Congrats!!
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Please update us with the school once she is formally accepted-its nice to know the ending to a happy story!
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Thanks, all! She plans on formally committing tomorrow (after asking some additional clarifying questions in phone call tomorrow morning). Once that is settled, she will immediately let all other schools/coaches know. We know nothing is a done deal until she is officially accepted in December!
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Just wanted to wrap up after Dâs phone call this morning with the coach, accepting her offer. My husband and I were on speaker phone (the coach encouraged it as well). I wanted to provide some insight (that may be helpful to others in the future) regarding what D (and we because of her interpretation) thought happened with the initial pre-read. One of the questions we insisted D ask on her call this morning was regarding whether she should be concerned about applying ED if the first read didnât go through. The coach quickly clarified that it definitely went through, but D was âright on the lineâ between slot and tip, academically. Coach wanted AO to âtake another lookâ because she wanted D to be fully supported as her top recruit. So, D interpreted âlowâ to mean her stats were low, when âlowâ actually meant tip vs. slot. This is one reason itâs important for parents to hear some of this info. Coach confirmed D has a fully supported slot and that she has never had a supported athlete not get accepted ED and that AO holds true to their word regarding pre-reads. She said basically unless Dâs grades completely tanked (Câs, which D has never received) or she got in trouble with the law, she was all set. D really didnât want us on the call, but we told her we werenât going to let her officially accept something of this magnitude without us hearing what we needed to. We put together a list ahead of time with initials next to each question of who would ask what. As others have said, we only asked questions such as âIs NPC generally accurate?â etc, and D asked others. I wrote it all down. Now she is going to spend the afternoon contacting the other coaches/schools recruiting her. Just wanted to share this in the event this info. could help others. Thank you all for all of the advice! Honestly, we wouldnât have been able to help D navigate the process without it!
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Congrats! This thread is a great real time example of the importance of straightforward communication with coaches.
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Yes! And despite Dâs reluctance to have us on the call initially, she was so relieved afterwards that we all clearly heard what we needed to. This is such an important learning and life opportunity for these kids in terms of how to directly and maturely communicate with others.
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It was definitely the right thing for the parents to be on that call today, Iâm glad your D came around. Congrats again!
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Iâm usually a fan of parents leaving it mostly to the recruits but no question it was a good idea for parents to be in on this call. With the uncertainty from the first call, everyone hearing the same things is going to save some sleepless nights and stress down the road (for parents mainly, but that puts them in the best position to support their daughter through the rest of the process). Well done and congrats.
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This seems against the spirit of D3 athletics and more like the kind of thing you expect to find at the top D1âs, where âthe coaches own youâ. This kind of thing is part of the reason my S21 turned down D1 offers to go D3 - if his coach had this kind of attitude, there might be a transfer in the worksâŠ
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I merely pointed this out as some coaches do have these rules/conditions/preferences (certainly a continuum of behaviors exist), even at D3 schools, so itâs important to find that out before committing/attending.
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I agree with all of this. And I appreciate you already sharing information and starting to pay it forward to the next cohort before your daughter is even on campus. Most of us drift away after a while so itâs a good feeling to see others stepping in. This board and offline communication with a few members was invaluable. My son would absolutely not be where he is today without that help from kind strangers online.
Yes, they are recruiting your daughter not you. But sheâs 17(ish). She still needs a bit of parental help and guidance. Sometimes that means getting on the call. Good job recognizing this. I never spoke for my son, and I was very careful to be clear to him and the coaches that I knew my place. But I also asked clarifying questions that he wasnât really equipped to ask, especially about money and what an offer really means. He never really talked money other than jotting down something a coach said so he could give me the message. And he let me ask how solid offers really were.
It sounds like your daughter got what one coach called a âdonât stab anyoneâ offer. Short of doing something that would get a regular kidâs offer rescinded she is in. Congrats!
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I know nobody can know for sure, but wondering if anybody cares to share their opinions on my DDâs current situation. She was very close with a high academic D1 in the fall, when the AO nixed her on the pre-read and they abruptly canceled her OV. The D1 school says they are holding her roster spot for the regular admissions cycle, which, honestly, she has a strong shot at for other reasons, which the coach knows. In the meantime, she fell absolutely in love with a NESCAC schoolânot one of the very top academic ones, but a very competitive one. The coach has let her know that they love her, too. Frequent messages leading up to the pre-read process that she is their very top recruit. DDâs grades, unfortunately, did not come out where she thought they wouldâseveral were on the margin and depended on finals, which didnât go her way. She goes to a very competitive independent school and does fine, but not top of the class. In any event, she let the coach know her transcript wasnât going to be as strong as other recruits, coach let her know about the bands, and said she would do whatever she could to get her inâshe was their #1. Well, July 1 has come and gone and she never heard a thing. As recently as Wednesday, the coach texted her and said, âtalk to you on Friday!â Then, radio silence. Is there any chance this could be anything other than a straight rejection? Could this be anything like what @Crosbylane experienced? Just want to hold on to some hope! Thanks!
