Can Pre-read Be Unnecessary . . . or TOO Positive?

@roots60 – happy to help, if I can! Broadly, we focused on academic match/safeties which give merit, so wound up focusing on midwest/western PA schools. Then, we layered on top of that athletic safety/match/reaches, based on the competitiveness of the team’s results and quality of players. A couple of athletic safeties saw his film, met with him during his spring of 11th grade campus visit, and offered him a roster spot – those teams were generally in the bottom half of their not-very strong conferences, so those coaches seemed happy to have a motivated player. Generally, athletic matches had a more robust recruiting process – summer recruiting camp or assistant coaches watching fall season matches live, on-campus meetings, some back and forth by email and phone, and then an offer. The athletic reaches kept him waiting – some were quite responsive to email updates and were communicative about where he stood. Others (his first, favorite school) had said he was a top recruit, did a pre-read, then “ghosted” him. That one was tough for him, and us, to pick up and move on from, but it was an important lesson in continuing to cast a wide net and not fall in love with any one school or program. He did on-campus visits in the fall to about 4 programs, meeting with coaches, class and meals with team, watching practice/match etc. As we live in the midwest, and he had to get back to high school for his own competitions, his visits were often long day visits, not overnights. For my kid, who is kind of quiet, the experience of sleeping on some guy’s floor was not really necessary for him to make an informed decision. Several schools had EA, so he got decisions, with merit awards starting in Nov and early December. The process was done by mid December. Let me know if you have more questions!

Echoing the point of some other posters, this recent article by a former admission employee at Wesleyan talks about coaches withdrawing support to academically strong URM’s, betting they can get in through the regular admissions process without the coach’s help. The coach then has more slots for unhooked (mostly white) athletes. It’s a thing.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/1/18311548/college-admissions-secrets-myths

I would not encourage my kid to apply ED to any school they wish to play at where they did not have firm support from coach and a positive preread from admissions. Even with that “I” sweated it out til kid got that big envelope in Dec. I found coaches where D applied pretty honest with her about her chances and where she stood on their list when she asked. The problem is most slots are filled in ED. If you apply and are not accepted, your kids choices are now limited.

@mamom – I agree with you completely on being clear about an offer of a roster spot and about what admissions support means in terms of past applicants with similar stats and coach support. But there are times – perhaps rare because, at least on CC, kids are usually hoping to use athletics to get into their reach admissions school – when kids are applying to schools where recruiting is the challenge, not admissions. For example, my kid was talking with some D3 schools where he would be easily admitted (acceptance rates around 45-50% and he was in the top 10% in stats), but the team was a top national program so roster spots were much more competitive than admissions. There would have been no reason to apply ED to those schools without a clear statement of a roster spot from the coach, though admissions outcomes were never really at risk. (He didn’t get the roster spot and moved on.)

And agreed, getting clarity about admissions is necessary because, for the ED player who learns they have been deferred (or rejected) in mid December, there are now very few roster spots left among other programs since they are now mostly filled with successful ED applicants.

@RockySoil, thanks so much for the helpful Vox link. I think Mr. England has some nice insights; but his analysis seems way too race-centric. Certainly there are profound racial dimensions to the college admissions process, but those cut in various directions – not always in favor of white males, as Mr. England seems to believe. There can be little doubt that affirmative action operates to the detriment of Asian and White applicants. Trust me, were my son African-American I wouldn’t need to be on this Board!

@Midwestmomofboys - Again, I’m very appreciative of your additional insights. Your son’s experience seems very close to what we are going through. If I’m reading you correctly, it sounds like the athletics (securing a roster spot) was VERY important to your family, either because your son can’t live without his sport and/or you thought it might help with merit aid.

Frankly, I wish that were my son’s profile as well; but instead he’s fixated on attending the most selective institution he can get into . . . even if that means letting varsity sports drop (or maybe having to “walk on”). Unfortunately that eliminates the chance for merit aid as well, which is a bitter pill for me to swallow in these times! Mom is in his corner though, so I can’t push back!

