Vassar, Carleton, Wesleyan, Hamilton - any shot? [3.6 GPA, recruited athlete]

College Search & Lists
, , , , , , , ,
1

Hi everyone!

Our son, current Junior is being recruited for D3 baseball.

Current positive contact so far from Kenyon, Wooster, Allegheny, Wooster, and Chatham.

Loved his visit to Kenyon. Really liked Wooster too. Hasn’t visited Allegheny, Wooster or Chatham yet.

We are looking to expand his list as we know how quickly things can go south for a variety of reasons. for one, he plays a position where they will only take 1 player in his position in his recruiting class.

Current stats: 3.6 unweighted. 3 honors classes. Couple extracurriculars, but not too many as baseball takes up a lot of time.

Are any of these schools even remotely realistic even as a recruited athlete?: Vassar, Carleton, Wesleyan, Hamilton, NYU, Rochester.

We would have to spend money to get in front of the schools either at a Headfirst or one of their college prospect camps. He has emailed them with his grades and they all say “come to one of our camps”. But don’t answer about his grades, just want you to come to the camp.

Since this is “the recruiting year” for him, we are trying to not waste any time, money, and energy where it is not feasible.

Also, if anyone has any experience with these other schools we may add that could be such as : Macalester, St. Olaf, Washington College. Or any other schools similar to Kenyon or Wooster would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

1 Like
2

Will he get test scores? They could be very helpful for the coach, as one more data point to present to admissions. If possible, tutoring may be worth the expense and time.

3 Likes
3

good question. he took his PSATS, i forget the score but he was in the 50th percentile. I dont think he will be submitting his test scores.

4

So no SAT or ACT scores at all, or plans to take one of them?

5

Hes going to take them. but I believe his psat was around 1010-1050 - ish

6

Currently, he is significantly below their normal stats. He would have to be a very key player for them to overcome this, I would think.

I am familiar with these schools (although not their baseball teams.) Both are terrific schools. Mac has a liberal-leaning, quirky, academic vibe. St. Olaf has big strengths in music and STEM, also an academic vibe, but an easier admit, and not as quirky. A school that is similar to Mac in vibe, but an easier admit, is Beloit in Wisconsin. Schools that are similar to St. Olaf in vibe, but are easier admits, are Gustavus in Minnesota, Luther in Iowa, Lawrence in Wisconsin.

I think Kalamazoo has some similarities to Wooster.

6 Likes
7

Is the 3.6 unweighted for core courses only? If not, what’s that GPA? English, Science, Math, Foreign lang, Soc studies only. What is his class rank? If his school doesn’t rank, make your best estimate. Does his HS offer AP courses?

Test score? If he doesn’t have one, I highly encourage him to get one if he has his sights set on highly rejective schools.

Generally a 3.6 can make the cut at a highly rejective school, but it depends on how good he is/how much the coach wants/needs him.

Of course they want you to spend the money. Has he sent highlight video to the coaches? If not, that’s a must.

Lastly, are you a full pay family, qualify for need based aid, or looking for merit aid?

2 Likes
8

You mentioned Washington College.

It’s at a much lower level admission wise and with a low test submission percentage. Of those mentioned, it’s by far the easiest to get into.

1 Like
9

Yes, and also has fewer than 1,000 students.

Chatham also has a 70%+ acceptance rate, with about 1500 students, 70% female.

For both those schools, I would encourage OP to look at their financial condition.

2 Likes
10

I’m guessing my son plays the same position that yours does. He pulled out of the recruiting process, but he did say that if he went to St. Olaf, he would want to continue both of his sports (for whatever reason). He really loved everything about that school, but it wasn’t the right fit for size or major for him. Do a search for St. Olaf as it is a CC hidden gem and gets lots of write-ups.

I’d say his stats are a bit low for the schools he’s hoping for and since he isn’t a pitcher, or a D1 kid wanting a certain D3 school, the chances of a coach pushing for him aren’t very high.

Over half of Hamilton’s team will be from prep schools.

6 Likes
11

Have you looked at Oberlin?

12

I would not recommend Oberlin’s baseball program. OP can PM me if they like.

For any team under consideration, I would encourage OP/their S to take a look at the rosters to see A) how many upperclassmen are on the team and B) how many players at the S’s position and what year they are.

4 Likes
13

He has a shot at Rochester and NYU if they like him as a baseball player. NYU’s baseball field is all the way at the opposite end of Brooklyn from lower Manhattan.

1 Like
14

My son just went on a recruiting visit… it’s now -

take the subway, then the boat - to Staten Island. Great field, team, and school though.

3 Likes
15

Thanks. Didn’t realize they’d made a change. What field in SI are they using now?

16

a pro team’s field (single A I think) - I do not know their name.

1 Like
17

That’s nuts!

For some sports, students definitely have to understand how much time per day they are traveling to/from the facility/course/field…some of the urban schools have more of an issue for obvious reasons. I know several urban school golf teams where the course is 30-40 mins drive one way.

1 Like
18

so 1080 on PSAT. he’s going to take the SAT soon. Dont think he will score much higher than that. we’re going to focus on test-optional schools. he spoke already with Kenyon and they are remaining test optional, so he has plenty of options.

19

good point. he goes to a Catholic high school. so that will trim the GPA a little.

we will qualify for need based aid. his older sisters got tons of aid from Denison, Rhodes, and UVM.

1 Like
20

Coaches will tell him if they want a test score or not. Just to talk about so you are aware, there are some coaches at test optional schools that require test scores of their recruits. These things are quite dynamic, so I’m not going to name any baseball teams that I’ve seen do this. There are coaches at Rochester that require test scores…I do not know if the baseball coach does.

6 Likes