University of Chicago

You should reach out to Zoom2020 and Pitcherparent2020.  Both their sons got into U Chicago to play baseball this past December.   That is a tough one to pull off but clearly doable.  U Chicago will be at headfirst for sure.   Your academic measurables will be as important as your athletic measurables.  Best of luck.  

12whitesox12,

The most important recruiting measurables with Univ of Chicago is going to be your grades, academic rigor and SAT/ACT scores.  Very difficult school to get into with or without baseball. If you currently have desirable academic numbers for the Univ of Chicago and it is your top school, why wait?  Try to start a dialogue now with the coaches in advance of HeadFirst or other academic showcases.    Take the initiative.

Over the last 4 years, I've known a couple people that were seriously recruited by the Univ of Chicago. Both loved the campus and liked the Coaches a lot.    Both had extremely complimentary things to say about the school and the program after their sons visits.  I was led to believe the Coach has a little "academic latitude" with 1-2 players per year with Admissions, but not a lot.    This is why it is so important that you start a dialogue with the coaches to find out exactly what it is they are looking for, and if you have what they are looking for.  

Good luck!    

Here are some visuals:

2019 Player Distribution by State

2019 Player Distribution by Position

2019 Team Roster Insights

- Player Attrition

- Graduation Class   under vs upper

In-State vs out-of-State

Head Coach Tenure

Team performance last 5 years

2018 Athletic budget

Baseball budget last 2009 - 2018.

2019 baseball budget will be available in March

Hope this helps.

FYI - University of Chicago coaches are confirmed for all HeadFirst camps in the North East this summer: https://www.headfirsthonorroll...ball-showcase-camps/. Click on each session and you can see a list of schools and coaches who will attend.

Am I behind the 8 ball though? Seeking HA D3s, JUCO, and HA D1s. How many opportunities will I have the summer of my junior year if I attend these camps, am realistic about my level, and contact coaches at target schools?

The absolute first cut for these HAs are academics: GPA, ACT/SAT, rigor of curriculum. What are your stats in this arena?

The hot time for D3 recruiting is as a rising senior; Ivies begin as rising juniors, but continue through the next summer.

Are you sure you feel academically challenged at a JUCO? I know of no JUCOs which are on the same level as UC or HA D1s; you're at two different ends of the spectrum.

Any HF camp will be chock full of D3 and D1 HAs; don't limit yourself to specific HAs yet.

@Goosegg Would only go to JUCO to develop as a baseball player. Took ACT end of last year and got a 27. That score was without studying, and I am now in a class. Next ACT I expect to be in the 30s, hopefully 32+. GPA and class rigor are all good. 

Thanks for the quick update.

Others will chime in; I view a 32 as the minimum AND that needs to he coupled with D1 skills to be realistically considered by an Ivy. (There are lower scores admitted, but it's a sliding scale with the lower scores being reserved for potential All-Americans. If you haven't done so, do a quick search for, and fill in, the Ivy Academic Index to see your score. Also, research the concept of "Ivy Bands." Here you can develop an understanding of the sliding scale.)

UC and its peer schools (e.g., Amherst, William's, Haverford, etc.) probably don't have the latitude the Ivys do with a super stud, so I'd speculate you need to be in the top half of the admitted class academic stats to have a legit chance to pass the admissions barrier. (The Common Data Set of each school will provide this info.)

Above all, hitting (for position players) is the real benchmark to be recruited, so I'd really focus here. Do you regularly square up against hi-velo pitching? 

Heading to a JUCO to improve your baseball is high risk, limited reward for a HA. Some HAs dont take transfers; most of the rest have standards higher than simply getting admitted as a regular freshman. Many JUCOs have more than enough players competing for a limited number of slots (search some of the threads here to get a feel for JUCO baseball), so there is no assurance you will make a team, much less get coaching which elevates your game.

If you're in no particular rush to get to college, consider either a PG year or a gap year dedicated to improving your game to a recruitable level. (Personally, I think a gap year for any reason is great; I offered my daughter one, but she was in a rush to join the working world, for some unknown reason.)

@Goosegg I appreciate your response as well. Do you think the measurables listed in the OP would be enough coupled with a 32 ACT for Patriot League, Ivys, and other HA schools? Last year was a rough year for me hitting wise. I completely revamped my swing and have improved my EV off a tee from around 80 at the beginning of the summer to around 87-89 today. I assumed that my numbers would be good enough for UC and schools of the like just from comparing them with PG and PBR stats. Big focus for me will be ACT. I've been told 5 point increases are common, so I hope this class I am in can help me. Thanks for the help.

12whitesox12 posted:

@Goosegg Would only go to JUCO to develop as a baseball player. Took ACT end of last year and got a 27. That score was without studying, and I am now in a class. Next ACT I expect to be in the 30s, hopefully 32+. GPA and class rigor are all good. 

12whitesox12,

Based on the College Navigator, you'd probably want to shoot a little higher ~34 Composite, 35 English, 33-34 Math on the ACT scores to put you at 50th percentile.   This is assuming you have the baseball skills the Univ of Chicago is looking for.  If you have these two things covered then you have a fighting chance with Admissions.   This is an extremely selective University.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenav...amp;id=144050#admsns

Best of luck going forward!

@fenwaysouth UC is test optional too. My grades are good, but I do have a few B+s. Is test optional really test optional? What other things would they look at and could it possibly help athletes?

Goosegg posted:

Thanks for the quick update.

Others will chime in; I view a 32 as the minimum AND that needs to he coupled with D1 skills to be realistically considered by an Ivy. (There are lower scores admitted, but it's a sliding scale with the lower scores being reserved for potential All-Americans. If you haven't done so, do a quick search for, and fill in, the Ivy Academic Index to see your score. Also, research the concept of "Ivy Bands." Here you can develop an understanding of the sliding scale.)

