<p>Right now my chances of getting in here probably aren’t particularly high.
I run cross country and track and just want to know if running in college will increase my chances of getting in. Any opinions on this?</p>
<p>Stating in your application that you will continue MIGHT help your app a little bit but the difference certainly wouldn’t be very much… It depends on how long you have been running.</p>
<p>Probably won’t help. You’d need to be recruited for it to have much of an impact.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you contact UC’s coach directly. It is always helpful to have an advocate for you inside the admissions system. It might also be helpful to have your high school coach contact the UC coach as well.</p>
<p>If you are recruitable (easy to figure out, look at the team site and the league championship site and look at the times in your events) CALL the coach. The coach can ask for a “pre-read” from admissions and if it is green lit then will invite you out (but remember it is D3 so no $ help on the visit…). S/he can’t offer you a likely letter per se (it is D3–once again) but if there is a green light from admissions the coach can tell you if he is using a “slot” on you. You can’t take it to the bank as you can with a LL but it is close.<br>
My D was being recruited by Chicago for swimming and that is her experience–she chose to attend elsewhere, but loved Chicago and all of us felt that the coach was open and honest. It was also clear that Chicago wants to “up its game” in athletics-- so forget the old John Maynard Hutchins idea about sports at Chicago-- that is not the case any longer.</p>
<p>I know the family of one Chicago star athlete pretty well, and I know that student came to Chicago precisely because he wanted to swap his athletic talent for a first-rate education. That’s what he has done. From the university’s standpoint, he has upped its game pretty considerably. From his standpoint, the university is upping HIS game, and that includes actual education, not just networking around his sports fame. It’s been a deal that worked out perfectly for both sides.</p>
<p>It’s funny: He was never an intellectual kid, exactly, so in some sense he appreciates the intellectualism of the university in a deeper way than many others. For him, it was never a matter of “Yay! I’m finally in Nerd Heaven where we all get to have intellectual discussions without getting mocked!” It’s more like “Wow! This is a completely different way of looking at the world! I have so much more perspective on what I am doing now!” He is completely not blase about what he is learning, and he – and most of his teammates – are generally stunned and grateful at how much they have achieved and how great their opportunities are compared to their friends in run-of-the-mill Division I programs. And that includes stuff like studying abroad, something that’s tough for most college athletes.</p>
<p>Even if its not significant, you should still write it. Colleges know that you go to school and sleep, but they want to knwo what you do with the rest of your time.</p>
<p>Also, look at NESCAC schools-- wonderful intellectualism at a LAC (some of the NESCAC, not all, but you’ll figure out which ones quickly enough…)and great D3 athletics.</p>
<p>For someone who mentioned it earlier, I have run all four years of high school (I will be running senior year).
Thanks for all the info and opinions.
I think I’m going to talk with my own coach first. I have the email of the coach at UChicago so I’ll probably email him too, or depending on my OWN coach’s opinions, I’ll call him like etondad advised. </p>
<p>@JHS good story, as doing a sport while still being able to concentrate on a schedule like they would give me is something that was really worrying me. It’s nice to know that you can still embrace the scholar side while being an athlete and that a balance actually exists.</p>