<p>Luckily my D knew where she wanted to go, and she got the letter—yay! She had all her app stuff into commonapp etc in September. I highly recommend earlier the better-and the coach absolutely recommended it–she had the attention of her english teacher to take a look at her essay, she had a lot of attention from school college counselor because the other seniors were not yet going crazy trying to finalize their apps and figure out the revised common app quirks (warning—they can be frustrating). It’s win-win to get it all in early, because even she hadn’t gotten the letter, her app was pretty much ready to go for alternate choices so she could focus on senior year and her sport.</p>
<p>Congratulations, 2924. Best wishes on keeping her focused until May…</p>
<p>So is it general etiquette to only ask for a likely letter from one school and thus to essentially make school decisions in October/November?</p>
<p>In my D’s experience, the likelies were offered in early October, and each coach made it clear that to receive the letter, she would be making a “gentleman’s agreement” to attend. Therefore, she would only accept one. As a courtesy to the other coaches involved, as soon as she made her choice, she contacted them so they could offer support to the next athlete in line. Everyone is trying to accept letters and file ED/EA’s by Nov 1 so moving quickly assures you a spot, and also allows the wheels to turn for the next candidate.</p>
<p>To get a likely letter from a coach/school, do you have to be that coach’s top choice?</p>
<p>Jumper - for most sports coaches have a limited number of possible likely letters to give, but usually more than one. I’m sure the exact number varies across sports and across schools.</p>
<p>Do most athletes request a likely letter or do the coaches suggest it to them? And if a coach from your top school denies you of a likely letter, can you go to a coach from a different school and ask for one as well?</p>
<p>jumper, a good first question to start this conversation with a coach is, “where am I on your recruiting list?” If the answer is #1, and this is your #1 choice, it would be appropriate for you to state that, in no uncertain terms. The coach may then offer to see if he can get you a likely letter, after admissions reads your app. If you are an extraordinary candidate academically, the coach may try to save your likely letter for someone more on the bubble academically. You should insist on the likely letter. </p>
<p>If you are further down the list in a sport that doesn’t have many spots (and you should be able to tell how many the school recruits for your position each year by looking at current and past rosters) then you aren’t in as good a bargaining position. </p>
<p>I’ve used the musical chairs analogy before, but you can picture the top recruits taking their seats right about now, which might suddenly make you a number 1 with someone. If a coach suddenly starts calling you with more enthusiasm, it may be that you’ve moved up on the list because he’s heard his original number 1 has accepted a spot somewhere else. Read between the lines A LOT in these conversations.</p>
<p>There are about 4 spots for the event i’m doing (Track-Jumping). Only one of those athletes will graduate by the time I go to college. Does that mean there is only one spot left?
I don’t know if I should contact the coach now, because I haven’t gotten my test results. (I am currently a Junior.)
I compared my records from last year and my records from sophomore year were better than those of the athlete’s at college level.
Does this mean I have a pretty good chance of being recruited as one of their top choices? I have the academics.
Eh sorry, I’m pretty clueless about this whole recruiting thing</p>
<p>Step #1 is to read this board thoroughly about recruiting. You won’t be so clueless after that. </p>
<p>Contact the coach via email to express interest even before your test scores. Fill out the prospective student-athlete questionnaire on the college’s website and send it in. Let the coach know that you have filled out the questionnaire. Put together a “fact sheet”/sports resume and attach it in your email to the coach. Ask the coach if he would like you to send your DVD (if you don’t have one it’s time to make one).</p>
<p>See what other posters say to do before you just jump in and do something. Since you are a Junior and it is only October, you have some time — but not a whole lot. Getting started early is key. There is a plan of attack on how to get recruited. Read this board and you’ll develop one for yourself.</p>
<p>
I’m afraid that I’ll eventually face this situation. Are there any alternatives to true athletic recruitment (and athletic admissions advantage) at Ivies besides likely letters for those who are “very” academically qualified (and I mean from an athletic standpoint, so like ~235 academic index)? Or is there only a fixed number of applicants a coach can support regardless of how highly qualified an applicant is academically, so long as the applicant is at least a borderline-qualified athlete?</p>
<p>Seems like there are a couple of issues here, Monstor. In most cases an athlete needs to be more than “borderline-qualified” athletically as well as academically for a coach to want to offer support. In some sports, it is rumored that a less athletically qualified applicant might be supported in order to bring up the team’s average academic qualifications - that is thought to be more likely with some sports than with others (e.g. more likely with football than with cross country). In that case, it’s been speculated that a coach’s support (without a likely letter) might be a “tip” that gives an admissions boost to an otherwise qualified applicant. However, all of that seems to me to be based more on rumor than on fact - maybe others can offer more fact based info? A likely letter is the only sure bet in the recruiting process at the Ivy’s. And in general, there seem to be enough athletes who also have great academic qualifications so that the competition remains pretty tough.</p>
<p>Monstor344 -
We worried about that with my son; he was a 235+ with other strong assets and we didn’t want coaches to withhold support assuming he’d get in on his own. So we asked the coaches directly exactly what you’re asking and every one told us the same thing: They realize that unhooked admissions are too dicey for them to take a risk like that on an athlete they want.</p>
<p>I also agree with Runners2 that a high academic stat recruit can help the coach with a more borderline recruit.</p>
<p>Talk openly about your concerns with the coaches. Circumstances vary by school and sport. Some coaches have a fixed number of names on the list per year; others have more flexibility.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: Sports :: Prep Star Brown to Play for Amaker’s Crimson in 2010](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528611]The”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528611)</p>
<p>The above occurs all the time at this particular high school (and I imagine others for the higher profile sports). A “likely” letter in this case will just be a formality…if there is even one issued. All of these kids are announced in the summer, and are aware by spring semester of their junior year where they will be playing.</p>
<p>Has anyone ever heard of a ‘deferred likely letter’? D1 is currently trying to narrow down her choices and was told that since ED spots are limited, some deferred likely letters are generated. Apparently, the applicant is given a likely for the RD round. Is there any risk to this scenario?</p>
<p>wes, never heard of it. </p>
<p>I don’t understand why the school wouldn’t just nail down as many of their top applicants (athletic and academic) as possible during the ED round. </p>
<p>I guess the risk is that something could change on the coaching front, or (God forbid) your child becomes a less desirable athletic recruit due to injury or other factor. It’s always nice to have things sewn up early, if your child is sure of the choice. The anxiety of waiting for RD acceptance, even with a likely letter in hand, is anxiety provoking.</p>
<p>keylyme, thanks for posting the link. I wonder if these early Ivy announcements are unique to football.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply, riverrunner. Yes, I agree that I don’t see the logic in a deferred likely letter. It may give the coach more latitude in selecting a better candidate that may come along in the meantime, which scares me. My daughter did speak to a current freshman on her official visit who was a recipient of one of these deferred likely letters, and she was accepted in the RD round. Since D has been told she is the #1 recruit at another school (top LAC), this is a difficult decision.</p>
<p>Wes, we do know of a football player who applied to an Ivy ED based only on academic qualifications (no influence from coach). When coach heard of this, he tried to persuade the student to change application to RD, saying that he knew he could get the student in during the RD round. They didn’t use the term, deferred likely letter, but it made me wonder if the football coach had already exceeded his allotted number of likely letters for ED?</p>
<p>I believe coach has limited number of ED slots. However, I am under the impression that coach has most influence in the ED round and not so much in the RD round. So, I’m concerned about daughter applying ED if she is not guaranteed one of these slots.</p>