Choreographing the Recruiting Dance

Parents Forum
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<p>Mollyvan,</p>

<p>Welcome to CC. I went through this last year with my D, who was recruited by several great D-3 schools. Denied at ED1 school, admitted at ED2 school. I learned all of this on the fly, but it is the best and most accurate advice I have.</p>

<p>Levels of support from best to worst:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>you are my auto admit = "I get X number of free picks and if the admission office turns you down, I will use one of my free picks to rescue you from the reject pile and get you in."</p></li>
<li><p>You are #2, or #3 on my ranked list of prospective players; I will give you my highest support. I have pre-screened your app with admissions and they have confirmed that you are a great candidate for me to recruit. You would probably have the stats for admission even without my tip. I will give you all my support.</p></li>
<li><p>"Top of my list", "On my list," "I will support you," "I want you on the team." These are nice things to hear but PLEASE do not take them as any guarantee... They are basically generic courtship statements which probably mean, "I may not get anyone I want more than you so I want to make sure you really want me. On the other hand, I may get recruits better than you so I don't want to make any pointed promises." Or perhaps "I will tell admissions you are qualified to play for my team. You are not really a high priority, but I would like a deeper bench... so it'd be great if you applied, got in, and played for me-- but I will not stick my neck out to make this happen." Or, "I am not a serious recruiting coach, my school doesn't much care about the team, so all I do is hand in a list of players I'd like and then the chips fall where they may."</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Remember that until the ED1 round has played itself out, there may be other higher-priority recruits that the coach is still HOPING will commit ED. Then in ED2 there may be recruits who were denied in ED1 at other schools that will appear by surprise. Then some kids the coach thought might need his auto admit actually get in without it, which unexpectedly frees it up...</p>

<p>This whole process is like a card game and everyone is reluctant to play a trump card to take a trick if they can take it without playing the trump. As the game wears on it gets even more interesting.</p>

<p>I would suggest you ask the pointed questions:</p>

<ul>
<li>In the past, when you have given the same level of support to a candidate with my stats, what % have been admitted?</li>
<li>Can you get me a likely letter?</li>
<li>Do you have any auto admit slots? How many? Have they always been honored?
-Where do I stand to get an auto admit?</li>
<li>Has my app been pre-screened by admissions?</li>
</ul>

<p>Good luck, this is stressful but all in all the athletic tip is very very helpful.</p>

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<p>Thanks SBmom,
That's a very clear hierarchy of the levels of support.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much SB Mom. That is very helpful. So far in our process we have found the coaches very straightforward and have felt we have understood exactly what the offers or non offers meant. This came out of left field at the last minute and as my h is an attorney, we are very sensitive (maybe too sensitive) to word changes. You are probably sensing that we are a bit reluctant to push this too much with the coach. A friend who was in a similar position with another IVY was basically dropped from a coach's list when he asked what the coach thought was too many pushy questions...we are also concerned that in this last week, after she submits, another prospect hiding in the wings drops in his lap and pushes her down the pecking order and makes it less likely that she gets a green light on Dec. 15. ...sigh I guess you wait till the last minute to submit...</p>

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<p>good thread. sbmom - awsome post and very helpful:)</p>

<p>mollyv - keep asking those questions. it's a big help to others here on cc too:)</p>

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<p>In my experience the coach who was most enthusiastic about my D and for whom she is now playing volunteered the straight info; she did not have to ask. Also, this coach was happy to talk to me and her Dad. Coach was urging D to submit an ED2 application and chatting up the parents was all part of the "pitch." </p>

<p>I can understand the reluctance to push the coach and alienate him/her. Maybe a sense that 'to ask more is to push' indicates that the coach's enthusiasm is not overwhelming...?</p>

<p>In our case my D was deciding between two schools that she liked very much. When coach called me, to ask my thoughts about D's enthusiasm for the school, I told the truth: "she is deciding between two schools for ED2 and one of them is yours." </p>

<p>Though I was not being 'strategic' when saying this, just truthful, in retrospect that was when coach stepped up and became more overt in the promised support.</p>

<p>In fact I did ask coach: what happens if a better recruit falls into your lap next week? Coach replied that reputation is everything in recruitment and that word gets around about coaches who do not honor their promises-- so coach would never pull the rug out from under a recruit. Coach, however, could not promise an admission, as admission office might possibly pull the rug out from under the coach.</p>

<p>Try to focus on a ED2 school and keep that coach happy too, just in case.</p>

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<p>S is doing his official visit to his ED school this weekend (through Monday) and we (the parents) are meeting with the coach on Monday. The coach and I have been emailing and I trust him completely. He can not guarantee admission, but this particular school does a pre-read (coaches sit down with admissions people) on all the recruits during the summer/early fall and what the coach said was, "In 20 years only 2 or 3 recruits rated as high as your son have not been admitted." My son is not the top recruit, but the coach trusts his coach's assessment and likes the high school he is coming from. Academically, my son is definitely in the range for admission without being a recruit, but it would be a toss-up due to the selectivity of the school. Stay tuned until mid-December, when I will be having a very strong drink!</p>

<p>On another recruiting note- S's roommate is in the process of jilting a top Ivy where he has been supposedly headed for his sport since middle school.<br>
He is choosing another Ivy (as a top recruit) for a specific academic program. The first Ivy is having all these successful business people call him to convince him that he can be very successful with the academic track at Ivy No 1. This kid is pretty level-headed, and thinks the whole thing is comical.</p>

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<p>mowc,
very interesting comment about your s's roommate and his change of heart. from what we're reading on here about ed1, ed2 and recruited athletes..........ed2 will possibly give another athlete an opportunity in a case like this........... and illustrates that not all ed1 recruits will ultimately join the team.</p>

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<p>Actually, the roommate's change of heart will probably result in someone else on the list, who has formerly been told "strong support" now getting the "auto admit" call for ED1! This will create a spot at another school... and so on...</p>

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<p>sbmom - you're right about the ED1 (if time allows). the dominoes start to fall.....don't they?:)</p>

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<p>Actually, the boy isn't applying ED anywhere, and will continue to be pressured until he officially commits. He still has a visit to S coming up, but is pretty set on Ivy No. 2. I was actually in the room when he was fielding calls from other coaches (non-Ivy) telling him that he shouldn't trust the Ivy coaches and should come to HIS school! It may sound exciting, and it is to some extent, but it is a lot for an 18 year old kid to handle. Needless to say, this kid is one of the best in the country at his sport and he and his family have made many sacrifices. I also want to point out that he is an excellent student with solid scores (exceptional by any standards other than those on this forum). He and my son considered marketing themselves as a package deal, budding capitalists that they are.</p>

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<p>Question for the experienced: I was under the impression that Ivies don't do likely letters - but I know for sure that Princeton distributed some today.</p>

<p>When/how/which of the Ivies do this? Does the student need to commit first?</p>

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<p>I think they all do them and of course, you have to have applied already to get one. I think this practice is designed for the really stellar kids who may be courted by other non-Ivy D1 schools, many which give "letters of intent." It has subsequently bled over into academic superstars as well. A coach recruiting one of these kids would encourage a very early application in order to set up a "likely letter."</p>