Thanks @Midwestmomofboys I think we may need to wait until the fall to see how it plays out. The coach said that they don’t do merit pre-reads anymore, whereas they did before. In that scenario, we won’t know if she will be given anything in ED but maybe they will do it differently for an athlete who is being asked to commit.
She has a roster spot, we have been told that already and this coach is very excited to have her on the team. It’s a good fit all around so we will ultimately do what the coach says most likely but I wanted to see if anyone had been in that position.
@LMC9902 I would talk to the coach about how you need merit money and can’t commit to ED until you know what the merit money will be. There is a good chance the coach might be able to talk the school into a financial aid pre-read as a favor.
We did not have a pre-read, rather his admissions counselor, during interview, said how much would be expected in merit aid. Coach also indicated that, based on past experience with students with records like him, thought would likely get the same merit award. So, we felt optimistic, but there was no guarantee of any specific number.
@LMC9902 it really depends on the college. For colleges that are transparent with merit money and have grids online that say if you gpa is x and sat is y you get z dollars, it will be fine to apply ED. Just make sure you and your daughter are willing to be locked into that college. If the merit doesn’t come back as you hoped, you are still committed to that college. Many coaches are biased toward wanting ED so they have their roster spots filled by New Years.
My daughter pursued a number of colleges that gave merit based on a holistic approach and a merit scholar weekend. These were not transparent. Based on a limited amount of information, I’m convinced you have a better chance at those colleges for merit with RD. If you are ED, they have limited incentive to give you merit as they are trying to pull kids in who would have picked Ivies otherwise.
Thanks @Hippo21 I tend to agree. My older child is not an athlete but applied early to a merit school and got minimal merit. I think she would have gotten more if she waited.
My D’21 is being recruited by 3 schools that give merit and 2 that don’t. I love both non-merit schools and hope that if she decides to ED it will be at one of them because they will be impossible to get in RD.
The other three I know she would be a top recruit and could have a spot on the team even with no ED. I asked one coach about her recruits for this year and a few are applying RD, so it’s not unheard of.
I think if she really wants one of the merit schools we will see if the coach can help get us a pre read.