@roots60 Hang in there, it’s a worrisome process for sure, though lots of growth and maturing for the kids! My kid’s search was two fold – we needed about 1/2 tuition merit for the finances to work as a full pay family plus kid knew he wanted to keep competing, since for him, it’s like the air he breathes. Since admission reaches were off the list, it really was about finding the “sweet spot” of schools where he would get good merit awards and was competitive to play for a good program. Good luck!

I must say, I would be reluctant to “commit” to apply ED at any school without a positive pre-read, particularly at the elite academic D3s. I don’t understand why any coach would say, “don’t worry, you will get admitted,” without getting some sort of confirmation from the Adcom.

True, I do think the regularity of the use of prereads depends upon the given school. It is pretty standard with the NESCACs. With other high academic D3s, there were coaches who seemed somewhat surprised by the request, but they asked and obtained a preread when asked. I recall one midwest school that said that a preread was unnecessary, but the explanation was that the athletic department had a liaison with the adcom, who had reviewed the transcript and board scores and thought the stats were well within range. We didn’t go too far down that road so it was never put to the test. I do worry that the denial of a preread request might have its own meaning. It could mean, for example, that the coach has very little pull with admissions (e.g., MIT, Chicago, NYU). Or, it could mean that the recruit isn’t a recruit at all. Or, it could mean that the coach is providing just a notch above no support – the never neverland of soft support.

OVs can be great experiences for the kids, but by that point, you want some admissions comfort. I would ask the tough questions about the reasons for not getting a preread before spending the time and expense of an OV.

It might be sports specific, but we are told that Chicago and MIT (swimming) coaches do not do “official preread”, but the coaches do ask for transcripts/tests/class schedule to do his/her own “pre-read” and give feedbacks.

^This. I understand that some schools notoriously do not do pre reads, and some schools/sports/coaches have very little pull with admissions. But in general, this is information that should be made clear to the recruit by the coach.

@Midwestmomofboys can I assume these were academic matches and/or reaches? I think my DS may have interest in academic and athletic safeties, and I’m not really sure how to suggest he frame the conversations with those coaches as to why he’s interested.

@eb23282 yes, those were academic and athletic safeties – sure things in terms of admissions with lower tier athletic programs. We knew we needed about 1/2 tuition merit to make the finances work so he ONLY looked at admissions safeties with some matches. We layered his athletic list on top of the admissions list – identifying athletic safeties, then matches, then reaches. The athletic safeties (which, by our process, were already admissions safeties) offered him roster spots without seeing him play live, only meeting him and seeing his film. The athletic matches and reaches, were more of a “courting” process, of recruiting camps, emails, phone calls, visits etc.

The coaches at the athletic/admissions safeties were happy to talk with someone who could be an impact player on the team. My kid talked about why he genuinely was interested in those schools – the culture, academic programs etc. Merit money wasn’t the first thing he/we mentioned, but it did come up in the conversation about why kid was looking at those schools.

Some of the reasons a student might choose an athletic and/or academic safety over another school? Playing time, opportunity to be a captain, might be named an all American, a certain coach with a good reputation, bigger athletic award, staying closer to home so parents/grandparents can watch games…

I have a friend who is really a top athlete. His academics are so-so (from a top high school, so being average is still pretty good). He’s had two fantastic years at a D1 school ranked in about the top 20 (they were in the top 10 for the first half of the season last year, in large part due to him). Academically, the school is good for him. Athletically, he could be playing for a top 5 team and playing all the time. He’s an All American, up for top national awards. He received a 50% scholarship for his first 2 years and will now get a full scholarship for the next 2. He would not be getting that at a top 5 school (no one does).

So if the coach wants to know why your son would pick a ‘sure thing’ there are good (and true) reasons. Money, playing opportunity, a major at that school, location. The money reason isn’t always from athletics, as instate tuition or merit money can be a reason too.