<p>“I can guarantee you that this is an absolutely false statement in at least a few cases.”</p>
<p>Yes, unfortunately hyperbole is not validation.</p>
<p>An athletic boost can be a HUGE boost, but just make sure it’s really in the offing. My son was recruited by several nescacs, a few other schools, and he was heavy on one Ivy where he applied EA. He didn’t have a likely, but son and coach felt he had a good shot. He was actually rejected - not even deferred. Coach apologized but they had simply been able to bring in too many kids Early at his position who were more highly ranked athletically. He would never get in without the boost, so it was a hard pill to swallow that it was better to reject him and let him move forward than keep a hope alive that he would have any support in RD.</p>
<p>He is now going ED2 at a good nescac and all looks like it will be fine in 2 weeks. He even just opened a nice handwritten letter from the head coach which basically said “looking forward to having you aboard.”</p>
<p>We really should have just gone to this school ED1 in the first place. Lesson - never misjudge your level of coach support or where you are in their recruiting lineup !!</p>
<p>I agree with torasee. My D spoke with a Bowdoin coach and could have been “recruited”. She chose to attend elsewhere. She didn’t want to go the ED route, and she had 2250 SAT + many awards, but having said all that, the standards (according to the coach) were very high. She had a similar experience w/Amherst. I think big Div 1 coaches are granted more recruits, have more wiggle room with caliber of recruits, more options academically for underachieving recruits to pursue once they attend because many more courses offered, etc than any Div 3 school.</p>
<p>I guess we all just have our own experiences to draw from. My son was recruited RD at Bowdoin. After an initial ED at another school didn’t work out financially we were very honest with all the other coaches that remained interested…said FA was a huge factor in our decision and we needed the benefit of comparing packages. Bowdoin coach (and about 4 other non-NESCAC coaches) supported that fully and we’ve been over the moon thrilled to watch our polar bear play this year. :)</p>
<p>My son is a recruited swimmer and here are a few words about our experience. We visited Bowdoin the summer before his junior year and the coach could not have been more wonderful. I loved the school but my son preferred other NESCAC schools, like Williams and Amherst. My son would have been a top recruit since his times even as a sophomore would have placed him in the top 8 at conference. During his junior year his times became even faster. Regardless, at top LACs you also need as a swimmer to have rigor, high GPA and top scores. Some of the coaches do have “slots” in swimming but unless you have the coaches support after the pre read I would not go ED. Be upfront with the coaches and ask whether they would support your student. Top swimmers in D3 are scooped up after the EDI process. My son decided to go ED to a top 20 university and even after he was accepted, he received emails from top NESCAC schools asking if he was still available and that they would be happy to support him RD. What we were told was that admissions had been too conservative in the pre read and now they had a few spots open for support. I found the NESCAC swim coaches very honest and straight forward in assessing our sons chances of getting in. I cannot speak to other sports, but swimmers need to not only be fast but very smart to get into these top LACs.</p>
<p>My daughter (a nonathlete) was accepted ED1, and in scrolling through the facebook profiles of other ED1 Bowdoin students, it is clear that the vast majority of the ED1 admits are athletes. My daughter has in fact already started bonding with the 5 or 6 students she’s found who are also not athletically inclined!</p>
<p>According to my husband, who used to work on the Bowdoin Admissions Committee (20-some years ago, so the process has probably undergone changes since then), athletes are encouraged to apply ED1, and they are treated as a separate pool of candidates when it is time to vote on their admission. The Admissions Director had a list of favorites from each of the coaches, but the list was not shared openly with the rest of the committee. Athletes had a “tip,” but my husband does not remember letting in students whom were not also highly qualified academically. He remembers major debates over letting in a given student if there was a B or C on their high school transcripts.</p>