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Tagged With "academic acceleration"

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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Backstop22 ·
The high academic D3's appear to operate exactly the same way as the Ivy's. My 2017's interest from a couple of the elite schools played out exactly the same way with a request from the HC for a copy of the transcripts and test results to "run by" the admissions office. One of them told him that they could not get a "yes" from that pre-read but could get a likely "no chance." And sure enough, he has not heard back from that coach, so he knows the answer on that one. The other one said go...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Gov ·
Backstop, thanks for the Intel... I wasn't thinking 2018 had to take both the SAT & ACT... Probably makes sense to figure out which test is a better fit... 30 years ago the SAT was the only test accepted for the high academics, now ACT seems to be the standard. Good luck to your son.
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Backstop22 ·
Gov: I am thinking since your son has time, he should take both the SAT and the ACT. It definitely seems ACT has been the more recognized, but SAT just revised their test to be more like the ACT. If he is striving for the high academics, having excellent scores on both tests cannot hurt and may actually help if he is right on the border. We are also finding some of the schools also value the SAT subject tests, particularly if he is thinking of a STEM major. As we have been told, the subject...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Gov ·
Good stuff... Even if you have just the ACT, for some of the high academics don't you have to take two SAT Subject Tests? Others here likely know, have to look that up... Think son is leaning on the financial-economics track...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

smokeminside ·
No matter how many times I read posts like Strained's and the ones that follow, I still need to read them again. Kid is hoping for something and any shred of response from THE DESIRED OBJECTIVE fans the flame. If there's tepid response, need to accept that the fire isn't there, and the matches are wet. My 2017 has had exactly the same experience with the Div 3's he's interested in. Some have faded away, a few have pre read his transcript and scores, and have greenlighted his admission. The...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

FourBases ·
One thing to remember is that a coach may send 20 pre-reads to admissions of potential recruits. The number of recruits for an Ivy for example may be 7 or 8, and the coaches already have on their board the prospects ranked. Lets say that all 20 come in with satisfactory pre-reads that means that the coach has 20 options and they will go according to their board rankings, so if the 7/8 top recruits decide to go to that school, the remainder recruits are out of luck. That is why regardless,...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Ripken Fan ·
Gov- The Ivies (aside from the baseball side) rely heavily on the rigor of the transcript (give a strong look at APs) and the AP test scores, coupled with board SAT/ACT scores. While SAT subject tests no longer "appear to be "required" of the Ivies, they are strongly recommended (from a link I read that came out this summer). I think my son took 4. Georgetown, another non-Ivy high academic used to require three tests, though they have pared that back. Most will accept either the SAT or ACT.
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Ripken Fan ·
This is one tough thing to find out. A policy analysis professor of mine used to say, "Don't ask the question, if you can't stand the answer." RipkenFan Son at times wanted to think he was in the "mix" at several schools and thought such questions may bother RCs; he was hesitant. Schools often keep a large enough pool, so they may not want to eliminate candidates early; or feel there is "still time" to find better.
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

FourBases ·
Ripken you are absolutely right, it is a tough question to ask, and what you really want to hear from the beginning is that your name is the one with three starts next to it; if you are in the 7/8 top main list they will let you know, otherwise, assume that you are not. One sign that may be recognizable as good is how often and firm they ask about you and other schools and if you are going to visit them. The feeling is in how they continue after they say 'we sent your papers to admissions...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

JCG ·
Sometimes it's easy. 2017 did one visit where a whiteboard was visible in HC's office, and we could see where his name was positioned. But I guess allowing a player to see that could be deliberate.
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Ripken Fan ·
4Bases with numbers above, 7/8, the road is is definitely tougher for a position player. Typical recruiting class: 4 pitchers, OF, MI and either Corner Infielder with pop who can throw a couple of innings or C. Schools which have a higher number of recruits will increase the P, power hitters, and take a C each class.
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

Twoboys ·
Just to comment and add our experience and 2 cents FWIW... - I believe Georgetown still STRONGLY recommends 3 SAT subject tests so not sure anything has been pared back. - The Academic Index at the Ivies weights test scores more than GPA since schools and grades are so varied across our great nation. - Most of the Ivies have 7 admission slots this year, with at least 1 having only 5. Those are the guys getting admissions support and likely letters. I do not agree with the above positional...
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Re: Recruitable as Two Way Player for Ivy ???

