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Do you know how much a college would be willing to go in you favor if you are really good at one of the main sports (basketball, football, and soccer)? Also, what kind of awards for high school students are out there for sports, that colleges can recognize (that means it would probably be national or state or regional competition award)? One more thing, is a Eagle Scout (BSA) really worth a lot on an application? Thank you.

By Wcolsher (Wcolsher) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 01:25 pm: Edit

Sports are a HUGE advantage, especially for the SLAC type schools, if:

1) You've done it all 4 years
2) Varsity letters at least Jr. & Sr. year
3) Show leadership: team captain, lifting coordinator, etc.

Even if your team is terrible, the fact the you stuck it out and played hard will weigh in your favor.

Our son is an above average student (3.4/1410 SAT, no SAT II's) and has played football for 4 years, finally being a team captain his senior year.

We have learned that even schools like Amherst are not out of the question. In fact, last night the Amherst head coach called to see how his application was coming along. Right now his picks in order of preference are:

Amherst (the fabulous reach)
Franklin & Marshall (great facilities & campus)
Gettysburg (Great new field, but facilities a bit old)
Penn State (already accepted as Backup, too small to play there)

We have learned 2 important things in this process:

1) HS guidance counselors typically have very little experience with Div. III athletics.
2) Your HS coach's contacts will work wonders.

Athletic awards are always good, since they show how you stack up against your peers. Even local league awards (e.g. Defensive player of the week) are good. Obviously, "All state" anything is fabulous. You'd be amazed at how much trouble college coaches take to learn about their recruits. And your HS coaches will do most of the grunt work in getting your name out there.

Finally, Eagle Scout probably doesn't mean as much as it once did. But it's certainly an accomplishment

By Nycneedhelp (Nycneedhelp) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 11:42 pm: Edit

SLAC? what does that mean?

By Wcolsher (Wcolsher) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 09:01 am: Edit

SLAC = Small Liberal Arts College

By Monekit (Monekit) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 06:46 pm: Edit

Thanks. That was reassuring.

I was thinking about BSA again, but now since you said it isn't weighed as much as it used, I may or may not do it; depending on whether I have time on my schedule. Thanks.

By Mazzo (Mazzo) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 07:29 pm: Edit

sports = most important thing ever.

i live in MD. Several kids in my class with < 3.0 GPAs in remedial courses with < 1000 sats are being recruited by Johns Hopkins for water polo.

My friend who plays varsity football and is an above average student was asked by the Brown Universtiy football coach what his SATs were. He had scored a 1460 and the coach said anything above a 1000 was fine. FOR BROWN!!!!!

By Wcolsher (Wcolsher) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 09:11 am: Edit

WRT Eagle Scout -

If you're nearly there, definitely finish up. I suspect, but do not know, that "conservative" schools, the military academies, and the like would still find it important. But none of those are on our list.

We've found that one of the most important factors for any EC is that it has occurred consistently over a long period of time. When our son has met with admissions people and coaches, every time an EC has come up, it's been in the context of "why did you quit?" type questions. 4 year ECs typically get comments like "Good."

YMMV!

-bc

By Puppy (Puppy) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 06:55 pm: Edit

sports rule! i got into harvard because i met with the coach. Im not so great, but i did have a 1600 and maybe they wanted to boost the teams average and get some bench warmers. half scholarship helps too.