Columbia University, Ivy League

My son is going to Princeton next year and is a member of the Princeton Class of 2008.

He had the opportunity to be recruited by some of the finest baseball programs in America but chose Princeton because of its academic reputation and Coach Bradley. He was recruited by Columbia, too, but was concerned about the "unsettled" coaching situation.

You don't choose the Ivy League for baseball. I would guess that Harvard and Princeton are the "cream of the Ivy crop" in the last 4-5 years.

As you can imagine, I've watched Princeton closely this year and their problem is DEPTH. They have a couple of stud pitchers and a stud outfielder. Not sure about the rest of the team since I've never seen them play, although it seems that they've beaten teams they should not have beaten, i.e., Old Dominion and Verlander; and, lost to teams that they should have beaten.

I would guess that the bulk of their pitching staffs should be low to mid '80's pitchers, with an occasional guy touching 90. Not many, though.

My son wants the Princeton degree and a Stanford or Harvard MBA down the road.

While he is hoping that he would get the opportunity to play pro ball down the road, the world will not come to an end if it doesn't happen. He is working on his Spanish-speaking skills, however....so that he might become a good teammate.

First of all, congratulations on your son's admission to Princeton. I remember my daughter and I jumping up and down and running and screaming with joy all over the house like children, when she recieved her acceptance papers. You and your son may be more reserved than that, but you will have to admit it was a very exciting time for your family. I tried to get her to try out for the Volleyball team, which was in dire need of players after several defections, as she was very skilled by having participated in our High School program which set a world record for the most consecutive State Championships in any sport, men or women, profession or ameature, at 17...its in the National High School Federation's record books and may, by now, be in the Genis Book of Records.

There is an unwritten rule in the Ivy League: a sibling is forbidden to attend a different Ivy League school than that attended by the other sibling, or it is so as explained by my sophomore daughter who also happens to work in the admissions office. I really don't see my son as a professional baseball player, nor do I think he sees himself as having that potential. But its the prestige of a Columbia degree that interests me and, I think, eventually, will interst him, too. This school could not have been a better fit for my duaghter and our family, as we are yellow dog/liberal democrats, and, need I explain, the reputation of Columbia in this regard.

Columbia's atheletic programs are sort of distadvanged because of facility limitations. Their football stadium is in Brookyn or the Broncs, not sure, a 30 min. train ride away, so there is no real connection to the football program with the student body which is why the administration is always struggling with justification and attendance. They have similar issues with other sports because property on Manhattan Island is at a premium.

So, maybe, if things work out, in 2008 my son will have been admitted to Columbia and good enough to start as a freshman, and your son will have been redshirted, they'll see each other on the diamond. Roar Lions!!!!

Mom...Know all about Columbia from the Viet Nam years.

Hopefully, my son will have graduated by 2008.

Haven't heard about the "unwritten" rule, and I have a junior son (Class of 2005) that is interested in Columbia. Either a school like Columbia or Florida State Honors for him. Have to get him through the next 14 months.

I work with an admissions officer of an Ivy school, and my son attends Yale. This unwritten rule of which you speak does not exist. I, personally, know many, many students who attend one Ivy (including Columbia) with a sibling attending another Ivy (not to mention parents and grandparents having attended a completely different Ivy). Secondly, you had better check about the sibling being considered a legacy at Columbia. At most Ivies, this is not the case. At the Ivy I work with, a legacy is considered a son or daughter of a parent or grandparent period.

squarepeg

It would definitely be beneficial for your son to attend one of the Columbia summer camps, if only to confirm or quell his(and your) desire to go there. He will be able to get a good sense of the surroundings, as well as a feel for the coaching staff. The Perfect Game Northeast showcase and Stanford camp also have significant Ivy participation, but you'll probably want to wait until after his sophomore year to attend these types of events.

One significant disadvantage of the Ivies is playing ball in the cold Northeast. This likely had a lot to do with the Harvard score in that it was probably one of their first games of the season vs. maybe 15 or so for the Louisiana team. Yale's(where my son is a freshman) first 2 games were at Georgetown in DC, and even they had already played 11 games.