StrainedOblique ·
Backstop22 really laid out the game plan about 2018's seeking a fit in academic ball. It's all about TESTING. Prepping , Tests, re-tests and for parents terribly expensive tutors. Also, I just sort of want to follow up my original post by saying. I'm reluctant at times to post about the realities of recruiting because I feel like I'm the 'grim reaper' . The reality of how offers come about and how schools recruit are cold and harsh. But it's the truth based on my experience. I also believe...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

CTbballDad ·
Basically there are 3 tiers for a coach: Tier A/1: You get in on your academic merits Tier B/2: Admissions requires "coach support" Tier C/3: Just not good enough I believe there's quite a bit of latitude with Tier B/2, but there are only so many a coach can use in that Tier. The number of "test optional" schools are growing each year, which can help with the SAT/ACT scores. School profile and class rigor are very important factors. You will need a good number of honors/AP classes, if your...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

JCG ·
High Academic can mean a range of schools. For most of us that means a school that is very hard to get into and is ranked highly by US News, Princeton Review, etc. For example, Tufts comes up here often. The admit rate is 14.6 - very low, though there are some that are lower. If you search their website or Google for the term "student profile", there is usually a page for any school that will show you, at the very least, mean SAT and ACT scores. It would be instructive to look up the numbers...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

fenwaysouth ·
I think you'll find the term "high academic" gets thrown around a lot. People's definition varies. For HA, I look at what is required to get admitted in as a student (not baseball player as you phrased your question) through the general admissions process...lets call that the "Admissions front door". In my son's experience, the part that varied the most is how the Admissions process worked for the recruited athlete...lets call that the "Admissions back door". Again, my son's recruiting...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

MidAtlanticDad ·
Others with more experience can add their opinions, but I wouldn't attend an HA showcase with less than 1,250 SAT or 27 ACT. Of course those numbers won't impress the most selective schools, but I think there will be some schools that can at least start a dialogue at that level. GPA is much more subjective, but if you're on the borderline with standardized testing you should probably be better than borderline with grades and AP classes.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
A D3 HA coach told my son and me that GPA is the most important qualifier for him, because by at or near the end of Jr year (when D3 HAs get serious about recruiting), GPA is essentially set and can't change significantly; but a student can always re-take the ACT or SAT. (This was at a school with very high grade and test score averages, and one that does not bend those much at all for athletes, so take that into consideration.)
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

JCG ·
When my son attended HF, there were plenty of schools like Fenway listed, but also a lot that were more like Skidmore: 29% admit rate. Mean ACT: 29. BTW the Skidmore coach is a great guy and that's a beautiful campus.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

anotherparent ·
I agree that at Headfirst there are definitely some schools whose admissions rates are around 30% (and higher), SAT average around 1250, GPA 3.7. There's a reasonably wide range. An easy way to check is to look at the list of schools that will be at Headfirst (they are listed on their website). Google the name of the school + prepscholar, you will get listings of the school's average GPA, SAT/ACT, and admissions rate.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

keewart ·
Son's school was one of the HAs that Fenwaysouth listed in his post, but the acceptance rate is MUCH higher than 15%, mostly because it is a known backup school to the Ivys. Keep that in mind. Many of it's baseball players got in to an Ivy, or applied. In my son's case, baseball may have gotten him in to a school that he may not have gotten in to on his own. We will never know. But, once you get in, even with the coach's help, YOU NEED TO MAKE THE GRADES TO STAY THERE. (Son did, thank...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Backstop22 ·
There are some good parameters here to give you a general range of what gets a kid in the discussion of being admissible to HA schools. As others indicated, admission rates vary widely even among schools that are considered HA, but test scores and GPA are the criteria that the coaches will consider as the first factors in deciding if a kid should be recruited at a HA school. One HA D3 coach told us he went through a showcase roster that listed the kids academic scores they reported on their...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Qhead ·
"Finally, if your son is on the margin with the test scores, have him retake it and see if he can get an improvement. Going up even 2 points on the ACT can make a huge difference, especially in terms of any academic money he can get. " For the vast majority of HS players, this advice is more valuable in dollar terms than any baseball advice on this site! We paid for an SAT/ACT tutor that helped my son increase his scores considerably. The additional academic scholarship money received as a...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

RJM ·
In a social situation I crossed paths with the coach of a ranked HA D3. My son was already playing college ball. But I’m always curious to become aware of different situations. The school is considered very challenging academically. The coach told me has grease with admissions for baseball. But only for six players per admissions year. He asks his six prime recruits to apply ED so he knows who’s serious. He doesn’t want to waste a slot sliding a kid through to have him decide to go somewhere...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Dirtbag30 ·
Other than SB and HF, I've been wondering if "academic showcase" is just another hook to separate us parents from our money. The only qualifier for some local and PG "academic showcases" is "3.0 GPA and above." lol
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

