NY Times Article About Recruiting

[Lax101]

A new NY Times article has come out about lacrosse in their Sunday edition. It's about a top HS goalie from Needham, MA (a town actually next to mine) who wasn't recruited by Haverford (DIII school), yet a goalie from Houston did. While Haverford is a very high academic school, the Needham kid had much better grades and SAT scores, and made visits and went to camps to get recruited. On the other hand, the Houston kid also promoted himself a lot to colleges, too. Very interesting article about recruiting. It's on the front page of the sports section in the Times.

edit: Heres the link. You gotta register to read it, but registration is free.
http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/sports/ncaafootball/25haverford.html&OP=32da26a3Q2FXQ22Q51aXzkQ5BQ7DQ3Bkk@.X.!!LXQ7E.X. LXQ7D7kQ3B@Q7DXQ5DQ5BKK6kk@aK--X.LBKQ24Q51Q3B6kQ3Bz3B@)-

[OutBurst]

I read that article this morning because I felt that it closely resembled my situation with Babson. While it was a very informative article, it did not help me formulate a hypothesis as to why I was rejected from Babson.

[OldGoalie]

There's never a hypothesis that you'll be able to nail down definitively. As the article states, the admissions process is an extremely fickle process. That's why having a backup plan, and not burning bridges, is the way to go with getting into good schools these days.

Man, it sure does seem so much more competitive than it was 15-20 years ago. My sis went to Haverford (86-90) and I know she didn't get a 1380 on her SAT's!

[BioPro29]

Colleges have twice as much scholarship money they can hand out to out of state players as they do to give to in-state players, so that probably had something to do with it.

[Lax101]

Colleges have twice as much scholarship money they can hand out to out of state players as they do to give to in-state players, so that probably had something to do with it.
Haverford is a school in PA. The two players were from MA and Texas. So...no.

[attacklax72]

the kid from houston is my goalie from my school. hes pretty good skillwise but gradewise i doubt that he has better grades than the other kid.

[Lax101]

the kid from houston is my goalie from my school. hes pretty good skillwise but gradewise i doubt that he has better grades than the other kid.
If you read the article, his grades are significantly lower. About 200 points lower on the SAT's (300 if you wanna use the new 2400 system), and a much lower GPA. However, my theory is that the kid simply presented himself more to coaches (in the article, both kids were listed doing a lot of things) and did elite teams. Today, a lot of coaches are looking for standout players from the south and the west coast, as coaches are starting to realize that there are a few raw superstars there. This doesn't mean that teams are going to stop having 90% of their kids from the northeast, but if they are looking harder for the raw players. In Needham MA, the kid probably got very well coached (Needham has a very strong lax program in MA, one of the 10-15 best). In Houston, the kid probably didn't get the coaching that one could get in the northeast, so coaches may think that he hasnt reached his full potential.

[pantherLax]

is a 3.1 GPA high?

[Lax101]

no, not really. That's a B average in most scales.

[Laxin2266]

I am a freshman now and this summer I am starting to meet coaches and try to get recruited. Im playing a elite team again... and I am going to penn state camp to meet the coaches and get my name out there. It is never too early.

[attacklax72]

If you read the article, his grades are significantly lower. About 200 points lower on the SAT's (300 if you wanna use the new 2400 system), and a much lower GPA. However, my theory is that the kid simply presented himself more to coaches (in the article, both kids were listed doing a lot of things) and did elite teams. Today, a lot of coaches are looking for standout players from the south and the west coast, as coaches are starting to realize that there are a few raw superstars there. This doesn't mean that teams are going to stop having 90% of their kids from the northeast, but if they are looking harder for the raw players. In Needham MA, the kid probably got very well coached (Needham has a very strong lax program in MA, one of the 10-15 best). In Houston, the kid probably didn't get the coaching that one could get in the northeast, so coaches may think that he hasnt reached his full potential.

i did read the article wihch was why i wasnt so suprised (sp?) that he got in and the other kid didnt. i bet his nationality (nicaraguan for those who dont want to read the article) had a lot to do with his acceptance.hes one of my really close friends and i know that he marketed himself really well to the colleges. he was always away from school and practice because he was on "official" visits to schools up north.i dont doubt that he deserved the accetance any more than the other kid because this kid has worked hard all of his life. though his grades might not refelt his work ethic, i know his personalilty does. ( itried my best to defend him so dont flame me).

