I really appreciate you sharing your experience; I find it so helpful! D finally got her full transcript through junior year, and her most recent ACT score this morning, so she JUST submitted everything to four schools. Now we wait (me, very anxiously) until 7/1. She met the requirement of her top schools, but her top 2 (NESCACs) asked for the section breakdowns, in addition to overall ACT composite score. One section (math) is quite a bit lower than the others. We’re hoping that’s not an issue for pre-read. She knows overall score is ok.
Are the nescac’s where her act is low test optional? I was at an info session for alums recently and they said test optional really means that. For everyone. Really. They are clearly used to people second guessing it. Especially for an athlete who checks every other box if it’s optional you can rest easy.
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Yes, they are both test optional! But, she had to submit them as part of pre-read. We’re guessing if she passes pre-read and is offered a slot, she would be told to go TO for ED. Overall score is decent, and transcript, rigor, and senior courses are all good from a competitive, highly ranked high school.
Don’t forget that 7/1 is the first day that coaches can officially submit pre-reads to the AO, so you will have to wait a little longer to hear results. Please give us an update as things progress-good luck!
Also, it is standard operating to submit test scores for athletic prereads, even at test optional schools, so don’t worry about that. Your daughter will be given guidance whether to submit the scores or go TO when doing actual application.
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Hello. My rising senior student is going through the recruiting process right now and is in the pre-read process at several schools (documents have been requested). It is a complete mystery to us what typically happens after the materials are provided to the coach and are submitted for a pre-read and how a student comes to know whether they will or will not have a chance to play at one school vs. another and when the student knows this. I came across this thread (which is really helpful) and still have some questions/confusion about how the admissions process intersects with the potential opportunity to play their sport, how the player considers opportunities at several schools, and the timing of when things come together.
My questions are:
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Assuming the applicant “passes” whatever criteria the AO uses at the pre-read stage, what happens next to signal to a player whether playing their sport at that school is a possibility? When does a player know if playing at a school is a certainty? Does the coach say something like, “It’s looking favorable after the pre-read…if you apply and are officially admitted here, you will have a spot on our team”… Or is it still a "It’s looking favorable after the pre-read and you may have a spot on our team and we will let you know next spring when all admissions decisions are final and we know who has decided to come to our school? Basically, does a student only know after ALL admissions’ decisions are made and the coach knows that of the 20-ish kids he or she was interested in, 10 got in and he wants 7 of those 10 (as an example) and offers a roster spot to those 7 and if any decline, then 8 to 10 might get a spot. It’s just not clear to us how we go from point A (submitting materials for a pre-read) to point B (officially playing at a school or weighing playing at School X vs. School Y).
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Do most NESCAC coaches “require” their recruits to apply ED (and therefore the player who might have a few options to play has to “choose” among their options this fall)? Even then, if admitted ED, is it still uncertain if they have a roster spot until the coach knows who was admitted vs. not? Or, assuming they pass pre-read at a few schools, can they apply RD to these few schools and if admitted to these schools, then decide where they want to attend and play?
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Approximately how many students might a coach submit for a pre-read? I realize this is sport, coach, and school-specific. But I am wondering about the ranges: are we generally talking fewer than 10 are submitted for a pre-read? more likely 10-20? maybe more like 50? 100? More?
Thanks for any insights and I apologize if this information was somehow covered earlier in this thread and I missed it. Just struggling with how a kid knows what their options are and when things typically come together.
Your student should ask the coach what their timing is in terms of next steps and final decision making as to which athletes will receive full support thru the admissions process. Your student should also ask where they stand in the list of those who have positive pre-reads. Timing varies widely, and the coach is the only one who can speak to these things.
When they are admitted to the school.
Generally yes, but some athletes go thru ED2 and RD. It depends on the timing of many things…coach decisions, decisions of other athletes ahead of your student, etc. Your student should stay in touch with other coaches who weren’t their top choice school, just in case.
This is a huge range, as you said. This is another question that your athlete could ask, but asking where they stand in the pack should give some insight to this question.
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Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.
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A little more detail to @Mwfan1921 's excellent summary.
Getting a pre-read means your child is on the recruit list, but this list could be multiples of total spots that the coach can support. The support itself can be for a limited spot that is almost a guaranteed favorable admissions decision to one that supercharges the sport EC in the admissions process.
If you get a favorable pre-read and are invited for an official visit, that means you are relatively high on the list of recruits. Your child is not quite there yet though. For many schools, the OV can be an interview process, especially for team sports.
If your child is at the top of the list, expect the coach to affirmatively offer their support early in the process, maybe August through September. Most of the time the support is conditional on an ED commitment. It is important though to get an answer on the level of support and the likelihood your child would be admitted. Most coaches will give recruits a reasonable amount of time to consider their “offer”. That is when the highly sought after recruits consider their options. This is also the period of musical chairs. If your child has not heard by the end of September/early October that they are being offered support at a particular school, most likely there are recruits ahead of them that the coach is waiting on.
If you are recruited, you have a roster spot freshmen year unless something unforeseen occurs. However, there is no guarantee of playing time or even if the recruit will make the travelling team. The best/highest performing players/competitors are the ones that get to play.
