<p>Does anyone know what kind of pull the coaches have at these schools (JHU, Williams, Tufts, and UChicago) for admissions if you are a recruit in swimming? I would be the “normal” candidate for academics and ECs at these schools, but there are thousands of other kids like me applying to these schools.</p>
<p>From our recruiting process, as well as input from other recruited swimmers:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>JHU - Yes, he does have significant pull if he’s interested in you. You definitely should apply ED, though, if Hopkins is your first choice. Last year, he got most of his recruited swimmers in that round, so he wasn’t pulling in RD… either had no more slots or he didn’t have the pull… was hard to tell. (Warning: He did imply that he’d recruit in RD, but it turns out that he did not…) We know he’s already heavily into recruiting for next year’s admits… so get in the mix soon if you aren’t already! (Hard part we found about Hopkins was making an initial contact.)</p></li>
<li><p>Williams - Yes, he has significant pull, but not many slots. He will get your academics cleared by Admissions early (like Sept, if I remember correctly) - so, again, get in the mix early. This is another school that you need to apply ED if the coach communicates that you should. One of my kids told him that she did not want to apply ED anywhere, and we never heard from him again. (To be honest, if Williams was her first choice, she probably would have applied ED… so it was all good in the end.)</p></li>
<li><p>Tufts - Yes, it does seems (more from friends’ experience) that she does have at least some pull and will send your academic credentials to Admissions for clearance early. Warning re: Tufts… On the recruiting website, do NOT complete the section listing other schools you’re interested in! (Also, the coach will ask… make it seem like Tufts is your #1.) My D made that mistake… listing places such as MIT, JHU, Williams, a couple Ivies, etc. The coach got back to her saying she wasn’t qualified for Tufts. Huh? Before even applying? Something odd there. BTW, she will be attending a more selective school and had interest from probably a dozen more. Very strange experience - especially because the coach was extremely interested initially! D would have been a top swimmer on the team and her academics were well within the mix… So maybe it’s a sign that the coach has less pull than those at other NESCACs… hard to tell.</p></li>
<li><p>UChicago - Yes, he does have some pull with Admissions. You should plan to apply EA and he’ll look for a ‘commitment’ despite it not being binding. Like all of above, you do need to be in the mix academically and plan to demonstrate strong interest. With the huge increase in applications over the last couple years, the dynamics seem to be evolving at UC so it might be less predictable than others… However, he will pull for you if there’s two-way interest.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Hope this info helps. Bottom line is that, yes, swimming can help at all of these schools. If your times would place at the conference champs (and even better - you are close to NCAA qualifying times) AND your academics put you in the middle 50% of applicants AND you show significant interest early in the process (Aug/Sept preferably), you’ll be in a good place.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! On Tufts, since I am male, do you know anything about the guys coach. He’s fairly new compared to the women’s coach so I don’t know if he has the same pull. Also, I’ve already talked in person with the Hopkins’ and Williams’ coaches, and sent them my SATs/Grades/Times. At Hopkins he seemed very interested, and at Williams he seemed a little more reserved. I found this kind of weird since Hopkins did quite a bit better at NCAAs, but I guess since Williams has less spots it makes sense. Do you think that the coaches pull would get me in with a 800 on CR, 770 on Math, and 610 on Writing? It’s only the writing I’m worried about. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Williams coach has fewer spots to fill, so maybe he’s looking for specific events/strokes. JHU coach seems to get 10xeach (m/f) so more opportunity? Just a thought. The other thing we noticed about Williams was that the dialogue occurred later than others, so maybe just hang in there for a couple months.</p>
<p>I know nothing about the Tufts men’s coach. My oldest (son) did not look there. Sorry.</p>
<p>Those scores are great (it is said that most schools don’t look at Writing…) so I wouldn’t worry about that if your times are of interest and your GPA is good.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Could I ask where your kid(s) ended up? And how do or did they like it there?</p>
<p>Hi swimmer24,</p>
<p>I think you can’t deduce anything from the coach’s demeanor yet…so if it turns out you end up really liking Williams, just keep in touch with the coach and show your interest. It has a lot to do with what events they are looking to fill and they don’t know yet who is really interested.</p>
<p>Also, it is possible the Williams coach knows what admissions will accept with regard to sat scores, and this is what is making him hold back. One coach told my d that she needed one more point on the act and to retake it, but she didn’t bother (she chose a different school).</p>
<p>We never looked at Williams (too rural for my d) but I believe the magic numbers at Amherst were 2100 SAT or 32 ACT. Williams and Amherst are very similar schools in terms of admissions rates and academic qualifications. I do know that if you are vying for an actual slot, you can drop below those numbers, but those are their general guidelines. I suspect Williams must have similar guidelines.</p>
