MIT and baseball

Soooo, spoke to the college counselor and got a few answers. There are no longer subject tests for the SAT. Just the regular math and verbal parts.

The chemistry thing is a kick where it hurts though. She didn't realize (or forgot) he hasn't taken it. She sat with MIT and CalTech (and Harvey Mudd, GA Tech, etc.) and they will all require him to have completed AP Chemistry, the highest offered at his school. So they are now scrambling to change his schedule and get him into the Chemistry Honors class so that he can take AP Chemistry next year.

Keep in mind that this was Fall 2016, but in my son's class on the team at MIT, there were two kids who had not taken Physics at all, but both took Chemistry.  It made the required freshman Physics class difficult for them, but they were admitted.  One was recruited as a pitcher and one as a position player.  

I am not privy to the exact process, but I suspect that there is no one right formula.  My son knew a non athlete who was from a small, underdeveloped country and had never seen a gaming controller!  All different types of kids are attractive to MIT.  The key is that most have taken the hardest classes their high school offered and are very good athletes.  Many of the baseball players had D1 offers, but held out for an MIT education.  As Seaver said above, MIT is very competitive in their conference in all sports, and this is because they have D1 level athletes on the rosters.  

If you think your son has the grades and test scores but Coach Carroll has never seen him play or had a conversation with him, you are probably no better off than the other thousands who apply.   Get him in front of Coach Carroll at a camp that MIT is attending, and have your son speak with Coach directly about his academics.  Be proactive both with the baseball and with the academics.  

His school has AP chemistry which creates the problem of taking the hardest courses. They are considering having him skip regular and go right into AP chemistry. You are right, there is no formula. Only guidelines that will increase your chances of being admitted. We almost missed one of the very basic parts of the formula.

Coach Carroll saw him at HF. Talked a lot about grades and other positions. Asked my son to email his class schedule, which he did.  Now comes the question of does he send a revised schedule to the coaches? He’s going to have to drop either AP microeconomics or AP computer science and replace with honors chemistry

Nice to see this thread got refreshed!

My son was a high school Class of 2020 player whose final 4 choices were MIT, Caltech, Hopkins, and UChicago. He chose UChicago after getting a likely letter from admissions and applied ED. Everything went smoothly with the pre-read and likely letter just as the coach laid out, and there was little to no stress with the admissions process.

While both UChicago and Hopkins can offer likely letters to recruits who make the coach's top 6-10 list, you should be aware that neither MIT nor Caltech issue likely letters to athletic recruits so admissions is not a sure thing even with strong coach support. Of course, it's not a crap shoot either as the coach should be able to give you a rough probability of admission which could be around 50-70% assuming kid is very high on his list and has the top academic scores expected at MIT and Caltech. This odds range is obviously much higher than a non-recruited athlete's chances, but it's not 99.9% either like in the case of getting a likely letter.

Son loved his freshman year at UChicago, the school invited all kids to be on campus the whole year despite Covid and the team played a nearly complete season of baseball with over 30 games. Despite the cold winters, he loves the city and likes having a broad diversity of academic interests in the student body even though he is a STEM guy, and he really likes his teammates and coaches. He's also excited about having a free extra year of eligibility from the NCAA so he can play 5 years of college baseball, which turned out to be a silver lining in the dark cloud of Covid.

Good luck to your son with his options, he can't go wrong with either MIT or Caltech but they are very different schools, settings, and competitive baseball levels despite being premier technology institutes.

@Zoom 2020 posted:

Nice to see this thread got refreshed!

My son was a high school Class of 2020 player whose final 4 choices were MIT, Caltech, Hopkins, and UChicago. He chose UChicago after getting a likely letter from admissions and applied ED. Everything went smoothly with the pre-read and likely letter just as the coach laid out, and there was little to no stress with the admissions process.

While both UChicago and Hopkins can offer likely letters to recruits who make the coach's top 6-10 list, you should be aware that neither MIT nor Caltech issue likely letters to athletic recruits so admissions is not a sure thing even with strong coach support. Of course, it's not a crap shoot either as the coach should be able to give you a rough probability of admission which could be around 50-70% assuming kid is very high on his list and has the top academic scores expected at MIT and Caltech. This odds range is obviously much higher than a non-recruited athlete's chances, but it's not 99.9% either like in the case of getting a likely letter.

Son loved his freshman year at UChicago, the school invited all kids to be on campus the whole year despite Covid and the team played a nearly complete season of baseball with over 30 games. Despite the cold winters, he loves the city and likes having a broad diversity of academic interests in the student body even though he is a STEM guy, and he really likes his teammates and coaches. He's also excited about having a free extra year of eligibility from the NCAA so he can play 5 years of college baseball, which turned out to be a silver lining in the dark cloud of Covid.