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I agree with everything you wrote. The only addition I have is that many NESCAC coaches don’t have a budget for OVs. If we knew the sport we were talking about I could shed more light. But sports like golf, TNFXC, etc. commonly don’t host OVs.
Of course many students/families make unofficial visits where they can meet the coach, visit campus, etc. Much has been conducted over zoom for the last two years as well…my D has been a captain of her sport the last couple of years, and ‘interviews’ potential recruits via zoom.
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Thanks for these extra insights. My son did a few unofficial visits at each of the schools he’s interested this spring (where he had a chance to meet and talk to the coaches and in a few cases, current players) and is returning for some on-campus ID camps this summer. We were planning campus visits anyway and used it as an opportunity to meet the coaches.
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I agree, based on our sport, and others we’ve talked to, many don’t do OVs at NESCACs. I’m sure it varies by sport/school.
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I can only share what we have learned so far in my daughter’s (2023) recruiting journey. I have learned a tremendous amount from this board and others being willing to share their experience and patiently answer my many questions! Earlier this week she submitted for 5 pre-reads (3 NESCACs and 2 Liberty League) schools. All schools indicated they would connect with her with results/next steps between July 1st-16th; that’s the range of dates given. She did visits with coaches and teams late this past winter/spring, so I believe (in her sport, I’m sure it varies) that if she receives offers, they will occur in July, not after OVs at a later date. Again, I’m sure that varies greatly by sport/school. If she receives an offer/offers, she will clarify that it is for a fully supported slot, and then agree to apply ED at her top choice. She has 2 clear front runners (both NESCACs), so she is hoping for offers from them, but of course no guarantees. She has been told by the NESCAC coaches they are submitting between 10-20 recruits for pre-reads. Again, I’m sure it varies by sport/school, but the 3 NESCAC coaches she is contact with have shared that for her sport. We are compiling a list of questions to have at the ready if/when she gets an offer. If that occurs, she will thank them and ask if her parents can get on speaker phone (so we can ask any follow-up important questions). My daughter has led this and been the only one to speak to them on the phone to this point, but before she accepts an offer, we want to be sure we hear what we need to hear and a 16-year-old with stars in her eyes isn’t mishearing anything. My husband and I are educators, so we will be diplomatic and appropriate with questions.
Not sure if that’s helpful, but that is our experience to this point. I will share more as we learn more. Right now, we are in a stressful holding pattern until July 1st or later… Good luck to you!
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Thank you! This is very helpful. I appreciate it. Good luck to your daughter!
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I’ve written on other threads that the Middlebury men’s soccer coach was very transparent. He told the parents (at an ID clinic) that he has 50 prereads, and submits approximately 25 on July 1, the other 25 he uses through early Fall. He has 6 players he can support with Admissions. He did not say how many offers he usually makes to get to those 6 players.
I asked the Bates soccer coach if he would share similar numbers, and he said he couldn’t, as a new coach (this was in 2019). He said since he didn’t have a long track record with Admissions, his situation was grayer.
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Great replies so far.
I’d just add something that might be obvious but is worth repeating: the pre-reads have meaning within the context of a supported recruit; they have zero meaning for an applicant applying without coach support. The pre-read assumes coach support. Again, maybe that’s obvious but your mention of applying RD to several schools made me think it’s worth mentioning.
Also keep in mind that by the time things get to the pre-read stage there is a lot of overlap in the recruiting pools at these schools.
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Got it. That makes complete sense. My comment of applying RD to several schools was based on: what if a player had 2 schools they were genuinely interested in AND 2 coaches who were genuinely interested in them, would they apply RD to both, then decide among the 2 (if they got in to both). But it sounds like that’s not common and rather, at some point before the Nov 1 ED deadline, the player has to decide their top choice (if there are options) and go ED at that top choice. And a good point about the overlap in the recruiting pools.
That’s a lot of pre-reads for just one team, and Midd has 30+ teams that recruit…of course the golf coaches (and some others) won’t send 50 pre-reads thru, but still.
This is why it can take quite awhile for the athletic AO who is doing the pre-reads to get thru them! (AFAIK at many schools it’s just one contact in admissions who handles the athletes/pre-reads)
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In your scenario, it depends on many factors. For the usual recruit, the coach might not hold a spot for them on the team, and almost certainly wouldn’t offer support with admissions (because that support is valuable-- and extremely limited – and the coach doesn’t want to use it for a kid who might not come).
That said, if the recruit is at a higher level than the program I am sure the coach wouldn’t turn away a talented impact player and would let them walk on.
Also, some coaches (usually at weaker programs) don’t get all the players they need through ED; in that case a coach could support a player with admissions.
Undoubtedly there are more permutations, so it all depends!
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@foxmom111 , you’ve probably figured this out, but the quid pro quo of getting a coach to "guarantee " your admission as a recruit is "guaranteeing " your attendance through ED.
And as you are also seeing, the athletes that have 100% acceptance rates in the ED round have already jumped through a lot of hoops to be in that position. This is not clear to the general public who are looking at ED acceptance rates and feel like the athletes all got a pass of some sort. Many may have also been turned down by programs that didn’t need them or AOs who knew they couldn’t admit them. They apply ED where the match has been made.
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This is really helpful. It is making sense now how this all works. Thanks to all for the input.
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