SAT and ACT Scores Matter the Most

My son's experience as well.  The guys recruiting him liked his grades but they couldn't wait to see his SAT/ACT scores and when he was able to report that his scores where higher than their threshold. the contacts picked up markedly.  His grades hadn't changed at all.

I think SAT/ACT scores give coaches a quick and easy way of predicting whether kids will be qualifiers.  However, a sterling GPA from a strong academic high school will get you more ACADEMIC money at some colleges than a high SAT.    

Test scores give an idea if the player would be able to keep up with the coursework and stay eligible.  This is especially true in programs to name a few, Vandy, Stanford, Duke, the IL programs, etc.

Sat/act scores similar to the curveball is the great equalizer! 

MTH posted:

I think SAT/ACT scores give coaches a quick and easy way of predicting whether kids will be qualifiers.  However, a sterling GPA from a strong academic high school will get you more ACADEMIC money at some colleges than a high SAT.    

Which is interesting when they are offering kids in 8th and 9th grades who haven't even taken a PSAT yet, let alone an SAT/ACT test, or taken any courseload in high school to develop a GPA track record.

I think if a kid hasn't tested yet but  has taken an AP test and done well (4 or 5) that is a comparable indicator, as long as the kid isn't a native Chinese or Spanish speaker taking a Chinese or Spanish AP.

I think schools will make exceptions wherever they want if they really want a special player...the rest of us have to play the game.

Test scores do separate candidates (like test regardless of geographic area). But most studies relate that the best indicator for how a student will PERFORM in the college classroom is G.P.A (somewhat coupled with curriculum)

Absolutely this was our experience....many more doors opened when my son was able to report a high ACT score. I have said it before, but worth repeating, get your player some ACT/SAT tutoring! Spend the money for tutoring the way you are spending it on travel ball, equipment, lessons etc.  I know you would rather buy that new Vinci glove but the tutoring will pay off!!!

The study makes sense from what is going on in California.  UC schools average GPA acceptance is now over 4.0.  Teachers and schools are under pressure to raise grades to give their kids a chance versus the other schools that grade easily.  It spirals up and the trend will continue.  ACT and SAT are the great equalizers for colleges to be able to differentiate among students who all have high GPAs.

And we saw firsthand that the academic schools do rely on them heavily in recruiting.  They not only need to get the baseball player into the school, they need the student to succeed in the classroom once they get there to stay in the program (many universities even provide exemptions to math, English and writing qualification tests for meeting elite SAT and ACT scores--none do based on the grades on the transcript that I know of).  Of all of the money I spent on my 2017 in baseball and academics, the best was in the test prep area.  Definitely paid for itself when he got accepted to a high academic school in a highly competitive major as well as many other merit money offers to consider in his school choice. 

The kids may not like it, but if you have a 2019 or 2020, start early on the practice tests and test prep.  Even PSAT matters for National Merit money.  Definitely a lesson many of us here have learned.

Are there any particular ACT or SAT  prep courses that you folks, who have been through all of this before, would endorse?  

In person, one-on-one coaching is best, followed by prep conducted in small groups. I would ask college counselors, parents, and teachers who they recommend locally.

IMHO.

Interesting article. I assume it quantified some ideas many of us suspected.

So, our experience was a little different.  When my son was first started down the recruiting path (sophomore year) with traditional D1 schools it was all about velocity, control, and command.   Then the coaches got around to asking about grades, PSAT and evntually SAT if they were still recruiting him at that time.  They wanted to make sure he was NCAA eligible

Later in the recruiting cycle when my son was pursuing high academic schools the first qualifier was grades, SATs, AP courses, etc...   Then they got around to seeing him pitch.  A totally different approach and set of circumstances.

We experienced two vastly different ways to filter potential recruits.

longsufferingmetsfan posted:

Are there any particular ACT or SAT  prep courses that you folks, who have been through all of this before, would endorse?  

I agree with JCG's response.  But, anything you can get the kid to do will probably help.  The first time she took the SAT my daughter made the exact same thing her brother had made the first time he took it.  She was determined to kick his butt the next time.  We bought her a test prep book that she spent about an hour on each night for around 6 weeks.  Improved her score by 130 points, and, more importantly, kicked her brother's butt.  

