After 21 years of running American College Connection I have seen huge changes in the recruiting process. One of the most recent changes is by Ivy League coaches as they are recruiting much earlier than ever before. Many of them are offering verbal commitments to high school juniors. We have had 61 swimmers attend an Ivy League school.
The average acceptance rate at an Ivy League school is around 7%. Our acceptance rate in over 80%.
All of the Ivy League coaches are excellent and do a great job of helping the student-athletes balance academics and swimming.
Scenario: I’m a junior and I just got an email from an Ivy League coach so I am headed to the Ivy League.
Not so fast. Just because a coach sent you an email doesn’t mean that you are a shoo-in for an Ivy League school.
Nearly all of the Ivy League coaches are recruiting much earlier than ever before just like every other coach. We have never seen an Ivy League school offer a verbal commitment to one of our high school juniors until last year. We had 4 of our swimmers give their verbal commitment to Ivy League schools last year. Each of the coaches committed to use an admission slot.
I spoke with a couple of the coaches and they said that if they don’t go after the faster kids early they are all gone by their senior year. This makes painting a picture of your potential much more important than ever before. The coaches have to identify potential since they are recruiting juniors.
Here is how the Ivy League works:
Everyone is a Walk-On (no athletic aid).
Each coach has an average of 8 admission slots each year that they can use to get a recruit admitted into their school. The recruit must meet the minimum academic requirements and should have 3 events that can score in at least the top 16 at conference.
If a coach uses an admission slot it doesn’t guarantee admission, but it is very likely.
A lot of our high school juniors are getting emails from Ivy League coaches early in their junior year. Once they get to know the coach we have our swimmers ask the following questions. “Coach, what kind of times will I need for you to use an admission slot and when do I need them by?”
Here are 2 excellent websites that explain what it takes to get admitted into an Ivy League school.
https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/blog/how-to-get-into-ivy-league
heres-what-it-really-takes-to-get-into-the-ivy-league-these-days (usatoday.com)