RJM ·
Showcasing, travel ball and instruction has become such an industry I question how much of it is trying to separate parents from their money. I’m guessing there are a lot of former baseball players now selling baseball rather than insurance. Even Al Bundy would be connected to the sports industry now.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Gov ·
Good information shared above. Since RJM mentioned Duke, HC Pollard told me directly he is quite adamant of needing a min 26 ACT to play for his program. He's found good smart players which led them to the super regionals this year. Power Conference high level skills and talent obviously required. Friend's kid was offered by Northwestern and the RC/HC seem to be dialed in on at least a 28. Another friends kid is being recruited by Penn, RC said his 27 ACT will suffice. Two years ago son...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
For those who may not realize: There is a big benefit at many of these schools to being a baseball player, even if no athletic scholarship money is in the mix. To take the two examples above, the Prepscholar web site says the Duke ACT mean is 33 and the 25th percentile score is 31. At Penn the corresponding scores are 33 and 32. A non-athlete applying to those schools with a 26 or 27 ACT has essentially zero chance of admission unless he has something else extraordinary going for him (a...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

anotherparent ·
If you are interested in college outside of your local region, you have to participate in nationwide recruiting events. That goes for top-level D1 schools, and for top-level High Academic schools. These high-academic showcases are worth it if you are interested in colleges outside of your local area, they are the best way to get in front of a lot of schools at once, cheaper than travelling around the country to a lot of individual camps. If you want to stay closer to home, then local...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Smitty28 ·
Ivy's do not give academic money. I didn't think any truly HA school did (since most all applicants are top-shelf anyway). I have seen instances where middle-of-the-pack schools offered substantial academic money to lure top students.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Backstop22 ·
Smitty28 is correct that the elite of the elite, like the Ivy's and Stanford do not give academic money (just need based). But there are plenty of other higher academic schools that have various ways of providing academic-related money to high scoring students. Curiously, there may be some athletes at these schools who found such benefits pointed out to them through their recruiting discussions. So be sure to ask the coach and financial office if you think you might qualify.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

57special ·
To answer the OP's very general question with a very general answer, a 3.3 GPA and a 28 ACT or SAT equivalent. If you have outstanding baseball talent some HA D1's will go lower. If you are an average baseball talent I would like to go to HF with a min 30 ACT and 3.5 GPA. HS course rigor is a whole different question, but HC's and RC's usually leave that up to admissions.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

KLL ·
Do those kids that get in with the lower scores get enough tutoring help to be able to keep their grades up since they’re in classes geared towards the more academically gifted students or is it a constant struggle to remain eligible and obtain a degree?
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

BBMomAZ ·
In our experience, the sooner you can secure a solid SAT or ACT score the better. For the Junior Fall Classic, a premier recruiting event, the minimum to qualify for Academic Game Try-Outs is 3.7 GPA or 27 ACT or 1200 SAT. So I think those are good gauges. Most of the HA coaches whom my son interacted with were primarily interested in weighted GPA because they want to see a level of rigor (honors/AP/IB).
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

FourKids ·
There are some truly test-optional HA schools including at least 2 in the NESCAC, so I would not let a low ACT preclude a kid from attending HF or Showball as long as the GPA is good. As for the schools requiring scores, my son was told 26 was the cutoff for some schools, 28 for others, and 30 for some.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
A good question, but I think every student has to address his situation individually. You need to talk with coaches and schools about graduation rates, resources, expectations... Some schools provide tutoring and other academic support specifically for athletes. So far as I know, the schools I would consider true HAs do not--but most of those schools make quite a lot of tutoring and other kinds of support freely available to all students. (It's also true that there is no one definition of...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

PABaseball ·
There aren't any classes geared towards more academically gifted students unless you're in an honors program at the college. The acceptance rates are kept low to keep the schools full of elite students and does not have as much to do with how hard it is once you're there. The difference between a student with a 27 and a 31 or a 32 and a 34 isn't that much of a difference, if at all. I'm sure there are plenty of students with a 24/25 that can manage perfectly fine at plenty of these schools,...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

tequila ·
Good input on responses to this question so far but I thought I'd add my two cents. My 2019 had 3.6 GPA (with a rigorous schedule), a 31 ACT and, after touring Kenyon, Case, Middlebury, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Tufts, made a comment to me that he didn't want to be the "dumbest" one on campus. I thought that was interesting and a pretty good point, though he likely could have gotten in the door to most of these. I was in that boat at his age, having barely gotten into my #1 school of choice,...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

