Columbia Baseball Program

Based on this recently posted  link (below) 25th percentile is 1450 and 75th percentile  is 1560 for regular Columbia students.  My sense of it, is that your son is near the lower-middle for a recruited baseball player at Columbia.   If he throws  94mph with 4 pitches and pinpoint control then 1350 on his SAT is probably enough ;-). 

He's in the ballpark academically.  The bigger question is he in the ballpark athletically.  Coaches identify talent they want then ask SAT/ACT questions to see if he qualifies.    Got to have both.

https://community.hsbaseballwe...05#55223760041205505

If your son scored a 1350 on his first try, I would think he can get solidly over 1400 with some more practice, studying and super scoring.  If so, then I think he can be worked in, if his baseball skills are there.

What sticks out for me is your "if he gets noticed" comment.  Columbia was actually the first school to reach out to my son.  That was the summer of his rising junior year.  Dartmouth was also interested.  May sound crazy, but we didn't take them too seriously and didn't follow up on campus invites, as we were concerned with son's ability to keep up at an Ivy school...he did not have your son's grades. Unweighted 3.9 passes the bar and 1350 first pass isn't bad.  May also want to go the ACT route.

Point is, if Columbia is high on your son's list, but you haven't heard from the school, reach out to them yourself.    But, also important are his baseball measurables.  If he's mid-80s and also projectable, you've got something to work with and you should let them know.

Thanks for the input. My son topped out mid 80s in October so he is not there velo wise yet. He’s training five-six days a week so we will see where he winds up come Showball or Headfirst. He’s 6’1, 175, up 15 pounds from last year this time and still has room to fill out. Keep working and see where it goes...

Two suggestions: Get a test prep tutor and, as mentioned above, try the ACT.  With a tutor # 1 son's scores went from 1320 to 1440 and while #2 son's scores in SAT were okay (1320) he went from a 31 ACT to a 34.  He hated the SAT.  He hated the ACT less.  The possible payoffs dwarf the tutor's fees and the tests are different enough that they both merit a try. 

It depends on how good he is relative to the roster. A player we knew was told with his GPA a 26 would get him into the school. Now he also had offers from Big 10 and ACC schools and would likely be a weekend starter as a freshman. I would also assume that the coach would be using an admissions tip on him. 

When Columbia contacted 2019 we heard 1200 or 28. Maybe his GPA was lower, maybe he wasn't as talented as the other kid, but that was the number. I would probably say that a 30 or 1300 is good enough if your kid if fielding offers from non patriot D1 schools. 

I've heard similar to 1200 for Columbia, and lower. All anecdotal, but they seem to be very lenient.

My 2020 was recruited by them and told 1250 was what they looked for as the low end. We had more than that and the same grades as your son.  Wasn't a fit for him after he did their prospect camp. So, if it's of real interest, I suggest doing the camp. It lets you see the facilities, players participated and meet the coaches. 

Good luck!

Coach Pete Maki, when he was at Columbia recruited son a while back. He was early in the process, fall of sophmore year for my son and saw him in Ft Myers. I am not sure my son had the academic chops to get in...we never made it to the actual visit and/or offer. Some due to academics requirements and other to distance and earlier/other  decisions. 

Thanks for sharing everyone, this is one of my kid's dream schools, hopefully a reach after his ACT/SAT. Does anyone have any Intel on this ivy's athletic financial aid/grants for it's student athletes?

2022NYC posted:

Thanks for sharing everyone, this is one of my kid's dream schools, hopefully a reach after his ACT/SAT. Does anyone have any Intel on this ivy's athletic financial aid/grants for it's student athletes?

It's exactly the same as it is for the non-athletes.  That will be true across all Ivy schools.  No merit money, all financial aid based on your financials.

In my experience, if you do get to the stage where an Ivy is showing serious interest you'll want to get another ivy interested so you can be sure the need based financial aid is (most) competitive.  When my son was getting ready to commit, Ivy #1 did not provide as competitive need based financial aid as Ivy #2 .   We called them on it, and Ivy #1 FA office met Ivy #2 FA package.  Tip:  wherever you land, make a friend in the Financial Aid office, and it will make your 4 years much more pleasant.

There are Ivy institutional awards but they are not common.  My son was awarded a $4K grant per year for engineering.  His wife was a Presidential Scholarship award winner as a chemical engineer.   She paid no tuition for 4 years.   

Good luck!

Again, thanks for all the input. 1250 SAT as the low end is surprising, but I'd imagine the "lower end" is a fit for higher-end arms and talent. You never know how a kid will develop, but I'd project my kid as a higher level DIII kid with a ceiling of lower end D1. All that is to say, he needs to keep pushing for higher SAT next time around. Any insights on Boretti as a coach? Hard ass? Recruits a certain body type pitcher?  

I know players who were told 1250 for the SAT.

I have heard nice things about Coach Borettii. There was some talk that he'd move on after a string of NCAA appearances. He made a special point of pulling my son aside and talking to him after son's last game against the Lions. Not sure about the pitchers, but they recruit hitters (power/high K/launch) for the small park home ballpark. No lead is safe there.

You're in the ballpark from both an Academic Index perspective and Velo.  Most Ivy's want their RHP at 87-88 by the end of Summer Junior year.  Columbia/Harvard/Yale/Penn do, the other Ivy's may take a notch or two lower.  Columbia has the largest budget in the Ivy's and seem willing to spend to recruit from the entire country (as opposed to primarily the NE) to land top talent.  

1200 will work if you have high baseball talent as well as a position meeting Columbia's immediate need. Was told on recruiting visit (last year) that a current player was accepted with a 1200 SAT.

Of course the higher scores the better as less baseball talent will require scores to offset the most talented recruits.