<p>Wish I could help with tufts…we dealt with the women’s coach. Haven’t heard anything yet about the new men’s coach. Good luck!</p>
<p>@swimmer24</p>
<p>For the sake of anonymity, I’d rather not list all the schools… but I can tell you that my youngest daughter will be attending UChicago starting in Sept. After looking at lots of schools (almost all D3, and including all of those you list), it was by far her favorite - for lots of reasons other than swimming, which was just an added benefit. She is thrilled!</p>
<p>swimmer24, </p>
<p>Your SAT scores are amazing … but what are your swim times like if you are looking for a nod from the swim coach? Are they competitive to score in the conference meets? My son has similar SAT scores but very competitive swim times. If he emails a D3 coach, he is getting quick responses. I have been lead to believe that they do have pull with admissions however you need to have times to support the coaches effort. One of his club teammates is going to a top D3 school this fall with lower SAT scores than you have but she should be scoring points at NCAAs next year.</p>
<p>At NESCACs I would be in the A-Final (4th or 5th place) in my best 3 events and I am very close to making winter juniors in the 200 fly/400 IM. I also have a chance at making summer juniors in the 200 fly this summer. I’m in at least the top 3 on each team in my primary events (a lot higher on Tufts/Chicago).</p>
<p>Maybe the schools you have not heard back from have enough depth in your best events right now? I believe coaches get more excited about kids who can score in both individual and relay events. Work on your LCM times this summer and keep in touch with the coaches with updates. Also, consider visiting the schools you are most interested in and they may be more responsive when you show a real interest in their school. My son has definitely received more communication from the schools he has visited.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice MAswim, but I haven’t had any problems with communication with coaches. My post was just asking if people knew how much pull the coaches had in admissions.</p>
<p>Since MAswim mentioned LCM, do coaches care about LCM times? My daughter is headed into her Junior year. She is nowhere near Junior National times, but she does want to swim D3. Should she report LCM times on recruiting forms or just wait to update with her SCY times next year?</p>
<p>Many of the online questionnaires require both SCY and LCM. If not, just report whatever is the best representation of her fastest times. D3 probably cares more about SCY as they won’t be training their swimmers for non-league/NCAA meets. But if your swimmer is a better long course swimmer, you should definitely report those times.</p>
<p>I believe the coaches (even top D3 teams) want to see both SCY and LCM times. It shows the swimmer is training year round and is serious about swimming. LCM times can also demonstrate that a swimmer is steadily improving which is important for recruiting. A few of the coaches have emailed my son asking for his summer schedule and I have seen college coaches in the stands at the summer championship meets scouting swimmers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies regarding LCM times. Good to know. She is a better LCM swimmer, always pines away for a 50 meter pool during the winter. She would really like a 200 meter pool :-)</p>
<p>Coach Kuster is just not great at emails–something he admits freely–and as a personality is more of an introvert so you might not get as many responses and not as gushing-- it means that you have to keep up the communications than with a coach who is more aggressive bc of personality. However, he is a spectacular coach in all respects and if you attend you will not have better coaching anywhere–including the D1s (seriously, when my D was looking a few years back a D1 coach friend said “Kuster” when I asked him who was the “go to” coach.) He has turned down D1 offers bc he likes DIII and Williams. </p>
<p>BUT he is picky-- you need both times and the academics. However, his word is his bond. </p>
<p>There is a big men’s program in terms of numbers, but Williams just graduated a number of terrific swimmers so he will be on the look out to re-arm if you have the ability. </p>
<p>I cannot say enough good things about this coach and this program.</p>
<p>Obviously, I agree with etondad on Kuster. To be fair, however, while he enjoys a great gig at Williams and “likes” DIII, I heard that Kuster (unsuccessfully) pursued the Yale job opening a few years ago.</p>
<p>my sources at Yale tell me he was being sought for the women’s job post Christina but said not interested…which given the Yale administration’s attitude toward sports is very smart…</p>
<p>etondad, not trying to hijack the thread, but wondering if any of the Williams swimmers do a second varsity sport? Didn’t you mention a long time ago that the swimmers received letters trying to interest them in crew?</p>
<p>Wondering what the coach would think of a swimmer who did fall crew instead of captain’s practices? Just curious. It’s one of the things that makes d3 so very appealing to my kids…the chance to do it all, which they had to give up in all these years of swimming.</p>
<p>We only visited Tufts swimming out of the four (actually visited twice). The coach allows anyone who wants to swim to be part of the team but can only take a certain number to meets etc. that is why the Tufts men’s roster is so huge. We were very impressed how he stressed the ‘team’ aspect of the sport and was extremely positive, more so than some of the other coaches we spoke with. The pool itself had issues when we visited but I am not current with its status. We have an acquaintance who swims for Tufts and loves it.</p>