<p>My D has been waiting to hear back from admissions from one of the schools she applied to. As it turns out based on discussions with a sports coach, her application has been "coded" which seems to be holding things up with admissions.</p>
<p>She hasn't had an official visit yet and there has been no mention of any scholarship. However, the coach is looking for her decision, so that he can tell admissions that he has a roster spot for her. He said once she lets him know, he will tell admissions to accept her.</p>
<p>This is her second choice school, and honestly her first choice is a reach and she will not participate in the sport at her first choice anyway.</p>
<p>Is there any reason not to tell this coach that she is interested in attending the school? I don't see this as a binding decision in any way. </p>
<p>Any insight that anyone can share would be very appreciated. I'd appreciate some speedy feedback! Thanks!!</p>
<p>Ethically, I’d feel like telling the coach you’re interested and having your application coded for admission is sort of committing to the school. Would you be getting in on your own without the athletic coding? To then turn around and go to another school seems like kind of a slap in the face and you just used them for backup purposes.</p>
<p>Imagine if you asked a girl to prom who then says yes, but then says no at the last minute when the hunky quarterback asks her instead. She had no “binding obligation” to go with you, but it would still be a ■■■■■ move.</p>
<p>True, it’s not binding in any way, but coach has a limited number number of athletes he can code/slot/support. If you accept one of those and renege, it hurts the coach, the team and also the kid that wanted that roster spot but didn’t get supported. That’s the altruistic side.</p>
<p>From a practical standpoint, accepting support and reneging could reflect badly on her as a recruit, esp within the same conference. They talk, these coaches.</p>
<p>Think about this. If she says “yes, I want to play for your team” and he gives the go ahead for her to be accepted, what is the worst possible scenario? </p>
<p>That she gets accepted to her first choice school, a reach, and then tells the second choice school “sorry” before she puts a deposit down? Why would that matter if she does not intend to play the sport at first choice school, and assumedly not afterwards either?</p>
<p>You know, she would give regrets and all to the coach at second choice, but he would understand if it is a great academic opportunity, especially if she is not leaving to play for another team.</p>
<p>If, and only if, it gets to the point where the decision is binding (and if it is not ED, it should NOT be binding) and she has not heard from first choice yet, then worry about what to do. Try to push something like that off as much as possible.</p>
<p>Right now, if she was told today “sorry, first choice didn’t accept you”, my understanding is that she would go to second choice in a heart beat. This is not her third or fourth or whatever, it’s her second choice, and from what the OP said, the first <em>reasonable</em> choice.</p>
<p>I do NOT think she would be taking a spot away from ANYONE. The coach would regroup if he was told she was going elsewhere (or decided not to go to college, or the FA package was too little) and some girl who thought she never had a chance to play in college would get a phone call. There are zillions of prospects out there, one would benefit from your daughter’s good luck if she got into first choice and had to give her regrets to second choice.</p>
<p>Coaches routinely change their list of top recruits as candidates commit to other schools, or admissions nix pre-reads. A student athlete must look after their own interests in the recruiting process. The coach is doing the same for his team. </p>
<p>Spots open and close on a daily basis in the recruiting process, one cannot expect exactitude or prom manners in the process.</p>
<p>Bear with me….I’m confused. On these boards, I have read a lot about coaches supporting athletes with Likely letters and slots. I have not read much (at least recently) about an application being “coded for admission.” What exactly does that mean? What sort of impact does “coding” have on one’s chances for admission? Is getting your application coded tantamount to receiving support from the coach? How does that differ from a slot or other forms of support? </p>
<p>Schools that do not give athletic scholarships typically have slots or tips.</p>
<p>In a slot system, each coach is allocated a certain number of roster spaces that may be filled with students who meet the school’s applicable academic requirements for athletes. If a coach says he/she has offered a slot, that is a very high degree of comfort that admission will be granted. Ivies use slots</p>
