<p>How much will it help to have a coach support your application during the admission process? I know it will help but will it affect it that much. The sport would be a non-revenue sport. Any advice would be appreciated from parents who went through the process.</p>
<p>We haven't been through the process yet, but I'm hoping a quiz bowl coach will put in a good word for us. No money involved. Am I crazy? I'm thinking it might help just a tiny bit. S is already in good shape for this school (though not a shoo-in).</p>
<p>It so depends on the coach and how active he is in recruiting. There are schools where the coach just takes what he gets, and others where he has been around for a long time, and is well known in the university community, including admissions. The coaches we visited all denied having much pull with admissions, but in reality it varied.</p>
<p>The biggest impact is if the college coach supports the application. Don't know if support or letters from the high school coach will mean much. There is generally a difference between Division III schools and Division I and II schools. At Division I and II schools the coaches will often get a number of slots. As long as the applicant meets some minimum academic standard the coach can basically say "Admit this kid." At the Division III schools it is probably more of a tip factor. But it can be a heavy tip, depending on the sport. There was a good series on admissions in the NYT last year that laid out how much influence the coaches can have at a school like Haverford, which is one of the most selective LACs.</p>
<p>At one of the schools, the coach said he would support my application through the admission process. I would say my test scores are below average for this school and wanted to know if the college coach's support would be enough. The school is a top 20 university and is Division I.</p>
<p>Ask for a pre-read or a likely letter.</p>
<p>At one of the colleges my D applied to the coach was able to say how many of the applicants that he supported got admission offers. It was something like 7 out of 10. The college coach should be able to tell you what his track record has been, and may be able to say how strongly he will support you. The strength of his support will depend, in part, on how much of an impact he thinks you will make on his program. In the NYT articles on Haverford's admission, there was a range of impact in code words, from "You'll make the team." to "You'll start." to "You'll start freshman year." Obviously the athlete who the coach thought would start freshman year got the strongest support.</p>
<p>Is there anywhere on the internet where it tells you how many scholarships each school funds? I know there is a limit on how many a sport can have but not all schools fully fund them right? So is there a site that list how many each school gives out.</p>
<p>Ask the coach. Then you will have the real answer. You can also ask if your academic profile is admissible.</p>
<p>There is a book that gives that info, but its value is limited because it only tells you how many scholarships that school CAN fund. It can vary from year to year, how many it actually is funding. Also coaches like to slice those scholarships thin, particularly for non revenue sports so that few if any athletes get a full. That way more recruits can get something. </p>
<p>The coach or athletic director can give you the precise number for the previous year, if they are so inclined. They may hedge and tell you they have to look it up, the info is not readily available, "yada, yada". But that is not necessarily what will happen in the current year.</p>
<p>The big problem with gauging a coach's clout on your student's admission prospects is that things change over time. Even a coach with big clout, chooses to use it for particular students and that depends on the talent of the student, the needs of the team, and if he can get that student in academically and not need to use his clout. Also, when you visit, what the coach tells you at that time can change at the drop of a hat if someone he prefers arrives on the scene. So it is not a situation where you can be sure of much of anything. One very talented young wrestler we know, who should have been a strong D-1 prospect, found himself pretty much dumped by all of the scholarship schools, and his best offer came from a D-3 school with financial and and merit packages. The small D-1 packages did not compare. His first choice school did not come through, and he was not accepted, though the coach feedback was good, and it appeared that he would have been an asset on that team--the ability and record certainly supported that. Academically, that school was a reach, but not a high one. Parents have no idea what happened--maybe a better prospect appeared at his weight, or maybe the kid needed too much pull, and the coach could get two or more kids in over him.</p>
<p>The other thing that would be helpful in addressing this situation is whether this is a EA/ED situation.</p>