All those comments about 1200 being in the ball park, miss this point: that individual needs to project as a first team all-ivy as a freshman.

Look up and understand the Ivy league "bands." 

A 1200 kid needs to be an immediate impact player who will lead the team to a championship. (The one kid I know who was around there was probably the best player to EVER play in the Ivy; certainly the best to ever play at son's school.)

Yes, totally get that. My kid is not that kid and likely won't be. So 1400+ or higher is where he needs to be. All good stuff. I appreciate everyone's input. Going to be an interesting summer and fall...or hopefully it will be! 

I can pretty much guarandamntee you that you'll have an interesting summer and fall.

I do know one local kid who made Columbia and was a contributing P as a Freshman. Under 6', sat 84-5. No idea of his academics. He was not a star in HS. My son remembered hitting him pretty hard. Having said that, he seemed to be one of those kids who it all came together for at just the right time. I saw him at an August HA camp just before senior year, and he was one of, if not the best P out there. Great command, sharp breaking pitch, could spot the fastball. Made the hitters look overmatched. I am guessing Boretti saw him(this was LI) and made a judgement call, even though he didn't have outstanding numbers or projectable size. Turns out he was right, and the kid had a good year in college.

   I always like to remember stories like this. Makes me hopeful that it isn't all about velo and size. I've seen HS kids adjust to upper 80's FB's thrown up in the zone, and the same kids get destroyed by an intelligent P who maxes out at 85, but can actually pitch.

 I've heard good things about Boretti, and the field looks great. Gotta want to be a city guy to go there, of course.

Son loves NYC. I am originally from the area so he has family and some connectivity to New York already. Definitely a unique environment. Well, fingers crossed that when my boy goes to Showball or HeadFirst this summer he performs. Always tell him to work his ass off and then if it doesn't work out you have no regrets- you did everything you could and the stars just didn't align. 

Speaking of Showball and HF, we are planning a trip out to Cali to see some schools and do one of the camps either in San Fran or Sacremento while out there. Due to summer travel schedule and an overseas trip he can't make the Northeast camps, unfortunately. Any thoughts on if that puts him at a disadvantage being out there with California players? I would image it would...

If you're headed out west to attend camps, you should consider attending Stanford's camp, especially if the west coast HA schools are an option if they show interest.  Registration for their camps starts in January and will likely fill fast.

BaseballDad72 posted:

Speaking of Showball and HF, we are planning a trip out to Cali to see some schools and do one of the camps either in San Fran or Sacremento while out there. Due to summer travel schedule and an overseas trip he can't make the Northeast camps, unfortunately. Any thoughts on if that puts him at a disadvantage being out there with California players? I would image it would...

If a girl is pretty in Baltimore, she'll be pretty in Sacramento.

"If a girl is pretty in Baltimore, she'll be pretty in Sacramento."

As someone who attended school and lived in Baltimore, and now lives in California, I can speculate you didnt get to Baltimore much.

In all seriousness, if the coaches are there, it doesn't matter where you're playing. Back in the day, I thought that Stanford camp had slightly better level of talent than HF California, but that the HF camps were equal on both coasts.

Goosegg posted:

 

A 1200 kid needs to be an immediate impact player who will lead the team to a championship. (The one kid I know who was around there was probably the best player to EVER play in the Ivy; certainly the best to ever play at son's school.)

Did the kid you know graduate from that Ivy? I've heard Ivy admissions people say they believe that a majority of the applicants who aren't accepted would have had academic success at their schools if given the chance. They simply have the luxury of select those with the most impressive applications. I'd like to think that there is evidence to support this opinion.

Corroborating what others have said, last year Tischler said that 26 - 27 on the ACT would work.  That seems about like a 1200 SAT.  

Texas1836 posted:

Corroborating what others have said, last year Tischler said that 26 - 27 on the ACT would work.  That seems about like a 1200 SAT.  

As a means of published Ivy comparison this is lower than what Yale states on their emails to potential recruits.  They suggest a 3.8GPA and 30 ACT (approx 1360 SAT) are general thresholds to academic considerations. 

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all have slightly higher requirements. As several here have already posted, some of the Ivy's have a little more leeway. Of course what the RC was really saying is that they DO have the ability to get a 1200 SAT through admissions but you likely would have to be their #1 prospect for that incoming class. He probably tells every recruit the same thing during their visit so that you remain interested but in the end he will have to find an index balance that works with all of his incoming recruits. So my advice would be to shoot for a 1400+. My post (and some posts from other members) are just repeating what we all heard directly from the Columbia RC.  I just commented because I want other members not to give-up on an Ivy education because of lower test scores. If you have the baseball chops I am 100% sure the schools have the ability to work with the lower test scores--but they will have to "offset" that score with some other recruit.

Basically, if you are going to be let in to Columbia with a 1200 SAT, then you have to be good enough of  a baseball player to get into Vanderbilt. The vast majority of Ivy recruits have VG/EXC grades and test scores...all their baseball skill does is get them admitted more surely than the average joe with great GPA/SAT's.

57 is right on.

To the poster who asked if the kid who had a 1200 graduated: yes, took an extra semester because he signed as a FA junior. Wasn't a top student - but it wasn't his priority; baseball was and I predict one day when his playing career is over he will return as the school's HC.

(And, like every other student, took a writing class, did an original junior "paper" [one semester of work], an originally researched senior thesis [one full year], and passed his department's final "comprehensive" exam [which covers all that disciplines prereq classes]. Not bad for a guy who really focused on baseball.)

This is exactly right. Id make sure whatever event you go to has a critical mass of coaches from schools your son will be comfortable attending.  There should be as many coaches as possible getting looks at your kid, and your son will want them to know ahead of time that he is going to be there.