@BB328 posted:So this is a question loosely related to the topic.
What does a kid need to score on SAT/ACT to be considered a candidate for a HA D3 school? Also what GPA and rigor are they looking for? A certain amount of honors/AP etc?
What about extra activities like clubs? Community service? Music? Does playing more than one sport help? National honor society?
**Edited for accuracy.
I can tell you our experience. 2025 had very few extracurriculars except National honor society, national merit finalist, volunteer work, 3.86/4.25, 1480 SAT. 9 AP's. high rigor top 100HS . Because of injury, he really had limited exposure until fall 2024. He got a couple NESCAC offers for supported admission and a few other 2nd and 3rd tier D3s. If he mass blasted applications into a bunch of schools, he probably could have gotten into some of them and just showed up in the fall and then been rostered. But he wanted to go somewhere where the coaches would be excited to have him. He ended up committing to what I consider a 3rd tier HA D3 but got some good merit money with a coach he really likes and promises for opportunities as a freshman. He's happy so I'm happy. I used to be hung up about the prestige of a school but I've mellowed with time and experience.
HA D3 admissions are complex and can't really be summarized easily. Schools like MIT, Cal tech, Univ Chicago are almost a crap shoot unless your kid is also a superstar student. 1520+ SAT. 3.95 uwGPA. numerous high level ECs. The next level down like Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, JHU, etc will require SAT's around 1480-1500+; 3.9 uwgpa; all depending on how good your kid is at baseball. If high skills then less ECs needed. No merit money here. The next level down is much easier and now we get into some merit money. My kid was getting offers of around 20-35k/year with his credentials. High dollar recruiting services are probably unnecessary. My kid is going to a school that he just emailed and sent video. He then visited the school and met with staff and players. They never saw him pitch live. The school is in a competitive conference but the program is rebuilding after COVID. This is just our experience and my opinions.