Ivy League Recruitment

looks to me like your ACT and 3200 PRs are your weak spots, but otherwise you look good to me. Maybe work on those.

But I would reach out to coaches, sure.

There have been many threads on this you could search for - a certain former coach at Cornell has implied that if someone could run 9:30ish for 3200 and had the academics and maybe didn't train all that hard in HS...he was interested.

HYP will expect 3 SAT II tests, or at least did when I was applying to college. Might not now with the new writing SAT section, but did when I was applying.

Dartmouth, Cornell (others I looked at) only looked for 2 SAT IIs if I remember correctly.

I've coached and recruited in the Ivy League.

If your academic stats are as stated, and depending (though only a little) on class rank, you would be admitted to most of the Ivies--but maybe not all, so applying to several makes sense. (I'm also assuming there's no random crazy stuff, like a substantial criminal record, multiple suspensions, etc.)

Your running ability frankly has very little to do with it, and a coach probably would not have to expend a "push" on your application; you'd get in by virtue of academics and skin, and sports would be less important.

[NOTE to others: This is the reality of Ivy-type admissions, whether you think that's how it "should" be or not. Please don't give this student a hard time. Don't hate the player, hate the game.]

A separate question is whether you'd be able to make a given school's team. If your performances are as stated and anticipated, I again think that you'd be able to make most squads, if not all.

In line with that, if you have not yet contacted the coaches at the schools you're interested in, you should do so at once: fill out their online questionnaire, if they've got one; you can send a brief email, as well.* Don't wait until your season-ending times; get in touch with them all this week (that goes for any non-Ivies you're looking at, as well). You can always send them an update in a few weeks, detailing your substantial time improvements in the final meets.

Though I have dealt (to varying degrees) with coaches at each of the Ivies you listed, I can't give you a read on how each might respond. It'll depend on their anticipated needs, any squad restrictions (Title IX or other) they're under, and so on. I suppose that you could use their responses (or lack thereof) as some indication of their current level of interest; but if you improve your PRs substantially in coming weeks, their interest might increase, so definitely let them know about your improvement even if they don't respond immediately to your initial query.

Anyway, good luck. It would be great if you'd periodically bump this thread, or otherwise keep us posted on how things are going.

*When you send a note to coaches, DO mention that you're black and DON'T give any "excuses" (hurt, no comp) for your PRs. You ran what you ran, and you don't want to come across as a coulda/woulda/shoulda guy!

All the best--lease

Not to pry, but what is your ethnicity?

It matters to the neo-libs of HYP.

keanu wrote:

Not to pry, but what is your ethnicity?

It matters to the neo-libs of HYP.

I take it that reading comprehension is not your long suit.

too slow.

1. I don't think people are answering his question.

You will not be recruited by Ivy League schools with those times. YEs, the coaches may respond to you, even let you visit campus but they aren't going to support you in the admissions process. If they aren't supporting you, then track on your resume might as well be violin - it's just an extracurricular.

2. I was going to vehemently disagree when the other coach said you were likely to be admitted by most Ivies. I was going to say to bank on that is a real bad idea as these schools have more valedictorias applying than spots in the freshman class so predicting who gets in is next to impossible. They once had a meeting when I was at Cornell where they put up like perfect looking resumes up on the projector. I was like, "Why are they showing us these kids with huge test scores and staright As of course they got in." THe reason they were doing it was they wanted to show us who they were rejecting so the next time coaches complained about a recruit not getting in, they'd have an idea what it's like for the average student.

But if you are a minority, then he's probably right. Being a minority sort of puts you in the same as "recruited athelte" category and your grades are certainly good enough to get you in if you were being recruited. That being said, I do think early decision is the way to go.

As someone who went through this process....

Focus on your running. The Ivies have between 4-6 distance recruiting spots most years and if you run around 4:15/9:15 you'll have a good shot at one of those spots. If you get a spot then admissions won't give a shit about your academics to be quite honest. As long as you've got mostly A's and 650+ on the SAT you're golden.

Ok, say he does 4:05 in the 1600m his final year next May? Will he get in? Isn't it too late by then?

Don't you need the times before the final year? What you do final year, isn't that water under the bridge? Please correct if wrong.

serious question. wrote:

Ok, say he does 4:05 in the 1600m his final year next May? Will he get in? Isn't it too late by then?

Don't you need the times before the final year? What you do final year, isn't that water under the bridge? Please correct if wrong.

No you're absolutely right. Junior track times determine everything usually. Most of the spots get filled up during the early decision/action period but I was late and so I think footlocker and my late XC races helped in my case. I'd recommend continuing your season as long as you can or until you run fast enough. Run some Boston twilight meets in June.

True, but with your strong academic record you have a good chance to be accepted, and most of the coaches will give you a chance to walk on, try out, or even be invited to camp if you run fast enough this spring (sub-9:20 or sub-4:20 for the most part). Work your butt off in the running and it will pay off. I came in with similar times and was able to walk on; being on the team was a great experience.

Most of what I've read on here is correct:

Your scores are nothing special by Ivy standards, but as a minority they just got good enough.

You are not fast enough at this time to get a "push" from a coach.

There is a mistake in this thread though:

Ivy coaches are very optimistic and set their bars very high for recruiting every summer. Come December, they will be losing recruits and continue to lose them through March.

If you can catch fire during cross (Either make FL or NXN or come darned close) and/or explode in indoor (4:12/9:10) you have a half decent chance at getting a last minute push from a coach who lost a recruit. As a coach, I'm dealing with Ivy coaches well into January and have gotten athletes in later than that.