Does anyone know precisely how much running helps with getting into NESCACs like Williams and Amherst?

I was recruited by Farwell (Williams) about 5 years ago and he told me that if I applied ED, I'd get in. I ran slightly slower times than you but had near-perfect test scores.

Awesome! Do you think my GPA is too low?

May not be the same for all schools, but our school gets a few spots per year to help with admissions. It doesn’t guarantee acceptance. Your time is probably there. Just need to be willing to ED

At most D3 schools it helps a lot. Most use athletics as a way to entice full pay students.

No one is going to be able to give you exact odds - it'll be different at each school and will be different each year depending on what kind of other recruits are interested in those schools. But, your 2 mile time is fast enough and your SAT score is good enough that I imagine the coaches at all 3 of those schools will be interested in helping you get in if they are able to. I know you would like some certainty - but really all you can do is contact the coaches at the 3 schools and tell them you're interested and would like to visit in the summer or fall (fall would be good if possible for your own benefit so you can spend time with the team). For now, just focus on getting good grades this semester, having a good outdoor track season, and training this summer for a good XC season. And think about what your top choice school would be - applying early decision will definitely help your odds.

Thanks for the information, everyone.

They will be interested and your GPA is not too low. If your school grades hard and your class rank is still top 10% even better.

For a recruited athletes, your Sat is great. You might get in even without coach using one of his support slots, they usually go to 1300 3.5 athletes.

Good luck, you'll get a great education and with your times will be a contributor to the team.

You will get in if you apply ED, can write an half-decent essay, get a confirmation from the coach that you will receive support, and don’t need much financial aid. I run at a similar school, and I know that all 4 of these elements are pretty much required.

Not NESCAC, but I am very close to three T20 schools (UChicago, MIT, CMU) and can tell you that at those schools, it doesn't matter. The Coach can ask, but that's about it. Maybe it adds the equivalent of a tenth to a GPA or something.

These threads are always super ambiguous and frustrating to me, and they popup like once a month. Can a Coach get you in if you had a 0% of being admitted otherwise? No. Can they tip the scale if it's truly 50/50? Yeah, maybe.

Your scores are all super competitive though so my guess is that you'll be fine regardless.

Two thoughts in response to the last 2 posts:

1. I do think support from the coach can make a meaningful difference in admissions at Williams, Amherst and Tufts. At least it did about 10 years ago when I went to one of those schools, I'll admit I don't know for sure if it's exactly the same today. I didn't apply to UChicago, MIT or CMU and it sounds like it could be different at those schools. And of course it can vary on exactly how much of a difference it makes, it's not going to help someone get in who doesn't already have strong test scores/GPA, but it does help more than just tipping the scale for a 50/50 applicant.

2. In my experience applying for financial aid did not matter. I received a good chunk of financial aid and that didn't seem to have any impact on the coach supporting me or the school admitting me.

At most of the NESCAC schools the coaches have a specific number of slots they can use for 'recruited athletes' similar to # of scholarships at a d1 school.

Football and hockey players can get in with 1200 SATs, track/xc 1300 or so.

If an athlete has strong academics, coach is happy because he doesn't have to use up a slot for you.

i almost feel like i am an outlier for saying the obvious, but..........you aren't a senior........you're a second semester junior. one 4.0 semester gets you to 3.85. that's what you'd have for ED. two semesters of 4s and you're at 3.87. that's when you apply for regular entry. you also have a couple months to get TF times further down, plus XC in the fall to sell.

i am also not sure if this post is just some humble brag or something. "odds?" you're pretty close to what you need. what were you considering doing here? not applying for fear of rejection? you have the times, you have the scores, and the GPA is a tenth under the average with time to work on it, and when an average means many (half-ish depending on the measure) admitted under it. this isn't a credit score where applying and missing hurts you. common sense is apply to some "reach" schools and some safer choices, don't get too tight of tunnel vision. maybe take your ED shot at a nescac you love that is a risk. maybe apply to some other risks. then also apply to the nescac ones you know you will get in. contact the coaches and see if they can help.

see who says yes. half the fun is being wanted and being excited to go to that school. i get annoyed with the folks fixated on the school just out of their reach. get excited about where you might be going. enjoy it.

tangential point but nescac is some coastal schools, some mountain schools, some urban, some rural. tufts is bigger and different. certain schools might better fit a particular major. i know one or two have banned frats and that might grab or repel some folks. you sound like you're fixating on numbers. you will enjoy it more if you go to a school that checks the boxes you "really" want, and an application also will be more compelling if you can sincerely explain how the school is a good fit. they are fairly closely clustered, maybe give some a visit. you might figure out your true favorite -- thinking about some of the variables listed above -- is not the highest ranked but is prestigious enough and exactly what you want.

have you considered pomona?

You have a good shot, especially if you can write and have leadership ability. Definitely running can help. Coaches can tag certain files to get reasonable candidates over the hump.

Like, so much bro. So, so much.

Your times and grades/test scores certainly put you in contention for recruiting.

My kid is was recently recruited to top D3 and had interest from all the schools you mentioned as well as Pomona, Chicago, JHU, etc. If you haven't reached out to the coaches yet, do so ASAP. Email head coach and assistant coach at all the schools you might be interested in. Give them your PRs in track and XC, GPA and test scores. Keep in touch with them as track continues. By the end of the school year track season, that's where D3 recruiting gets serious. Coaches will ask some of the kids they have been speaking with to submit materials for a pre-read. This is usually in June (NESCAC is July 1) with with responses coming back a few weeks later. This is basically admissions giving the coach a green/yellow/red light indication of likelihood of admission. You submit test scores, transcripts, senior year classes, resume, and sometimes a graded paper. If you get a "no" from pre-read, that's it. If you get a "maybe/yellow" it means you had better be one of the top recruits - coaches usually get 2 "assisted admits" per year. If you get a green, it's easier for the coach to support you because admissions already thinks you're in good shape.

Then, after the coach has all that info, they make some (less than the number of kids who passed the pre-read) "full support offers," which basically means if kid applies ED you're 98% guaranteed to get in. Offers can come as early as late June or as late as the Fall, depending on whether you were top pick or somewhere farther down the list. Coaches in high academic D3s can't guarantee admissions they way D1 coaches can, so there's still some level of trust here. You want to be very clear that you're getting a "Fully supported" offer. You don't want merely "we'd love to have you om the team" or "I can put in a good word." You want to ask what percentage of prior applicants with fully supported offers and who passed pre-read have not gotten in ED (that number should be zero). Then you apply ED and hold your breadth until mid-December (or slightly earlier for the few schools that do likely letters - Chicago and JHU).

Feel free to reach out with other questions.

I was recruited and offered by Amherst even though my SAT was 1290 although I did run 9:08 for 3200m

Forgot to mention my unweighted gpa was also exactly 3.83

What does "offered" mean in this context? Guaranteed admission? Aid?