UC and its peer schools (e.g., Amherst, William's, Haverford, etc.) probably don't have the latitude the Ivys do with a super stud, so I'd speculate you need to be in the top half of the admitted class academic stats to have a legit chance to pass the admissions barrier. (The Common Data Set of each school will provide this info.)

Above all, hitting (for position players) is the real benchmark to be recruited, so I'd really focus here. Do you regularly square up against hi-velo pitching? 

Heading to a JUCO to improve your baseball is high risk, limited reward for a HA. Some HAs dont take transfers; most of the rest have standards higher than simply getting admitted as a regular freshman. Many JUCOs have more than enough players competing for a limited number of slots (search some of the threads here to get a feel for JUCO baseball), so there is no assurance you will make a team, much less get coaching which elevates your game.

If you're in no particular rush to get to college, consider either a PG year or a gap year dedicated to improving your game to a recruitable level. (Personally, I think a gap year for any reason is great; I offered my daughter one, but she was in a rush to join the working world, for some unknown reason.)

Below is any example of Parkland, 2019  ~31 players were on 4 yr rosters

12whitesox12 posted:

@fenwaysouth UC is test optional too. My grades are good, but I do have a few B+s. Is test optional really test optional? What other things would they look at and could it possibly help athletes?

Test optional is if you don't play baseball. Maybe someone else can correct me, but I believe you need to take the ACT/SAT if you plan to play D1  baseball.

12whitesox12, it sounds from your posts that you have high aspirations for school and baseball, and are wondering if your baseball abilities will be able to get into a super-selective school.  No-one can really say, because it will depend on lots of things, including (especially since you're a position player) how you play (hit) in front of coaches, at Headfirst or elsewhere.  The best advice is not to put all your eggs in one basket, or even only a few baskets.  There are a lot of great schools with baseball teams, you may not have heard of many of them.  Headfirst is great because it has a wide range of HA schools (in terms of, e.g., average ACT), and you will be seen by schools you haven't considered.  There are also some HA showcases in the spring and summer in Chicago (Scholarcase, Play to Win - I have no experience with these, but my son got their announcements), in addition to Headfirst/Showball on the coasts.

Do you have high school or travel coaches you can discuss this with?  Ask them what they think, and if they are willing to be references for you.

HA D3 recruiting gets very active in August before senior year, and you may not know where you stand before that.  Certainly you can email the UChicago coaches (and others) right now, tell them your measurables that can be backed up by your coaches whose contact info you provide, tell them what your schedule is for the summer, and ask where they are going to be recruiting.

nycdad posted:

12whitesox12 posted:

@fenwaysouth UC is test optional too. My grades are good, but I do have a few B+s. Is test optional really test optional? What other things would they look at and could it possibly help athletes?

Test optional is if you don't play baseball. Maybe someone else can correct me, but I believe you need to take the ACT/SAT if you plan to play D1  baseball.

UC is test optional. There are a few D1s that are also test optional. 

nycdad posted:

12whitesox12 posted:

@fenwaysouth UC is test optional too. My grades are good, but I do have a few B+s. Is test optional really test optional? What other things would they look at and could it possibly help athletes?

Test optional is if you don't play baseball. Maybe someone else can correct me, but I believe you need to take the ACT/SAT if you plan to play D1  baseball.

Test optional really means test optional and it's not an "extra" requirement to play D1 baseball.  There are a lot of colleges that do not require the SAT/ACT for admissions.   If the school doesn't require the SAT and you don't send an SAT it will NOT impact your chances to get into the school.   Below is a link to a listing of test optional schools.  For instance 12whitesox12 you mentioned the patriot league earlier you have Holy Cross and Bucknell who are optional.   You correctly point out U Chi is as well.  Good luck.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/t...tional-colleges-list

RoadRunner posted:

nycdad posted:

12whitesox12 posted:

@fenwaysouth UC is test optional too. My grades are good, but I do have a few B+s. Is test optional really test optional? What other things would they look at and could it possibly help athletes?

Test optional is if you don't play baseball. Maybe someone else can correct me, but I believe you need to take the ACT/SAT if you plan to play D1  baseball.

UC is test optional. There are a few D1s that are also test optional. 

I recall my son had to report his SAT score when he applied for the NCAA clearinghouse for D1 athletic eligibility.  I recall this was not an optional box.  Am I mistaken about this?

Smitty28 posted:

RoadRunner posted:

nycdad posted:

12whitesox12 posted:

@fenwaysouth UC is test optional too. My grades are good, but I do have a few B+s. Is test optional really test optional? What other things would they look at and could it possibly help athletes?

Test optional is if you don't play baseball. Maybe someone else can correct me, but I believe you need to take the ACT/SAT if you plan to play D1  baseball.

UC is test optional. There are a few D1s that are also test optional. 

I recall my son had to report his SAT score when he applied for the NCAA clearinghouse for D1 athletic eligibility.  I recall this was not an optional box.  Am I mistaken about this?

I just looked and it does seem to be some kind of eligibility factor for the clearinghouse.  This is not my area of expertise in the least so I look forward to the answer.   The school's admissions though wouldn't use these scores, I mean how could they if test-optional but NYCDad may be right that you have to take the test.   The OP  has likely already met the min standard for the clearinghouse with a 27 ACT.  Again though not my area of expertise.

I'm pretty sure that NCAA requires DI and DII athletes to submit SAT or ACT scores for eligibility: http://www.ncaa.org/student-at...s/future/test-scores

DIII athletes don't register with NCAA so I'm assuming only the school's criteria would apply?

It seems that NAIA athletes have to meet two out of three academic criteria (test score being one of them): https://www.ncsasports.org/nai...-center/requirements