[camthraxFHK]

The application process to small liberal arts schools is far from easy to understand. A lot of times things other than grades and academic resumes become very important, especially for rural schools like Haverford where I imagine a healthy level of diversity is very hard to accomplish. The fact that this guy is nicaraguan and his parents didnt go to college meet two of the unofficial needs of the admission staff. As my friends at DU found out, its not very cool when you only go to school with upper and middle class white kids. What I thought was interesting was that the Needham guy got rejected totally. I mean he seemed very qualified for academic admission, and he had made a number of visits (this kind of commitment sends a message to the admission people that you really indeed do want to go there). I personally made similar efforts, making 2 visits, scheduling an alumni interview and that got me into a similar small college.

Also maybe this dude from Needham isnt as good as the NY times says he is haha. Oh and legitimate lacrosse players (good enough to make a signifficant impact in DIII at least) come out of Texas and all over the west routinely now. In the last year or two, the effects of west coast expansion have shown. It has become much more common for players all over the west to finish highschool with 6 years or more of lacrosse experience, and im sure this guy from Houston doesnt suck if he was making recruiting camp trips.

I was thinking though, how the hell do you spend $5000 on recruiting camps in 3 months. thats like a full year of tuition at an average state school haha. From the sound of it, and looking at pictures of the two dudes, i would have taken the Houston guy too. Looked like a much better athlete, and the Needham guy had really short shorts. For all we know they dont let dorky short shorted goalies into haverford.

[massliveguy]

yeah man the kid from needham is real good, hes legit, i played against him last year, hes good

[attacklax72]

The application process to small liberal arts schools is far from easy to understand. A lot of times things other than grades and academic resumes become very important, especially for rural schools like Haverford where I imagine a healthy level of diversity is very hard to accomplish. The fact that this guy is nicaraguan and his parents didnt go to college meet two of the unofficial needs of the admission staff. As my friends at DU found out, its not very cool when you only go to school with upper and middle class white kids. What I thought was interesting was that the Needham guy got rejected totally. I mean he seemed very qualified for academic admission, and he had made a number of visits (this kind of commitment sends a message to the admission people that you really indeed do want to go there). I personally made similar efforts, making 2 visits, scheduling an alumni interview and that got me into a similar small college.

Also maybe this dude from Needham isnt as good as the NY times says he is haha. Oh and legitimate lacrosse players (good enough to make a signifficant impact in DIII at least) come out of Texas and all over the west routinely now. In the last year or two, the effects of west coast expansion have shown. It has become much more common for players all over the west to finish highschool with 6 years or more of lacrosse experience, and im sure this guy from Houston doesnt suck if he was making recruiting camp trips.

I was thinking though, how the hell do you spend $5000 on recruiting camps in 3 months. thats like a full year of tuition at an average state school haha. From the sound of it, and looking at pictures of the two dudes, i would have taken the Houston guy too. Looked like a much better athlete, and the Needham guy had really short shorts. For all we know they dont let dorky short shorted goalies into haverford.

that includes air fare and i think hes on 3 elite teams that go to champ camp and other tournaments. team fees and air fare for that many teams could easily add up to $5000. air fare also includes his trips up to haverford for official visits.

[moondog]

I really don't want to stray off the subject, but like college admissions/scholarships, similar "hosings" happen when you're trying to get a job/career. Do you REALLY think the best/most qualified person always gets the job? Not at all. The "real world" is the scariest thing I've ever seen. It's downright savage, and full of ins, outs, and conspiracies. Can't let it get to your head, though; you'll flip your lid.

And, sadly, once you get IN to college, a whole new world of true "hosings" really begin.

[OldGoalie]

The application process to small liberal arts schools is far from easy to understand. A lot of times things other than grades and academic resumes become very important, especially for rural schools like Haverford where I imagine a healthy level of diversity is very hard to accomplish.

Actually, Haverford is not really a rural school. It's in a busy suburb right near Philly. And, it's been a top liberal arts school for some time, which has meant a diverse student population for some time, at least since the early 80's when that became much more important in the admissions process. My sister had a pretty diverse class in the late 80's when she went. But you are absolutely right that a lot of factors go into the decision, grades and extracurricluars being just 2 pieces of the puzzle. Ethnic background and geographical location definitely play a significant role.