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Hi All: Son is 2021 RHP. Does anyone have a sense of minimum SAT, GPA to even be in the ballpark for recruitment should he get on the school's radar? He scored 1350 on his first SAT try. 4.5 weighted GPA; 3.9 unweighted; should be top 10% of class by end of this year. I remember getting a call from a coach at Princeton back in my heyday. When he heard my SATs he basically told me I had no chance and that was that. Any input would be great. I know about the academic index, but I'm looking for a broader sense of if he's in the ballpark if he were to get noticed by Columbia.

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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

Last edited by fenwaysouth

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.

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. 

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. 

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 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.  

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.)

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