Stanford

It's mass mailing. They just do a really nice job making it look custom.

That depends on what it says. Stanford doesn't make definite offers until late May/June, because that's the earliest they can get a player through admissions. But they are definitely putting together their 2012 recruits now, and some of their recruits have a pretty good idea where they stand with repect to baseball.

If the email from Coach Stotz specifically asks your player to come on an unofficial visit (as opposed to attending a camp), that is real interest. They don't get any advantage from hosting players that they have no interest in, and it takes time.

They do need to know if a midwest player has interest in them, because geography works against Stanford. If he has been invited, and the player has real interest, buy a ticket. My 2011 son last year went by himself to visit a school on the East Coast. He ultimately decided against it, but we trusted him to make a reasonable evaluation of the opportunity. Ultimately he decided against it, partly because of the distance.

Or just call Coach Stotz. He has a frank manner.

Coach Stotz is extremely effective at his email communications. He does mass emails that are personalized and very much look like individually tailored emails.

But he will also return email to answer direct questions. When you are being recruited by Stotz (as opposed to just being on his email list) you know it.

Every interaction we had with Coach Stotz was straightforward. When he decided on another player (a HSBBW mom's son who I first came to know on this board, met at the Stanford Camp, have followed ever since!) he told us right away. And when my son chose his college, Coach Stotz went out of his way to reach out and congratulate him, wish him luck, etc.

Coach Stotz is a class act. There is a reason why the Stanford Camp is such an important recruiting opportunity for both players and college coaches: Coach Stotz.

quote:

Coach Stotz is extremely effective at his email communications. He does mass emails that are personalized and very much look like individually tailored emails.

But he will also return email to answer direct questions. When you are being recruited by Stotz (as opposed to just being on his email list) you know it.

Every interaction we had with Coach Stotz was straightforward. When he decided on another player (a HSBBW mom's son who I first came to know on this board, met at the Stanford Camp, have followed ever since!) he told us right away. And when my son chose his college, Coach Stotz went out of his way to reach out and congratulate him, wish him luck, etc.

Coach Stotz is a class act. There is a reason why the Stanford Camp is such an important recruiting opportunity for both players and college coaches: Coach Stotz.

Agree with every word about Coach Stotz...especially the "straightforward" part!

So today son got an invite to the All Star Camp at the end of June 2011. Is this the camp that everyone refers to and if so, is it really a certain amount that gets invited or is it they still mass email but take only a certain amount.

Eric G, do yourself a favor and look over Stanford's baseball roster. If the players on the roster sound a lot like your son, think about going. If not, you may be wasting your time and $$$.

Popup, I assume you are referring to a players size, accomplishments, rankings, grades etc. correct?

The Stanford All Star Camp to which your son has been invited is the same Camp discussed in the Golden Threads section of this site.
I would think every piece of information you could want is in that Golden thread.

Eric G - My older son played there, graduated in 2008. Their roster consistently draws from all over the country because of the difficult admissions standards. While they do mass email, Coach Stotz will be straightforward with you if ask.

Pick up the phone.

Rob Kremer - How long do you have to wear that logo?

My son was a 4 yr 4.0 academic student but couldn't get in to Stanford because his Sat and ACT fell short! So make sure you find what that number is and take the tests until you get the right scores needed.Reguardless of GPA there is a Sat or Act level to achieve. Good luck and study study study!

azallan, what do you recall the act # to be?

Eric G - There is a common myth that there is a 'magic' number for ACT/SAT/GPA. Just not true.

Its the whole package that is considered, which includes those things, but also includes athletics, teacher recommendations, essays, extracurriculars and who else is applying.

Let the coaches guide you if its a place your son wants to attend. They don't always get the admissions decision they may hope for, but they will know whether or not its worth the effort.

Per College Boards, 75% submitting SATs are over 1340 and 75% submitting ACTs are over 30.

Very important admission factors:
Character/Personal Qualities
Class Rank
Application Essay
Extracurricular Activities
Recommendations
Rigor of secondary school record
Standardized Test Scores
Talent/Ability
Academic GPA

TX-Husker,
Those stats are pretty much irrelevant if the player is #1 or perhaps #2 on Stanford's list. Those players get a considerable preference; 3.5 and a couple of ticks less than 1200 on the traditional SAT may be sufficient, provided the other factors justbaseball mentioned are in good shape.

I'm told that 5 years ago it was considerably more difficult for athletes to gain entrance.

If you are 1 or 2 in almost anything in life the general "rules" don't apply to you. But for the vast majority they do. It's up to you to decide if you are that unique person the standards don't apply to.

Popular fallacy: There are "rules" for admission...other than some really obvious ones.

A former admissions director at Stanford wrote a book about this. I've read most of it. There is no 'secret formula' nor rules. Its the sum of all of the parts followed by a subjective decision.

Read the book, "Questions and Admissions" for an idea of what I'm talking about.

Questions and Admissions

And by most accounts, 3Finger has it about right about difficulty for a person with unique abilities (BTW, that includes math (many math-gifted students are verbal(ly)-challenged ) , music, athletics, etc...) compared to 5-8 years ago.

Another popular fallacy is the one that goes I'm special and general standards don't apply to me. All institutions have standards they apply to candidates to measure them relative to other candidates. They are starting points they use to rank candidates.

If you want in a school, it's wise to know what those standards and priorities are so you know where you're strong and weak against their decision criteria. Are they absolutes, no. But if you want in Stanford and have a 21 ACT, it's pretty smart to know 75% of those accepted are above 30 so you'll have to be EXCEPTIONAL in the qualitative measures.

quote:

Originally posted by Eric G:
Popup, I assume you are referring to a players size, accomplishments, rankings, grades etc. correct?

Yes I am.

quote:

Another popular fallacy is the one that goes I'm special and general standards don't apply to me. All institutions have standards they apply to candidates to measure them relative to other candidates. They are starting points they use to rank candidates.

Obviously true. I would have assumed everyone understood that. I thought we were trying to help a fellow poster to navigate some tricky waters. Thought I had some experience (firsthand) that would be helpful.

My bad, if not.

I made the assumption that Eric G's son must be a good student or he wouldn't be asking about this school...thus, academically...I figured he knew if he was in the game or not and we could go from there.

I'm not going to specifically point out who, but some of the posts on this thread have what I believe to be very accurate information while others do not.

Let the coaches guide you. They won't be interested if its a non-starter.

Eric G - The book I pointed you too has an entire chapter on athletics and how it is considered in admission decisions. Written by a former admissions director...I found this book's perspective to line up very well with our experience with their admissions process even though it was a different admissions director than the one during our son's application.

It has better information than any of us on this board.