My daughter is looking to play soccer in college. She’s smart, well spoken, plays for a strong club soccer program (GA if anyone is wondering) and has had a good amount of D3 schools reach out to her. She has been to several ID camps, which has consistently lead to follow ups and invites back to campus. However, her transcript isn’t strong. Unweighted GPA of 3.0 (3.3 weighted). Hasn’t taken the SAT yet. Has 1 AP class, 4 or 5 honors classes.
I’m wondering what level of schools she has a real chance of getting in to. On her list: Union, Skidmore, Hobart William Smith, Dickinson, Gettysburg, St Lawrence. Are these all out of reach? How much will her sport help her get in?
Just for reference, I already got into a T25 academically, waiting on the Ivies at this point. 3.85 UW/4.4 W - 1520 SAT. I didn’t pass the pre-read for MIT, that’s it. It depends on how much time she has left. Take the SAT/ACT. Get as high of a score as she can. Try to take stronger classes and get as high of a GPA as she can so she can pass the pre-read.
The better athlete she is the more wiggle room she has in terms of academics. Her list needs to includes schools where she’d be a superstar starter as a freshman.
D3 coach’s ability to support applications varies a lot from school to school so don’t be afraid to ask direct questions on the matter.
Make sure to understand the financials before committing and ask for a financial pre-read if needed. Since there is no athletic money in play, while she might get in, she might not have the grades for merit money at some schools.
Apart from the issue of grades, how does she feel about school? Are there subjects that interest her, that she actually wants to study in college? Or is school just the price she must pay to play soccer?
Some of the schools on that list may be out of reach academically, but others seem attainable. HWS and St. Lawrence, for example, have relatively high acceptance rates and seems likely to flex on GPA for a strong athlete.
But… is a pure LAC the best fit for her, academically? If she would find a more practical/pre-professional major more engaging, there are schools where you can find that and soccer. I would start with the question of what she wants out of college, besides soccer.
Haven’t coaches asked for her academic stats? They usually want them early, so they know if they can continue to recruit a player. It wastes everyone’s time if the player has no chsnce of being admitted. The coaches are the best people to ask. Agree with @TonyGrace that the more a player will be an impact player the more academic wiggle room there is.
Yes, they have asked for her stats and some have said it’s not a fit after seeing her transcript. One NESCAC school was very aggressive despite her lack of interest and admitted lack of academic prowess so we sent them transcripts just to close the loop. I don’t want to waste her time or a coach’s time so I’m hoping to trim the list to realistic options.
Is she a junior? Sophomore? The coaches are your best resource – they have the experience of knowing what sort of stats will be sufficient. Without knowing those women’s soccer teams specifically – though my son went through men’s soccer recruiting at a few of them – my guess would be that St Lawrence, Hobart William Smith and Gettysburg might have more wiggle room to admit an impact player with those stats while Union, Skidmore and Dickinson are reachy with that profile. But it really depends on whether a recruit is an impact player and whether a coach has latitude to reach deeper into the admissions pool for such a player.
She wants to play the sport she loves for four more years while studying business around people she connects with. There is a limit to how low she will go to play soccer though. She likely would choose to not play soccer and go to a larger school that she could get in to rather than going to a very weak school where she could play.
I’ve known a few athletes with similar thinking. So, it sounds like she is fine with a larger school, such as a state university, or is interested in a smaller more academic reach school if she can leverage soccer to get in.
I think that is fine though just noting and emphasizing what most of us know, make sure that whatever school she picks, it is a good fit for your daughter and family without the sports consideration. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of being recruited and not realize it may not be a fit if sports was out of the equation.
Also noting that many fine state universities are academically ranked above many private colleges and are a good fit for some.
Good luck!
Has she considered playing club at some of the larger schools that have good business programs? Some of those club teams may be as good as, or even better than, some varsity D3 teams. Many colleges don’t fully fund the club teams (some don’t fund club sports at all, so 100% of the cost is on the athletes) but these are things she can research.
I echo those who suggested she prep for an SAT and/or ACT, a strong score can help not only with recruiting, but with admissions.
