480”.
Very good point, but each unique sport within the school probably has different threshold requirements. Helmet sports tend to skew the SAT mean downward, while swimming, x-country, tennis and golf move it up. But you bring up an excellent point!
My son had a successful pre-read at Claremont McKenna, Bowdoin, Carnegie Mellon and Carleton for football, but was told by W&L coach that he was on the border for earl action at W&L and would be re-evaluated at regular admission timed. I was surprised, but the coach indicated that there are students with offers at Williams and Amherst that don’t pass W&L pre-read. Son ended up accepting offer at CMC and went early decision there.
One ‘19 class swimmer at DS’ swimming club had SAT at 1450, was told by WL coach to retake it to get it up a bit. He did and got in ED.