What Grades and/or Test Scores do I need to get in to Colgate?

The short answer is that admission to Colgate is based on a combination of your test scores and high school transcript (Grades 9-12). Colgate will look at your grade average over those years and your SAT I or ACT score. Colgate does not require the SAT IIs and does not looking at the writing portion of the SAT I (just Math and Critical Reading). For the ACT the composite score is considered. The hockey team has admissions slots available to aid recruits in getting accepted. Essentially, it is a sliding scale of the two parts (best test score and transcript) that determines your ability to get admitted to Colgate. That is, the higher your grades are, the lower the acceptable test scores have to be for admission (and vice-versa). So, it is difficult to answer this question with actual numbers. However, if you fax us your transcript and test scores (after completion of grade 11) we can tell you which band below you will fall into and/or what your target score on the tests would need to be to be admitted.

The graph below illustrates the above mentioned concept, the actual numbers will vary so do not take this chart as an absolute.

sample chart

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Do you offer scholarships at Colgate?

YES, Colgate University is a Division I scholarship school. Similar to all NCAA teams we do not have enough scholarships to have every player on the roster on a full athletic scholarship. We have some players on full scholarships, some players on partial scholarships, some players on Financial Aid (if they got accepted on their own with no athletic slot used), and some players on no aid at all. Each year we assess our needs as a program and the number of scholarships available to us and then decide which players will receive scholarship offers from us and how much.

A FULL scholarship is defined as: Tuition, Fees, Room, Board & Books. At Colgate the value of a full scholarship is around $53,000.00 per year. Scholarships are one-year renewable contracts. Your scholarship cannot be taken away or reduced because you are not playing well. Violation of team rules, poor academic performance or quitting the team are grounds for a change in scholarship amount. Players who get injured at Colgate will remain as part of the team, and remain on their scholarship.

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What do you look for in a prospective player/recruit?

Through our recruiting process we assess four major areas to find players that are the best fit for Colgate both as a hockey player and as a student: Academics, Athletic Ability, Financial Need, and Interest Level. Below, we will give you the main characteristics that we are looking for in each area. It is important to note that until we collect accurate data on all of the areas below it is difficult for us to give you an accurate answer to the question: "where do I stand on your recruiting depth chart?"

Academics:

Just like the answer to question 1 (above), we assess your admissions potential by looking at your High School Transcript and your SAT and/or ACT scores. Colgate does not require the SAT IIs and does not look at the writing portion of the SAT. It is very important to get this information to us as soon after the end of your grade 11 year as possible. Otherwise we cannot assess you in this area.

Athletic Ability:

This can be broken down into three areas: Skill, Instincts & Work Ethic/Character. All three pieces are very important to us.

1. Skill - We assess your basic hockey skills: skating, stickhandling, shooting, passing and receiving, as well as your speed and strength to play at the next level. How good are those skills at top speed? How often do you play at top speed?
2. Instincts - Do you know where to be on the ice in all zones? How well do you play away from the puck (supporting teammates)? How good is your vision with the puck? Are you creative on offense and create scoring chances? Are you good positionally on defense?
3. Work Ethic/Character - Maybe the most important piece. How hard do you work to improve? Do you backcheck hard? Do you battle for loose pucks and win those battles? How are you in the locker room as a leader? What would your teammates/coaches say about you as person? How do you interact with your family?

Financial Need:

The financial need of the family is looked at in conjunction with the academic and athletic ability level to determine our scholarship offer or whether the family could receive financial aid. Our goal is to attract great students/hockey players/people and put together offers to make college affordable .

Interest Level:

The final piece of the puzzle is the student-athlete's interest in Colgate. We want players who want to be at Colgate. We hope that you will take your time, do your homework, do your visits and then decide Colgate is the right fit for you. If you have a high-interest in Colgate it is important to let us know as that will help us when making our decisions and offers.

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How Many Players Do you Carry on your Roster?

We get this question a lot. For any schools you might be considering you can find the answer on CollegeHockeyStats.net. You can even look back to previous years and see how many players were on the roster and how many games each player played. Knowing this information ahead of time will allow you to ask more pointed questions to all of your schools of interest.

Our ideal team size is 23 players (20 skaters and 3 goalies). This will obviously fluctuate a little from year to year depending on available scholarships, the depth of the upcoming recruiting classes and other factors. However, we strive to keep as close to this number as we can. We feel that this roster size provides enough back-up for inevitable injuries while not being so large that too many players are sitting out games while healthy.

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When do you usually practice, and what does a typical week look like?

In season, we are allowed 20 hours of time total (including games, practices, meetings & training). In season a typical week looks like this:

The length of each practice will vary depending on the time in the season, the day of the week and the needs of our team. The schedule may vary slightly on Thursday as we will travel that day if we are on the road and may practice earlier to get on the road if it fits with our players' class schedules.  Recently, as part of our player development model, our evening practices have been about 75 minutes long. Then the player has come in once a week for and individual skill session.

Out of season the NCAA allows 8 hours a week of practice time. In the fall, we generally train 4 days a week, 2 days in the weight room and two days of conditioning, during the same time blocks as the ice schedule above. In the spring our training is the lightest and the activities are varied to keep it interesting, again usually four days a week.

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How hard is it to balance Academics and Hockey at Colgate?
(i.e. missed class days policy, lab courses, academic support, etc.)

We find that most of our students do a fine job of balancing both Academics and Hockey. We closely monitor the incoming freshmen in their first semester. After the first semester, those players with a GPA below a certain level will remain in academic monitoring (which includes study hall) until they get above that mark. One of our assistant coaches will meet every two weeks with the players to go over their upcoming tests, quizzes, homework and papers to make sure they are managing their time well and anticipating any problems. Also, tutors are easily available for those who need extra help in a certain course.

We generally miss no more than 3 class days per semester for games. Those missed days are expected and although the work that is missed must be made up, there are very few problems with that. Occasionally, but very rarely, a player may have to miss practice due to a required course in their major. However, most players find it very easy to schedule classes around the practice schedule. Laboratory courses also rarely conflict with practices as we practice later on the primary lab days.

All in all, Colgate has a very good marriage of strong academics with committed Division I athletics. The give and take between coaches and professors allows the student to excel in both areas.

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