I agree this can be a great option for many kids but it’s important to research and know that these club teams are often extremely competitive with try-outs and cuts.
Have you looked at McDaniel? That might be one that could thread the needle - not “going too low” but probably a good academic match, and one with a much more practical/applied bent to their programs than most LAC’s. Business-related majors are popular, with multiple options (business administration, accounting, actuarial science, marketing, and international business, in addition to econ).
Endicott could be another academic match that has a very strong focus on internships and other practical experiences - great location too. Their business school has an even wider range of majors than McDaniel’s.
If farther from home would be okay, Trinity in San Antonio is another great D3 with an undergrad business school. With an under-30% acceptance rate, this one would be more of a reach, but it might be a good fit if she could get in.
Of the schools you listed, I feel like HWS and Gettysburg probably have the most potential, both in terms of attainability and in terms of having a truly business-focused major for her (vs. a more liberal-artsy econ-with-a-dash-of-business type scenario).
As an out-of-the-box idea, Richard Bland College in VA is a residential two-year school which is administratively part of William and Mary. They have a women’s soccer team Richard Bland College , and they have guaranteed admission pathways to all of the top-notch VA public U’s - this might allow her to land in a highly-regarded business program that wouldn’t be accessible to her as a freshman admit (such as W&M, Virginia Tech, etc.), and play soccer at RBC in the meantime.
There are some interesting schools in Virginia, if you want to cast a wider net. I know Men’s soccer, not women’s; but several of them have strong Men’s programs. Mary Washington, Roanoke, Christopher Newport etc.
What does she want to study and do you have a budget? There are no scholarships at the D3 level but there is aid available. For the schools on your list most are likely to be out of reach but a couple might be in range. A bit more info will help.
One school which could be of interest since you have a couple of upstate NY schools on your list is SUNY Geneseo. Excellent school with strong soccer. Even though it is often referred to as the “SUNY LAC” it’s bigger than typical LACs and has a wide variety of strong programs.
You mentioned that she plays at a strong club. Do they place many people at the D1 level or is it mostly D3?
Not sure what year your daughter is, but my daughter was in a similar position (hovered around a 3.2). We talked to her college counselor at the start of our recruitment process who would advise us on historical data from her school on acceptance prior to fully engaging with schools (and we were looking at a list of really similar programs). HWS/SLU and several others were identified as in the “comfort zone” in part because their higher overall acceptance rates (esp applying ED) and the fact that they view the student applications more holistically (eg. no GPA requirements, test optional, essays and EC’s/assessment of character were all factors) and historical data from her high school showed other students being accepted at those schools at or below her GPA at the time. Skidmore, Brandeis and a few others NESCACS were identified as “reaches” and that was going to come down to how heavily she was being recruited at those schools. I would be very upfront about the GPA; we were and explained a weakness in STEM classes in particular and it kept the conversation going in some cases.
Has she considered D2 schools? There are many in the south east and often soccer is strong (because the weather is right for it to be played all the time). If soccer helps her get into some of the schools on your list, she’s not going to be at the top academically with a 3.0 That doesn’t mean she can’t do the work but that she’ll have to work really hard. Look at schools in Florida in the Sunshine State conference. There are larger schools like St. Leo’s and smaller schools like Florida Southern. They aren’t academically ‘lower’ but may be a better fit. Also, D2 schools can award scholarships.
That said, I know a kid going to Hopkins on a full scholarship next year. He is an outstanding athlete and there is no question he is attending on athletic talent and not academic achievement. He attended a top hs because that’s the district he lives in. I doubt he’s ever taken an AP class. He’s not on a med school track. I’m sure he’ll receive tutoring from day 1. But he’ll fit in with his peers because of being an athlete and he won’t care if he gets As or Cs. It’s where he wants to play and with help the school will work academically.
Your daughter has to decide what she wants academically. There are a lot of schools with soccer teams. I hope she finds a combo of academics and sports that works.
I’d be cautious with recommending Gettysburg with a 3.0 GPA unless a truly game-changing athlete. Even then might still be somewhat of a reach as their acceptance rate for Fall 2024 was 39%.