DogDad:
Your son has been a wonderful addition to the team - and he's having a great year! Congratulations, and I expect he'll be one of the most important parts of Yale baseball for all his four years. Yale is really lucky to have him!

Thanks so much NYMom. He has really found the right fit at Yale, and loves everything about the school - the academic challenge, the campus environment, the coaches, the team, and the comraderie.

I know the team really misses Chris for not only his skill but also his leadership. What's the latest on his injury?

Great replies, ya'll. First, about the "unwritten rule" of Ivy League attendance. One must be accepted to two Ivy League shcools for this to even be an issue, so with early decision restrictions playing such a significant part in actual attendance figures, the likelyhood of commitment to two schools is slim, I think. Nevethless, what I meant was that once you have a sibling in one school, this fact is not lost to those in charge of admissions. The application for every school includes information concering sibling students. I'm pretty sure columbia considers siblings when awarding legacy points. Here's a note I found concering Ivy League legacy points:

About 10 to 15 percent of the students on most Ivy League campuses are the children of alumni. Among such institutions, Harvard University accepts 40 percent of its undergraduate legacy applicants, compared with about 11 percent of its overall applicant pool. William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid, says that the average SAT score for Harvard's legacy admittees is just two points below that of all of its students, and that the legacy policy helps raise funds that "make it possible for Harvard to admit many students from moderate or low-income backgrounds."

Dogdad mentioned Columbia Summer Camps...not a bad idea at all. I may just do that this summer, as my daughter will be staying on campus this summer working on a student fellowship research project. She'll be thrilled to know that her little brother might be staying with her for a week<----Hah, Hah! I'll have to find out more. He attended the LSU summer camp last year, and it was a complete waste of time....too mny kids, not enough instruction. Thanks.

I noted on the several Columbia rosters, a significant number of athelets from the west coast, so the Stanford Showcases would be good, too. Perfect Game, I've heard about them, too.

BTW, how does one get that nice Yale signature picture on their posts?

squarepeg,

If you are serious about targeting Ivy schools & baseball, then hit the Stanford camp. Make sure your son has high grades & high PSAT/SAT, and a high class ranking.

Baseball skills are secondary to academics during admissions processing. I know 2 very good ballplayers who would have contributed as freshmen next year, but were denied admission by the admissions office.

I was wondering how good one should be to attend the Stanford camp. Is it primarily for players interested in d1? How would this match up with a PG event. Thanks.

As you know, Stanford is a nationally elite program. Stanford recruits from this camp, but not exclusively. Stanford also trolls the major showcases. This should offer you an idea of the talent attracted to the camp.

The Ivy schools are D1 programs. The baseball coaches will not recruit ballplayers that cannot play. But, as a player & parent you must understand the importance of the student academic record to the admissions office.

If you are offered an opportunity to attend this camp, accept it. My son called this the best baseball experience he has had.

What kind of GPA, SAT score would one need to get accepted by Columbia considering they have the necessary baseball skills?

my son was at Columbia last fall for a visit, the coach told him that 1200 would get him on the "radar screen". It comes down to the ivy league academic index. The higher a recruit you are the lower your academic index can be, to a point. Make sure you dont mind taking a bus 100 blocks to practice every day! Very nice coaching staff, just not the right fit for my son.

sosa...My son is headed to Princeton.

Where is your son going?

Beenthere--He is headed to Bucknell

Please note, do not expect a lot of instruction at the Columbia Camp. Much like a lot of the other Ivy camps, it is run in a showcase style format. With reduced budgets in comparison to other D1 programs, the Ivy schools tend to use them as sources of recruiting, but by no means as the sole source of recruiting.

When is the Stanford camp? Would a left hander throwing high 70s maybe 80 by summer have any business there or probably not? Thanks!

just...Why don't you get your lefty in a local showcase to get his feet wet this summer and then look for a Stanford invite next summer?

Needs to get the butterflies out of his system before going to a competitive "showcase"...although Stanford is run like a camp.

Beenthere-
My son is actually a junior. Hoping pretty much to play at a division 3 school. Are there any good camps anybody knows about that are mainly scouted by those type of schools or do they mainly recruit from the bigger camps? Thanks a lot!