Recruiting philosophy varies tremendously from school to school, even in a small state like SC where everybody's competing for the same players.   When Ray Tanner was at SC they did not ask many questions about academics.  Basically recruited everyone they thought could help them and waited to see what happened.  I remember one year they had three high level in state prospects that had to retake the ACT on the last available date to try to get admitted.  Two made it, one didn't.  120 miles up the road, Clemson took a different philosophy.  They asked the GPA and SAT questions early in the process and did not spend much time on marginal kids.  A friend of mine asked the CU recruiting coordinator at the time if CU was recruiting a particular kid.  His response was "I'd like to, but he has a 1.7 GPA in his core courses.  No way I could get him in here."  The kid ended up committing to SC, despite being a lifelong Clemson fan.  Unfortunately, he was the kid mentioned above that did not get admitted to SC either.  (Despite what Clemson fans will tell you, the admission standards at the two schools aren't much different).

It's gotta be stressful for a coach to wait and see who will get admitted and who won't, year after year.  Tanner's approach would stress the heck out of most.  But, he certainly made it work.    

For the record, I have no idea what the current recruiting philosophies are at either of these schools.  This was 10 years ago.  

To the original question, the answer is …..depends how good the player is?

The academics components of recruiting are treated differently depending on the school that is recruiting your player.  An Ivy, Patriot, Duke type school where academics is a primary criteria is going to recruit much different academically than "big State U".  

The required test scores & grades depend on the school, conference and team situation as to whether they are filling and immediate need.  I know mediocre players that landed on Ivy because they needed their 36 ACT/4.7 GPA or academic index to be able to recruit another player they really want. I also know lesser academic players (29 ACT/3.9 GPA) that can rake with power that went to high academic schools only to struggle to keep eligible.

A recruited athlete is not going to have the same admission criteria, right or wrong, as the other 1000’s of applicants applying to the Ivy, Patriot, Dukes types of schools. Trying to look at a study or compare to other recruits has nothing to do with your situation. It all comes down to how hard they are recruiting the player!

MTH posted:

longsufferingmetsfan posted:

Are there any particular ACT or SAT  prep courses that you folks, who have been through all of this before, would endorse?  

I agree with JCG's response.  But, anything you can get the kid to do will probably help.  The first time she took the SAT my daughter made the exact same thing her brother had made the first time he took it.  She was determined to kick his butt the next time.  We bought her a test prep book that she spent about an hour on each night for around 6 weeks.  Improved her score by 130 points, and, more importantly, kicked her brother's butt.  

I have always heard to take the practice tests.  Lots of them.  But the best quote above is, "any thing YOU CAN GE THE KID TO DO WILL PROBABLY HELP".  They can go to all the classes, individual help etc, they want,  but if they don't study/DO the practice tests, or DO what the instructors tell them to study, it won't help.  First thing many instructors do is give them an initial practice test, and again at the end of the course, to see how much better they do. 

Having been through this with my older son who just graduated from a high academic Graduate School, I can say that it depends on the kid, their goals, and the type of student they are.  ACT/SAT test prep can be a complete waste of money, or it can be a vital part of the overall plan.

My son didn't have the grades coming out of high school to get into a great undergrad school, but he's a smart kid who just didn't work hard in HS.  He went to a smaller mid major D1 school for college.   He never did much test prep for the ACT but was smart enough to get a 28 on the ACT without studying, we never spent any money on test prep for him.   No amount of money spent on ACT test prep could have raised his score enough to get him into an Ivy etc, the HS grade point just wasn't there.

He applied himself in college, got 4.0's, got tons of academic scholarship money his Jr & Sr year, got scholarship money for Grad School and has a job lined up.

In general, for many professions, an undergrad degree isn't enough.   I tend to think that colleges are way too expensive for what you get out of it, but again it depends on what type of profession a kid is headed towards.   If you want to be a Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher/Professor, work high up in the Business world, get into several sectors of Government work etc, then where you go to school for undergrad really doesn't matter, getting into a great Graduate School is more important.

 Grade inflation is not just a teacher giving better grades on tests & homework. It also takes the form of an actual grade "bump" if the student takes and passes their AP exams. I used to question the importance of standardized tests, which can be prepped for, but now see their utility (from the admissions officer point of view). I know this is happening b/c I see way too many of my own clients who get the grade bump. My test prep pals from other states confirm this happens at a bunch of schools. (Public primarily). 

If you listen to the adcoms during college tour & info sessions, they will say that they prefer looking at GPAs b/c they track a student over years rather than test scores which only measure a 3 hr time period in a student's academic career. But, they do know what's going on...Sad!

My favorite student-athletes-- the ones that read!