Looking ahead - LACs vs. small universities

momrath
Wed, 07 May 2008 20:39:42 +0000

how much influence do coaches have in LACs/small unis?



I’m not a sports/recruitment expert so I’ll just mention my observation from my son’s athlete friends, many of whom were female. These small colleges, even the most egghead-ish, all have 20+ varsity teams that they need to maintain. The coaches may or may not exert influence or use their admissions tips to assure that the places are filled, but at the end of the day the admissions committee understands that the teams exist and need players. At a college with 2000 students the percentage of athletes can ironically be higher than at a big sports focused university.

Same goes for the arts, whether it’s studio art, drama, music or dance: The colleges need artists and performers and it’s up to the admissions committee to admit them.

An applicant who can offer academics, sports and arts is, to me, the trifecta for admissions to an LAC – three-for-one – so it’s important to convince admissions that she will continue to participate in her ECs and to involve the coaches and arts faculty in the admissions decision.

Some colleges are notably more “sporty” than others, but all have sports. So it depends on your daughter’s attitude toward her sport. Some kids see their sport as a meal ticket, or an admissions enhancer, but don’t much care about the cultural aspects of a healthy mind / healthy body philosophy. Others are looking for environments that value physical activity – not at the expense of intellectual and artistic pursuits, but in addition to.

Though my son didn’t participate in team sports he is outdoorsy and likes being around active people. At the same time, he’s an intellectual and artist and needed to find an environment that offered a balance of all three. He was not prepared to sacrifice one for another.

For him the schools that seemed the most balanced were Williams, Wesleyan, Hamilton and Kenyon – excellent academics, dedicated arts funding and creative influence, widespread sports participation. For less selectives, Skidmore and Conn College. Pomona definitely falls in with this group but he decided to focus east.