Good luck to your son with his options, he can't go wrong with either MIT or Caltech but they are very different schools, settings, and competitive baseball levels despite being premier technology institutes.

These are my son’s top schools as well. We still need to visit them and do a lot more research. He knows they are all top STEM schools and have baseball teams.

Terrible BPT:Now comes the question of does he send a revised schedule to the coaches? He’s going to have to drop either AP microeconomics or AP computer science and replace with honors chemistry

Yes!  Send revised schedule.  But, also, relax. You have a full year of this ahead of you.

Also, Also....If anyone's interested in more info on UChicago's recruiting/admission/non-admission process, please PM me. My two sons' stories are not like zoom 2020's, but congrats to him and his kid. What an amazing school.

Yes, they are all great academic schools with D3 baseball teams, but one of these four schools is very, very different from the other three in terms of baseball and overall athletic department competitiveness across all sports. I'm sure you can guess which school that is, and this can be an important factor depending on how seriously your son wants to spend his time on baseball and winning  vs other pursuits while in college.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

These are my son’s top schools as well. We still need to visit them and do a lot more research. He knows they are all top STEM schools and have baseball teams.

No Mudd?

Mudd is in there but not a top choice. Might be by the spring. He has others he’s flushing out first. His college counselor is pretty tight with Mudd’s admissions and has been pushing them.

As an East Coast kid going to Caltech and playing ball, my son loves the weather, the team, the school and pretty much everything about it. He took a gap year last year due to Covid and can't wait to get back on campus. Also, Caltech's baseball team (and other teams) are on the rise athletically. Their recent recruiting years have been very good and I'm looking forward to seeing how they do in a very competitive SCIAC that routinely produces D3 champs (Cal Lutheran, Chapman...). One thing I'll note is that MIT carries a bigger roster and playing time is more competitive. Go where you'll play and go where you'll be happy if you're NOT playing for whatever reason. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about Caltech.

Breaking news: Coach Fitzgerald, the head coach at UChicago, just announced his resignation today in an email to the players that stated he is taking a role in athletics administration at a different school where he previously coached. This is a complete shock out of the blue, Coach Fitz was a former player and alum of his alma mater as well as head coach at UChicago for 7 years. He is very well liked and respected by the current players and he had very successful winning programs at all of his coaching stints.

There are undoubtedly more nuanced details behind the announcement but our family is very sad to see him leave. Obviously, this could have some effects on this year's recruiting class but hopefully the lines of communication will be maintained between the coaches and recruits in Class of 2026.

@Zoom 2020 That is big news that Fitzgerald is stepping down -- our 2024 is interested in schools in UChicago's conference. He's still listed as coach on their website, and D3 Baseball has nothing reported on it...

Wow.

reviving this thread. my 2024 is now in the last few months of recruiting and searching for a baseball home for the next four years after hs.

son has made his mind up for HA D3 baseball (Specifically MIT).

What does the average recruiting timeline look like for MIT? I know that other HA D3 (Hopkins/UChicago/etc) generally does earlier pre reads, and likely letters to "commit" earlier. MIT, on the other hand, I don't see much on when things happen. Does the coach (HC or RC) hold off until Sep/Oct to "offer" and tell potential recruits to apply EA?

Has the RC expressed interest yet? They will usually try to get you on campus for a visit in September before it gets too cold. They will then “offer” and ask for a decision by early October.

If they have expressed interest and your son is interested, I would recommend getting a jump on the essay prompts as soon as possible. The earlier he gets his app in the earlier he can get his interview.

Several of us can tell you about the process from years past, but Coach Carroll has moved on to professional baseball.  There is a new pitching coach and recruiting coordinator now, and it seems that the process is a bit different now.  I'm sure there is still no assurance a player will be accepted until admissions says so, but if you have other questions, feel free to DM me.

Thanks TBPThower and Matty,

DMd you both.

When you mention that the process is now different, what has changed?

Unlike Chicago and Hopkins which can offer likely letters to their recruited athletes after admissions first does a pre-read, MIT does NOT offer likely letter to any recruit. The head coach at MIT will rank the players he wants in order of preference, but admissions office has final say and the recruit will not be notified of acceptance decision any earlier than any other student applying that round.

Like how the Ivy's use likely letters, an athlete who gets a likely letter from admissions office knows well in advance (could receive as early as October) of the official admission date that he/she has been accepted, the only thing that could change that is some egregious new information such as failing a class or breaking the law.

Bottom line for MIT is there is no guarantee and you will have to wait for the December notice date like every other applicant, but your chances are higher the higher the coach has you ranked on his list so the first thing to ask the coach is where does you son stand on his list. If he's not top 5 on the list or so, you should probably assume that your son will have to make it thru MIT admissions without baseball being a significant hook.

