<p>So....got rejected and now applying RD and going back to some of the schools I talked to before deciding to apply early somewhere. I decided to apply early to a school that the coach could only offer sending a letter to admissions, no recruiting slot. I thought that would be enough, I was wrong. So I'll be going back to some of the schools that did offer to help with recruiting either by letter or by slot. </p>
<p>Anyone with experience in recruiting regular decision? I guess coaches might still have slots available if they didn't use them alread. If so, do I assume the coach would want a committment from me to use it? I'm concerned that is dangerous if that means I don't pursue discussions with other coaches and then it doesn't work out with this school, there is no later round. </p>
<p>Or, if a coach could only offer a letter of support, would they still want some level of committment?</p>
<p>I've been on official visits this fall, do schools continue to offer them in the spring? My sport is winter and now going on. I'd probably want to go visit some schools I am now applying to that I haven't, and meet the coaches who I've only emailed with, but wasn't sure if schools are still doing official visits. </p>
<p>My first step is to get in my 8-10 apps by Jan 1 and contact the coaches telling them I am applying and asking for their help if they can provide it. Anyone know what might happen after that? Maybe it's the same dance as the fall all over again.</p>
<p>Hey Shutterflee - that’s rough. I’m sure there are coaches out there that will be delighted that you’re back in play. I would re-establish contact and be very candid with the coaches about your circumstances, you need something stronger than a vague assurance this time around. Are you looking at Ivys, scholarship schools or DIIIs?</p>
<p>I do not know how the process works, but I do know that my son’s teammate was admitted RD to BC for his sport because they needed to see his fall semester grades before they could admit him academically. He signed in the spring for a sport in which most everyone signs in November.</p>
<p>hey varska…now i’m looking at a group that is Ivies and small LAC’s. I don’t blame the coach, he told me he didn’t have recruiting slots for men this year but could write a letter for me. I thought that would be good enough but this is a school with like a 12-13% ED admit rate and our school doesn’t have as good a record there as some of the other top schools. So I guess I go back out to the other coaches and find out if they have any slots left. If a coach does and wants to give me one, I assume he will ask for some committment. True? If they don’t have slots, I guess I plan to just ask them to write a letter of support which hopefully would be enough to help. Anyone with experience with this, getting rejected then going back into the pool?</p>
<p>Hey shutter-all my sympathy, my S almost had this happen to him. Last minute plea revealed the unlikelihood of an actual acceptance, so he switched to his close second choice school.
He had several coaches tell him “Call me if you don’t get in ED, I can help with RD”. Depends on the roster, and who they caught. It’s such a downer, but don’t give up on yourself.There are lots of schools that would LOVE your talents if you were looking Ivies/LACs.</p>
<p>In my S’s sport, there is a whole second and probably third round of recruiting. Coaches at schools without ED or EA, in particular, are thrilled to pick up athletes that - for one reason or another - didn’t get taken in the earliest round. Think of it like a baseball game - everyone has just finished the first inning. There’s a long way to go - and slots to be had. Good luck!</p>
<p>When S applied EDII, we were nervous so I touched base with e other coaches who had previously expressed interest on a “just in case” basis in the event that his EDII app fell through. All were quite forthcoming, and expressed a willingness to support his app in the RD round.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear your news, shutterflee. There may be other coaches whose first recruits went ED elsewhere, opening up slots for you. As suggested above, do email the coaches right away with the news. Focus on the teams who can give you more than a letter of support–those really do not help at HYP admissions. </p>
<p>Since your sport is now in session, they may not offer official visits due to time or budget constraints. If you find an Ivy that really needs you, and you love, consider paying for the visit yourself to demonstrate your commitment. But, again, only when they are talking Likely Letters.</p>
<p>If your sport is basketball, it might be tough, as the rosters are so small. For swimming or hockey your chances would be better. Good luck.</p>
<p>Hi fauve, it looks like I will get letters of support from HYP schools, but you don’t think they will help much? I may have a slot offer at a lower school but to take it I guess I’d have to give up on the HYP schools. If the letters aren’t worth much and I’m still not much better off than the 10% acceptance rate, it might be risky to hold out for HYP. I wonder if the HYP coaches could get me a preread if they are just writing letters.</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound like the other coaches are slotting you, so my guess is that you are not much better off than the regular admissions pool. Decide on the other school accordingly.</p>
<p>shutterflee, are you saying you went on official visits to HYP schools and the coaches did not get a pre-read on your basic admission stats from Admissions before you went?</p>
<p>So here’s the post mortem, I had coaches at Y, P and Stanford say they wanted me to join their teams and each offered to write a letter of recommendation that would go into my file but they couldn’t offer me a slot. My academics are >= each school’s profile so I thought that plus a letter from a coach would be enough. Wrong, rejected at each so I think the lesson here is that letters from coaches without slots aren’t worth much. This was something I had wondered alot about before. Kinda disappointing, the majority of the kids accepted for HYPSD from our school are legacies or special cases, the majority of which are lower academic performers.</p>
<p>Those getting into HY and Dartmouth from our school are not only legacies, but great students and recruited. Otherwise, they are URM. Definitely a small needle to thread to get into those schools.</p>
<p>Shutterflee, thanks so much for coming back and sharing your hard-earned wisdom with the rest of us so that others may prosper from it. That shows a lot about the kind of person you are and I have no doubt you are going to thrive wherever you end up.</p>
<p>Shutterflee, I am so sorry this happened to you. I too hope that you have other good options. Does this “slot” versus academically qualified work the same for D1 non-Ivies? In other words, if a coach says they don’t need to use a slot on you, they can just have you, what does that mean?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of the “letter” thing by HYPS coaches, and at 7% acceptance rates you must have known it was a big risk, but still I know it hurts. And I’m sorry.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts everyone. To answer a couple of questions asked, it seems these schools usually have rosters larger than the athletes they recruit. Coaches try to add to their numbers without using their slots by getting students who can get into the school without a slot to apply. In these cases they send a letter to admissions saying this player can help me. I could have committed to a lower school early, but I decided to roll the dice on HYPS. My choice and it didn’t work out, but I’m glad I tried, in the end I just don’t think the non-slot support counts for much. Or, it’s so crazy this year with 7-8% admit rates that even this type of support isn’t enough.</p>
<p>I’ve got some good choices including a couple top LAC’s and a non-HYP ivy so I’m OK although it’s been a little painful to feel the love from these schools with all the invitations to special presentations, interviews, coaches, etc. then get rejected. Especially when it seems most of the kids in our school who did get in HYPS were legacies or URM, often with lower academics. Might be best anyway, the LAC’s might offer a better chance to be a scholar-athlete. I want to continue to participate in my sport but still focus on academics and from what I hear the demands at a HYPS are higher with more time required and less sensitivity for academics. One friend’s coach was scheduling 2 a day practices right up to midterms.</p>