Some pre-reads may not be offered admission. Some may choose another team. Some may not gel with the team on the OV. The coach needs more pre-reads than spots to cover the losses along the way.
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looks like the minimum is to qualify in terms of both academics and sport (in this case, swim times) performance. beyond that it becomes a reciprocal courtship and vibe check with the coach, with the understanding that the most effective process both parties seems to be pursuing several discussions as the offices in time. resembles a mixture of Tinder and the NFL DraftâŠ
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Yes, so much like the draft. Just because youâre a top QB pick doesnât mean you pick your team. The team you love may need players at several other positions more than another QB. But the team that wants you will be clear about it.
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Also how the swimmer vibes with the team on the OV!
Many coaches value the feedback from the team after the visit before extending the offer.
@BKSquared, I donât think I agree that tips connote less support than slots. Slots simply mean that the coach can go lower in academic prowess - a student that in all likelihood would not be accepted without the slot. You could have the no. 1 recruit who has straight As and top board scores and doesnât get the slot because it would be wasted on that recruit. I actually had a Williams coach tell me that story, the adcom telling the coach that the slot wouldnât be needed for the high achieving athlete (even though the coach wanted that athlete the most). I certainly agree that if a recruit is no. 5 on a list of 5 and a D1 athlete drops into the coachâs lap, no. 5 (who probably is a tip) end up disappointed.
Where I do think there can be confusion is when the coach says âweâd love to have you on the team,â but doesnât submit a pre-read or do the other things to indicate to the athlete that he or she is being recruited. It could be a familyâs first outing with recruiting and they think their kid is a recruit. Or, a coach doesnât convey the results of a pre-read properly. It is a stressful process, and it is easy to get fooled.
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Agree in general though most of the very top academic schools are need blind when it comes to the financial aid package and many do not offer much if anything for merit. It may vary by sport and school, though if you are a #1 recruit, the financial aid package, which some of the schools still call scholarship, (need based scholarship) is not supposed to be impacted by being a recruit.
I am going off the Amherst statement on athletic admits. It does seem there is a different standard between an âathletic factorâ (slot) vs a âcodedâ (tip) athlete. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/PlaceOfAthleticsAtAmherst_Secure_1.pdf
Practically, if you have a tip and extremely high academic achievement, your probabilities are likely the same as a slotted recruit. However if the app is not quite as strong, it does seem as if the AO has more discretion to reject. I agree though that coaches are trying to maximize their recruits by saving slots for true impact players who might not have the highest academic credentials.
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But instead of parsing the policy, why not look at what actually happens? Have any Amherst recruited athletes not been admitted? Extremely unlikely, given news like this spreads like wildfire. So, whatever you call it, if you have full coach support, you are getting in to Amherst. And most other schools. The ones where coach support means less are known.
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I remember a long thread about âbeware of soft supportâ, I think it was about one of the Maine schools that generated a lot of other anecdotes. Also, wasnât there some hubub last year about supported athletes not getting accepted â I forget which school(s)? Agree that a lot of the rejects probably were never really supported, but among the recruits, I think it more likely that it would be the tips.
IIRC, last year there were several posts about recruited athletes being deferred and/or denied from Wesleyan. Is that accurate, @Mwfan1921?
Yes, and this year itâs Bates (I think a few deferrals, not denials). Bowdoin was also the subject of the âbeware soft supportâ thread. I also just heard of an Ivy LL recipient who was deferred. Whoever mentioned above that these things spread fast thru the counselor community is exactly correct!
ETA: corrected the school that was the focus of the beware soft support thread: Prospective Bowdoin Athletes-Beware the "soft support"!
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My S21 was a swim recruit. You have to be EXTREMELY careful reading too much into where they place on the current roster. I agree with previous poster that looking at conference times is much more useful. Just as an example - my son would have been the #2 swimmer in a particular event at a school, but the school had no interest as they were strong in that event at conference and they had several freshman/sophomores in development. While at another school he was something like 4th and the coach was extremely interested as most of the swimmers in that event were all seniors graduating or at best juniors and they the really needed someone. Some coaches also put a huge benefit on versatile athletes, where even if theyâre not currently the top 4 scorers can contribute in multiple events and believe they will get faster vs someone who is only strong in one event. Best of luck - itâs a stressful process and a whole lot can change in a year!
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Given how clear the Joint Ivy Statement on likely letters is, Iâm sure everyone would like to know the facts on the deferred Ivy LL recipient.
Adding that with OVs able to happen in Junior year now (which not all coaches do), I expect there are more than a few verbally committed 2024s already.
Totally agree, the only thing that adds to the drama is this is not an athlete. Yep, an LL in ED to a non-athlete. Advice was to actually get a copy of the LL, perhaps there was a misinterpretation.
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Or a really nasty âjokeâ.
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The Ivy recruit you are talking about recieved a likely letter from admissions and then was deferred? I have not heard of that happening.
Like I said, not an athletic recruit.
Not sure what you mean, but this whole situation was strange and outside normal communication channels from the get go (note, not one of my students). But because not an athlete, I realize off topic for this thread!
I realized it wasnt an athlete after posting.
That is especially strange because there was no reason for admissions to offer the likely letter in the first place, except to let the applicant know they were really out-of-the-ordinary wanted.
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Meant that the LL was fraudulent vs a misinterpretation of a legit communication.
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