Power of baseball and the ACT

I believe there is a calculator for this, and someone else can provide it I'm sure.  I vaguely remember looking for my son, and he is a 3.91 and 24 ACT.  If I remember correctly, I thought there was no way he would get accepted at those levels, and he is a 6'4" Lefty that throws in the low to mid 80's.  (I believe he is throwing harder now, we just haven't had him clocked since early summer.  He also just received a 27 on his practice test.)  I wouldn't think your son has much of a chance with a 20...

Dirk,  others can answer the baseball side of it better but 20 (composite?) is going to be far below the mean at any high academic school and at many schools below that as well. If you have not done it already I'd have your son try the SAT, as some test better on that, and also spring for some tutoring, especially private tutoring. That REALLY helped my 2017 raise his ACT from average to excellent.

He hasnt taken it yet as a 2017. Will take it for the first time in June. We are putting him in a private ACT prep for it. Just kinda going off what his mama and dad did He seems the nut hasnt fallen far from the tree, but he is a lot smarter than his daddy. So we will keep our fingers crossed. 

Dirk, based upon the fact that this is December and most applications are closed I suspect your son is not a current senior.  Before worrying about baseball right now you should enroll him in either ACT or SAT classes and keep him working on getting that test score up.  The schools you mentioned are not going to be interested in him at all....sorry, not trying to be rude but honestly trying to help you understand the importance of that test score.  His gpa will be suspect at not just high academic schools but those considered middle too.  Help him with his test scores or think JC to help him develop educationally too.  College is VERY hard and those around him won't be playing baseball 40-60 hours a week but concentrating on school work.  Think this whole thing through carefully as the words Academically ineligible are not words you want to hear as a parent!

Test prep is your friend.  It really helps kids improve a great deal. But sadly, even a 4.2 won't put you in contention for the schools you mentioned without the test score problem.  Good Luck!

My son had a few inquiries to his summer coach from a couple of Ivy's.  At the time he was a 3.45 (out of 4.0)  and a 29 ACT.  That was good enough to be considered.  We never pursued it as he isn't an "Ivy kid"...lol, but it was kind of cool to know they at least had some interest.   

No doubt we want him to score higher when he does take it for the first time. I dont know how suspect his grades would be. Ive been told what colleges absolutely DO NOT want to see are LOW GRADES and a HIGH ACT. That is the worst possible combination because it tells them that you are bright but dont care. Just wanted to see how much power academic school coaches have when it comes to a kid that will likely be like mine. 

Dirk,

You may find this hard to believe, but Harvard, Yale and other ivys have very specific academic requirements for baseball (athletic) recruiting.   It is called the Academic Index and it is the required measuring stick for all prospective Ivy athletes. Refer to this for specifics  http://www.tier1athletics.org/...dex-calculator-2012/

Duke, Vanderbilt, Virginia and others will require much more athletic talent (than Ivys) but can have a  little more leniency on the academic metrics if they choose to.  For the last 3 years I;ve known someone who had incredible baseball talent and incredible board scores (ACT or SAT) that was strongly recruited by an Ivy that ended up at Stanford.   IMHO, Stanford has much different requirements than the rest.  

Also consider the SAT. Some kids do better on one or the other (each plays to a different skill set).

Many of the Ivies also require SAT II tests. Has he taken any of those?

He just took the PSAT about a month ago. I think that is a good recommendation. Im gonna look into it. He'll take his first ACT or SAT this summer. 

Academic requirements may also vary by sport. So you can't go by what your hear about a kid getting in for a different sport. When I talked to some Duke parents a few years ago they said the standards for basketball are not as high as baseball.

A kid from our high school was a running back who went to Vanderbilt. He had a 4.35 in high school. It was his time in the forty and possibly his IQ. It certainly wasn't his GPA. He was gone in a year. He transferred to another school and flunked out before seeing the field.

When my son talked to Ivies a few years ago they were looking for SATs in the 1250 to 1300 range (math and English) depending on the school. The ACT equivalent is 28 to 29.

In a word, no.

My advice is to wait until you have a baseline of how he does on his ACT's & SAT's before you start even dreaming of the Ivy Leagues.  Unless of course there is a library with your name on it somewhere.  That might change things.

If I had a dollar for every parent this year that thought their kid was headed to the Ivy's.  Several Ivy League coaches have told me they need between 2000 - 2100.  So, while others like Fenway have a lot more details on Academic Index, etc some quick math will tell me if I'm not pushing a 1,350 2 Part Sat which equals a 30 ACT, then I'm probably not a strong candidate.  

There are lots of High Academic kids out there with 1200-1300 SAT's... And then there is Elite Academics.  They are a mile apart.

Hope your boy crushes it when he takes it.  But to answer your question, ACT of 20, probably not pitching in the Ivy's.  

But then again, if he's a LHP in the mid 80's he'll have other options.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Gotcha. Thanks. I didnt know if the Ivy coaches had the same flexiblity with their baseball players as say the Vandys. I know for a fact that there are baseball players there that did not come close to scoring in the 30s.