@Zoom 2020 posted:

Unlike Chicago and Hopkins which can offer likely letters to their recruited athletes after admissions first does a pre-read, MIT does NOT offer likely letter to any recruit. The head coach at MIT will rank the players he wants in order of preference, but admissions office has final say and the recruit will not be notified of acceptance decision any earlier than any other student applying that round.

Like how the Ivy's use likely letters, an athlete who gets a likely letter from admissions office knows well in advance (could receive as early as October) of the official admission date that he/she has been accepted, the only thing that could change that is some egregious new information such as failing a class or breaking the law.

Bottom line for MIT is there is no guarantee and you will have to wait for the December notice date like every other applicant, but your chances are higher the higher the coach has you ranked on his list so the first thing to ask the coach is where does you son stand on his list. If he's not top 5 on the list or so, you should probably assume that your son will have to make it thru MIT admissions without baseball being a significant hook.

This ^
ask what number your son is on the coach’s list

Even knowing the number, it's not a guarantee.  MIT's admission rate for recruited baseball players (i.e. the ones whose name the coach sends to admissions) is about 25-50%. That's a lot better than a regular applicant (4%), but it's still not great odds.

At many other HA schools, the coach has ability to nearly guarantee admission to top recruits who apply Early Decision (ED) - likely letter, or just verbal promise - ED means that if you are admitted, you are required to attend.

MIT has Early Action (EA) admissions, which means you don't have to commit to going there if admitted. Thus, you can apply EA to MIT and also to an ED school, but if you get into the ED school you have to go there.

So, if you put all your eggs in the MIT basket because the coach is recruiting you (along with 15 others), and you are not admitted EA, then you will have to find another school through Regular Decision, at which point many coaches will have already admitted other players. In fact, you probably will have opportunities elsewhere, but it's very stressful.

BTW, welcome to the site!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

MIT is one college that, even with a good chance, there's not really a good chance...

In any case, this waiting game is fun one minute, then it gets old real quick!

As mentioned above, the coaches in previous years had a good idea on the top 5 and then no idea after that. That didn't happen with the 2023 class. I would want to know what the commitment from admissions is for the 2024 class. Was the 2023 class an anomaly or will that be how it looks going forward? My guess is they won't be able to give you a straight answer on that one and that would concern me. The previous RC had a great relationship with admissions. No idea how the relationships are with the new RC.

If the player is talented he will be able to tell other coaches recruiting him that they are his number 2 and most of them will understand. However, the number of coaches with influence for RD admissions is very small. Some will have influence on ED2.

"the number of coaches with influence for RD admissions is very small. Some will have influence on ED2."

Legitimately asking. Why is this?  Shouldn't most have pull in ED2 still? 

I believe some schools have an athletics admissions committee that meets only for ED.  A coach might still be able to talk to admissions in the later stages, but it would be a different process.  Also, if the school has already admitted 5 or 6 baseball players in ED, why would they want to admit more later?  They also need musicians, debaters, computer programmers, etc.

"They also need musicians, debaters, computer programmers, etc."

What? There's a world outside baseball?  Who says?

Slightly off topic, but MIT related. First job out of school my boss had gone to MIT and played baseball there. He would tell us stories about going out on weekends, drinking so much he forgot where he left his car (VW Beatle). No idea how that even worked.

Total idiot savant. Literally could not configure his email client, but could (and did at one point) write a complete email server and programming language. People like that always amaze me.

That's a great story! When my son was choosing between MIT and Chicago, I kinda tried to steer him towards MIT since he was going to major in CS, but he didn't want to go to a school that was essentially comprised of STEM hardos. Turns out at Chicago, he's surrounded by Econ hardos LOL.

We have a family friend who is an older MIT grad and later served on an alumni committee to study how they could improve alumni donations.  This was a couple of decades ago when MIT wasn't in the mix athletically.  They were basically having tryouts among admitted students each year.  The committee recommended that the school do more to admit young people who had the potential to be entrepreneurs, leaders and CEOs instead of lab rats and coders....like athletes!  So they began allowing the coaches to find recruits with great grades and test scores and who could handle the GIRs (General Institute Requirements: Multi-variable Calc, Physics, Bio, and Chemistry).  There is still no guarantee, but they now consider athletes as a part of a well-rounded class.  MIT has 33 varsity sports which is the largest Division III program in the country.  And still, when I tell someone my son played baseball at MIT, most of them ask, "They have sports at MIT?"  Not only do they have sports, the women have won the NEWMAC President's Cup 9 out of the 10 years they have been part of the conference.  

And, @anotherparent, you would be very surprised at how many of my son's teammates are excellent musicians who studied Course 6 (computer science), and can debate with you on any variety of subjects, !  Those kids constantly amazed me with all they fit into a day!