JCG ·
Agreed -- good responses, my two cents is that my kid had a roughly the same HS academics and scores as yours, but did go to a school in the same tier you mentioned. After two years, he's not an academic all american or on the deans list, but he's taking very difficult courses with intense work loads, and he's doing fine with a respectable GPA. As for being the dumbest kid on campus, he'd probably say that's the LAX team. JK - they don't have LAX. If a kid is willing to work hard and can...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Gov ·
I’ve sat on selection committees for all the Service Academies and we look for the min ACT combined with the absolute strongest weighted GPA reflecting a strong curriculum w AP/H classes. That tells us the classroom work ethic and discipline of the student. Ive seen plenty of 28-30 ACT kids who have a stronger weighted GPA than a 32-33 ACT kid. We’ll take the 30 ACT kid over the 33 ACT kid in this case. Doing well and staying in a Service Academy is difficult. Limited sleep, limited free...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
I think this raises an important issue (and is another factor that will vary for different individuals). I see elite college admissions as having so many back and side doors that no one should feel they don't belong if their test scores or grades are a little low; but I get it. Choosing a school where you don't feel comfortable just because that school is "better" according to some ranking or other isn't necessarily a good idea. (I also have seen kids who were the biggest academic fish in...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

2019Dad ·
For the OP, since your son is a RHP, this post may be helpful: https://community.hsbaseballwe...47#44234158300777747
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Zoom 2020 ·
Hi, great thread. My son is a 2020 RHP/OF and just starting to go thru the HA showcase process. Common sense would suggest that the higher the academic profile (GPA/SAT/ACT/rigor) the better, assuming kid has real baseball skills. But wondering if anyone has experience with a paradoxical situation where if the academic profile is really high (e.g., perfect test scores and grades with lots of APs and other academic awards), a HA coach might be reluctant to give up an official slot under the...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

tequila ·
My understanding is that D3 baseball teams don't have roster size limits so there aren't really "official slots" to speak of. The coaches have a recruiting board of course, and I'm sure they have a number at each position that they're shooting for, but admission at HA D3 schools is completely at the discretion of the admissions office.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Backstop22 ·
Of course each school's admission criteria and HC's clout with the admission office varies. My son did encounter a situation with a HA engineering school in the Midwest where the school got in trouble with the NCAA for having "too much" coach influence in admissions. In that case, that coach was really looking for kids who were so strong academically that he would not have to worry about them getting through admissions. So for that HA, a kid with really strong credentials is going to be a...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
IMO, telling a kid to just apply and trust he will be admitted would be a pretty clear signal that a coach wasn't very interested. Even for a recruit with perfect academic credentials, if a coach wants the player, I'd expect an offer for an admissions pre-read for ED admission. There must be some limit on the number of recruits a coach can use this process for (I think D3 HA schools vary widely on this). But if a coach wants a player, I don't think he'd say "you can just apply on your own."...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Zoom 2020 ·
Thanks for all the responses, agree that pre-read is essential. But if pre-read is positive, does that guarantee eventual admission without coach using a "slot"? In Ivy League, at least the "likely letter" is essentially a guarantee of admissions, but D3s don't give likely letters to my knowledge.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
I haven’t heard of D3s actually issuing likely letters (although some may). But likely letters aren’t binding in any event. I’d feel just as confident relying on an email from a baseball coach telling me my pre-read was positive and assuring me that I’d be accepted if I apply ED (and keep my grades up, don’t get arrested, etc.). That’s essentially a likely letter in email form. But maybe I’m naive.
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

anotherparent ·
A few D3s do give likely letters, but, as noted, it's not a guarantee. This is why the whole thing is so complicated to understand. D3 schools have no roster limits. And "high academic," even if you start with an average SAT score of, say, 1250, covers a very wide range in terms of admissions percentages; anywhere from 7% to 50+%. (Chapman, who just won the D3 World Series, goes to Headfirst). Some D3 coaches (at all levels of selectivity) keep their rosters at 30-35; some (again at all...
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Re: High Academic minimum requirements

Chico Escuela ·
Hijacking the thread a bit (but this doesn't seem worth a separate post): Did anyone encounter what we used to call "exploding offers" from HA D3s? That is, did a coach say "you have to get back to me in X weeks or I'm going to move on to a different candidate"? My son is just starting to visit schools and has one offer so far (D3, very good school and solid baseball program). He's very happy about that, but says he wants to see more before he makes any decisions. That coach did not mention...
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