Charlotte Giler (11) committed to the admissions process on Sept. 28 at Columbia University. She announced her decision to play Division 1 softball at the New York Ivy League on Instagram after going on an official visit to the school that same weekend.
As a very talented pitcher in the 2027 recruiting class, Giler had been contacted by multiple D1 teams the week of September 1, the first day that schools of this division are allowed to contact athletes about possibly playing at their university.
Columbia just had certain characteristics that set it apart from the other schools Giler had offers from, which she was able to experience firsthand on her visit to New York City.
Giler explains her decision beyond the academic and athletic opportunity associated with Columbia, “All the players were super nice. They all had their own personalities, where I found that at a lot of other schools all the girls seemed exactly the same.”
Another factor that fit Giler’s criteria for her college was the student population. Columbia has around 10,000 undergraduate students, which was the amount Giler was looking for. She wanted a population that was bigger than that of Aliso Niguel but was not interested in a really big school with 50,000 students.
Receiving the offer from Columbia and choosing to accept it was not a random occurrence; Giler dedicated much of her time to playing softball in practices and games, but also to promoting herself through camps and emails. She remains very grateful for her opportunities along the way that shaped her into the student athlete she is today.
When asked how she felt with everything that happened Giler responded, “I wasn’t surprised by the offer. I knew that they were watching me through my travel ball organization outside the school. Telling my family was when it really hit me that, wow, I really have this opportunity.”
Giler’s family and friends have all been really supportive of her announcement on social media and in person. Those on campus who were particularly excited about the news are members of the softball team who know just how much work she puts in every day.
One high school teammate, Amanda Elkins (10), says, “I personally look up to Charlotte because she is a mature upperclassman and also because we’re both pitchers. I look up to her as an example of what I want my junior and senior years to look like.”
Giler gives her advice to young student athletes who wish to follow her path of committing to play a sport in college, “There are sacrifices that you have to make; you can’t spend all your time doing the things you want to do. Sometimes you want to spend time with your friends when at that time you really need to be either practicing or you have games so you have to miss something.”
