Playing college squash in USA
 
 
 

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Tips on applying to college and universities for playing college squash

This article is written for multiple audiences, namely:

  • International squash playing students seeking financial aid based on their squash playing abilities
  • International squash playing students seeking admission in top universities but not so interested in financial aid
  • US squash playing students seeking admission to top universities

The problem is admission and financial aid are extremely complicated and the rules differ from school to school. However there are a few basic principles common to most institutions which I will outline. If you can grasp these principles then you will have a much better chance of predicting your success at gaining admission and financial aid.

It so happens that the best squash playing colleges in the US are also the most academically competitive schools ( Ivy league schools such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton ). Typically one is admitted to those schools by attending a private 'feeder' school. A feeder school is an exclusive and selective school that prepares its students for admission to the Ivy league. The majority of its graduating class end up in the Ivy League. Typically feeder school's students come from very wealthy and/or influential families.

Feeder schools are located in every country. For example, Pakistan has two, Karachi Grammar School and Aitchison College. The admission staff already know what the feeder schools are in all countries. So if you did not attend one of those feeder schools you are immediately at a disadvantage.

While 'Feeder schools' dominate Ivy League school admissions, recently in the past 10-30 years the policies are changing towards a more heterogeneous student body. Diversity is an often abused buzz-word you will see mentioned in college brochures. While I do agree the top universities are becoming more diverse, the rich elitist feeder school base still supports the whole system.

If you don't go to a feeder school then your chance to get admitted to the top universities depends on two things:

  • Top academics, i.e SAT's, AP classes, etc
  • Achieving excellence in one or two extra-curricular activities, such as Squash

Now the tricky part is figuring out how much weight to give to academics and squash. For most schools academics are the priority, however, this may not be the case for schools looking to raise the status of their squash program. For them they can admit a student with below average academics relative to their student body on the basis of their squash playing abilities.

If you are serious about playing squash competitively then first visit the College Squash Association website and contact the coaches for the top 10 ranked squash colleges. They will be able to direct you better about which tests to take, what credits are needed, etc.

As far as scholarship, almost no university offers any scholarship just on merit of squash. What they offer is called 'financial aid'. Financial aid is similar to scholarship in that it is mostly 'free money' for the student with some portion of loans and work-study. The main difference between scholarship and financial aid is that financial aid is awarded after these two conditions are satisfied:

  1. Does the applicant have the academic qualifications to enter the university?
  2. Can the student afford the tuition? Afford means the parents have sufficient assets and income to pay the full tuition and room and board. The university looks at both parent's income, even if one is divorced! If the combined income of the parents is close to USD 125,000 there will be NO financial aid.

Only if 1 and 2 are met can the applicant get financial aid. For this reason financial aid is very competitive and only the best academic students will get them. The squash coaches may have some pull on this , but not much. Ultimately it's his own strong academics that will get him into the university and a good financial aid package. Squash is secondary.

For US students, most colleges offer need-blind admissions, which means they first admit you then figure out how much financial aid they can offer you. So your inability to afford the tuition has no effect on your chance of admission. However admission is not need-blind for international students. Financial aid is much more limited so only the best applicants who can afford the tuition will get in.

Apparently there are a few need-blind schools for International students. They are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Williams, Middlebury and Dartmouth recently. However my guess is the financial aid they offer you will not be as generous as the financial aid offered to a US student, but that remains to be confirmed.

SAT is probably the most important test. Scoring high on the verbal section is important as that is the more difficult one for international students. I used to prepare by going through the SAT prep. books and doing all the practice tests, plus making a huge list of words and definitions.

On the other hand, some other universities are not so competitive with admissions and may be able to offer financial aid if your scores are not so good.

Here is the list of schools that are not as academically competitive as the Ivy League schools. However, even some of these colleges do have high admission standard.

I am not sure all have strong squash programs. Only those with strong squash programs are likely to have financial aid for international student. Best to contact their coaches. If you want I can phone some of them too in case they do not reply to your email as sometimes emails gets lost in spam.

Bard College , Annandale o-h NY 
Bates College , Lewiston Maine
Bryant College, No Smithfield RI 
Colby College , Waterville Maine 
Conn College , New London CT 
Denison University , Granville OH 
F&M, Lancaster PA 
Hamilton College, Clinton NY 
Hobart College, Geneva NY 
Kenyon College, Gambier OH 
Lehigh, Bethlehem PA 
Middlebury College, Middlebury VT 
Northeastern, Boston MA 
Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN 
Penn State, State College PA 
Univ of Rochester, Rochester NY 
St. Lawrence University ,Canton NY 
Trinity College, Hartford CT
Tufts University, Medford MA 
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 

My advice to prospective students is to focus more on academics and getting the grades up. Just keep playing squash for fun and the improvements will come, but do not overdo it. If you are at a top level by age 18 , then over-training is not going to get you there. You are much better spending your time on your academics rather than squash. And yes, your participation in squash will help your admission prospects since it demonstrates commitment to a well-respected sport. Of course being well rounded in other extra curricular activities is important too .

Here is an interesting video about squash at Trinity College:


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