Itâs way too early to give up hope. There could be a bunch of things going on, including the coach or admissions office being very busy. Iâd probably follow up with a text in the next few days.
Itâs definitely not a straight up rejection. That doesnât come with âtalk to you Friday!â
Lots of possibilities. I wouldnât rely on this, but honestly the most likely answer is that the coach is overcommitted and it fell through the cracks. My son was a top 50 D1 recruit in his sport by the time he committed, and every coach he talked to knew he was fielding calls from other coaches on a regular basis. Even so, something similar still happened to him many times. If we arenât talking about SEC football, the coaching office is overworked and understaffed, and they are trying to do many things at once. Most coaches are better about saying they will call at a certain time than actually doing it.
July 1 is the first day they can do prereads. It doesnât mean the admissions office is obligated to do your daughterâs then, or even any for this team. It wouldnât be surprising to me that many coaches are in limbo about prereads too, especially since a Friday before a long weekend was the only day they potentially did any. I seriously doubt that many schools are working on them over the weekend. Itâs possible the coach told them she was their #1 so please look at her file Friday, but the coach still may have no news so didnât call.
If your D was a potential D1 recruit and is being told she is this coachâs #1 Iâm sure the coach really means it when they say they will try their hardest to get her in. Having said that, some kids are just a hard ânoâ at some schools. If that ends up being the case, it sounds like she is still very recruitable.
I would reach out again Tuesday, and just say something like âmissed you Friday, can we set up a time to talk?â
Still keep the process moving other places just in case. But hopefully this is nothing to worry about.
It sounds like if she does get an offer, you may need to get involved to nail down how solid it is. Is she 99% in, or is the coach begging admissions for as exception and she is less than 50/50. Thatâs a hard question to ask and may be hard to answer, but itâs fair and I donât think given her circumstances the coach would be surprised with your daughter asking if they would talk to you to confirm the details.
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Just a thought - holiday weekend came early for that coach !
I would like to think the coach just had too much on their plate and agree a quick - hope you enjoyed the holiday - sorry we didnât connect and look forward to speaking email is a great idea.
I presume your daughter has a school profile ready and any insight if her HS has a solid track record with the college - may just be good to know.
Happy 4th and wishing you and your daughter well.
From a parent with a child that didnât wrap
their recurring journey up until October of senior year 
Good to hear not all recruiting is wrapped up in July! My son would not be a top recruit but is close to recruiting times for his sport at some of the D3 schools he is interested in, for XC and distance track, and is hoping for an admissions boost or least to know that he could be on the team. He emailed one coach based on advice from a friend who is much more into the recruiting process, and had an interview a couple of weeks ago and was invited to fill out a pre-read form. He needs some more time to fill it out since heâs doing early college in the fall and canât get his schedule just yet. Reading this thread leads me to believe the pre-read may not be worth anything, or it may help him⊠so I hope it wonât arrive too late!
While in a sense recruiting for D3âs only gets started for the âseriously being consideredâ recruits in July, I think you may have the wrong idea of what a pre-read is and how critical it is in the recruiting process.
Almost all schools have an on-line questionnaire of some type for any athletes interested in that school. That is not a âpre-read formâ. I donât know if that is what your son is filling out.
A pre-read in the recruiting process for academic D3âs is a coach taking the formal step of submitting key academic data to the AO of each of his/her recruits to see if admissions will support the candidateâs admission with the coachâs support. For my kids, it required an official transcript, a printout of their SAT/ACT score report and a list provided by their HS of senior year first semester classes.
While coaches will submit more pre-reads than they have spots to support, If they do not submit a pre-read, the applicant is not being supported by the coach, and admissions is determined as for any other student.
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I agree with what BKsquared says above as far as clarifying what the pre read is.
Itâs definitely not late in the recruiting process for distance runners. Many coaches, including D1, are still in the identification phase. Very common for discussions to happen over the summer. Top distance recruits for D3 might also be hoping for Ivy or other D1 interest, OVs. It takes time for all that to settle.
Iâd encourage your son to fill out the recruiting forms and email the distance coach at all the schools he might be interested in where he might be an athletic fit.
[ETA: if it helps, I think track/XC recruits should tune out much of what they hear about the recruiting timeline for other sports, especially soccer. In most of my experience, track/XC kids are still involved in discussions into the fall and usually wrapping things up in late Sept or Oct, or else waiting until late winter at the less selective schools. That includes talent levels ranging from potential P5 conference champ and NCAA scorer to D3 non-scorers in XC. It just happens later in that sport for most (not all, as some kids do decide early, but most).]
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Thank you both for replying. The coach called this a pre-read and asked for the items you mention â this college also has the online form but my son just emailed the coach rather than filling out that recruiting form. It makes sense that the coach could get the pre-read and then watch to see how the early fall XC season goes. I will encourage him to reach out to a few more coaches.
Hang in there, it is all so stressful! It could be they re-submitted but just didnât let you know, or/and it has to do with the holiday weekend! July 1st falling on a Friday is not ideal! I hope you hear something Tuesday or Wednesday! Please keep us posted and make sure your child has questions ready when she gets a call! Keep us posted!