<p>In a tip system, the coach will affix his “code” to the application (code may be nothing more than a swipe with a highlight marker) which indicates to the Admissions Office that he/she would like the applicant to be admitted. This is a less effective endorsement than a slot. If a coach has five spaces on the roster for incoming freshmen, there may be seven, eight, ten, whatever number of tips. (of course a coach will be prudent about this so as not to lose credibility). One school that I am aware of that uses this system is MIT.</p>
<p>rhandco: “I do NOT think she would be taking a spot away from ANYONE. The coach would regroup if he was told she was going elsewhere (or decided not to go to college, or the FA package was too little) and some girl who thought she never had a chance to play in college would get a phone call.”</p>
<p>I don’t think any of us can know if this is correct. It certainly is conceivable that the coach’s arrangement with the admissions office is that he is allowed to code a fixed number of applications, regardless of whether the applicants choose to attend or not. If that is so, then one of those slots has been utilized (wasted) and it would cause another recruit a spot if that recruit was admissible only with the admissions boost offered by being coded.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that likely letters and slots are can’t be reused. If a recruit changers her mind the coach has lost a spot that could have gone to another athlete. Even if a coach could transfer the support to a different recruit, it would be of limited use after regular decisions are announced. </p>
<p>Some coaches get very angry if a recruit accepts and offer and goes elsewhere. After a recruit that received a likely letter decided to attend another school, the losing coach told one of my children that he called the new coach and said that the other coach should reconsider putting someone that unethical on the roster. I understand that the OP isn’t planning to participate at her first choice.</p>
<p>At some schools, even if a coach’s top recruit has great academics she still might not be accepted. There is nothing wrong with putting in a couple of additional applications as a precaution, but I would not accept a slot or likely letter unless I was planning on attending. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the input. It’s been pretty evenly divided.</p>
<p>I’d like to share 2 more pieces of info to see if it changes anyone’s thoughts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>With her grades and test scores, she would have easily gotten into this school. She was not reliant on the coach for admissions.</p></li>
<li><p>The sport is running. So it is not like the roster spot is for a specific a position on the team. And, in the end, even is she goes there and runs, he could still cut here based on try outs.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Any new input or revisions to what was previously posted?</p>
<p>Have her tell the coach exactly what you mention at 3:38pm in a polite and pleasant way. If she ends up going there she can take her “spot”, “slot”, “tip”, “code” or whatever or she can try-out/walk-on.</p>
<p>@adkdad, in light of the above info that she would have easily gotten into this school and isn’t reliant on the coach for admission - let me turn around your original question and ask you, what’s the advantage of having the coach code her application?</p>
<p>We didn’t realize he was going to do that when she applied. We assumed that she would get in on her own merit and the discussions with the coach would continue from there. As it turns out, he was holding things up with admissions which is where we find ourselves now.</p>
<p>At the most competitive schools, the vast majority of bright children get rejected. If your daughter intends to compete for a school, it would be a mistake not to ask for a coach’s support. One coach told my daughter not to let another coach convince her that she could get in based on her academics. Bad stuff can happen to smart people. </p>
<p>If you daughter is a strong academic candidate and she believes that she doesn’t need a coach’s help to get in, she shouldn’t use a recruiting spot unless she plans to attend. I would suggest the she tell the coach that expects to see him in the fall unless she gets into her dream school. </p>
<p>@adkdad, so you didn’t ask for any support from the coach, you don’t feel you need any support to get admitted and the coach is, in effect, holding her application hostage until you tell him, yes, I want to play for your team? That’s a little different scenario than I originally thought.</p>
<p>I meant 3:58pm - hangNthere and I are basically saying the same thing. At this point the coach is more of a problem than he is is a benefit to your daughter.</p>
<p>In general, I would suggest minimizing the mixing of athletics into college admissions unless there is a financial incentive which your family needs. </p>
<p>My primary goal at this point is to break the admission log jam and to get an official acceptance.</p>
<p>I believe the action we have taken should accomplish that. Our plan is to follow up directly with admissions early next week, if we don’t hear from them before that.</p>