I know Cali is well scouted for professional baseball and for many of the D1 schools.

I really don't know if there is much opportunity for D3 coaches to go to any (if any) showcases outside their own state (s).

I'll defer to others...If he's a junior, he should be showcasing this summer...whether for smaller schools or bigger schools.

My son is actually going to be a senior next year. Nothing outstanding, just wants to be given the shot to play somewhere after highschool. Also is a pretty decent students. Wasn't sure however if there are any camps where d3 coaches do their recruiting away from the bigger ordeals such as stanford camp which is mainly d1 players. Any ideas? All would be appreciated, thanks!

Identify a handful of D3 schools who are interested in and have your son contact the coach and see what camps and showcases the coaches will be at.

Just2slow- my son was at the Stanford camp last summer and there were D-3 schools there (and at any other event he attended-Area code tryouts, CIF Coaches Showcase, etc.)

I don't recall any D-3 school being "officially" part of the Stanford camp but he was contacted by several after that camp. I think the D-3 schools "make the rounds" not much different from D-1 schools and maybe more so as most do not run camps of their own or at least not for high school age kids. My son has been in contact with a number of D-3 schools around the country and I don't recall any having a camp.

If you check John Skilton Baseball Links (which I think also links from this site) you can get a full list of D-3 schools and from there, link to their sites. If I remember correctly, you're in SoCal as am I and right here is a wonderful D-3 conference- the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and they have a website with all the teams listed.

Not that I am at all prejudiced One of the schools is Pomona College, where my son has been accepted (Pomona-Pitzer baseball program). We are completely thrilled with this opportunity for him (great school, program and coaching staff).

If you have any questions or I can give you any info, feel free to send me a private message and good luck.................

My son will be at Brown this fall, class of 2008. He was recruited by Coach Drabinsky at the Best of Virginia camp last July. My son says he believes Columbia was there, also. The Blue-Grey coaches and Coach D. all told us later in the process that Best of Virginia was one of the 2 or 3 best run camps in the country. Our family certainly has no complaints! After having spent much money and time on other camps, with limited success, my son was contacted by 14 schools from all different divisions as a result of B of Va. I highly recommend it. The coaches live with the boys in dorms for the week, so they get to know each other well. There is some instruction, but it's mostly a showcase camp.....and with 5 days you can show off your talent in a fair and reliable manner.

My son will be at Princeton as a member of the Class of 2008.

Let's get together next spring when Brown plays Princeton.

Hot dog and coke on me.

Sounds great! But I doubt we will be there. Having our son so far away from home will be the most difficult price (far more than $$$) that we are paying for his Ivy League experience. I have very rarely missed a game since t-ball days.....so knowing he is playing ball without us is a tough pill to swallow. This spring Brown played in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida in the pre-Ivy season, so we got to see quite a few games. Maybe we'll meet in the sunny South sometime! I'm a teacher, so can't just take off to travel to Providence any ole time.

My wife is a teacher, too.

She has sick days and personal days built up for this very purpose...to see her son play in college.

Just returned from Columbia University visiting my daughter. Went to the Yankees vs. Kansas City game Sunday. Had a great time. Yankees won 4-2. I almost cauught a foul ball hit by Jeter but it rolled out of my hand onto the floor where a young lady behind me grabbed it. Didn't get a chance to visit the Columbia baseball facility, though. I spent 4 nights there. It was quit the experience. First, I arrived in my hotel room to find there was no bathroom. Apparently, when I booked online I mistakenly scrolled down to the option for a shared bathroom!!!! Then I realized my room number was "911"....no joking. I shared a bathroom with a few foreign students. Everything else about my stay was fine. I went overboard shopping with my daughter who is an expert at turning me into mush. I met several of her Sorority friends and their parents at a brunch for us. We all agreed that our daughters were not good at keeping their rooms clean.

The Columbia campus is an oasis of green in a sea of concret....absolutely beautiful and inspiring...an excellent learning environment. The weather was perfect. Everyone was out playing in the quad. The campus lawns were immaculate. I was told that all of the grass is re-sod each spring, the cost for which is paid from residuals from the movie Ghost Busters which was filmed on campus.

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