I have spoken to coaches at several of the schools I am applying to and the coach at reach said they would put in a recommendation for me to admissions. Does anybody know how much that will help me and how much pull coaches have in the process? Thanks.
I’m wondering the same thing- coaches said I am a top recruit, how with this affect admissions?
Well, what response are you looking for? If a coach said they’d recommend you, it definitely won’t hurt your chances of admission.
What sports are you all talking about?
This depends on the school. Some schools coach input is weighed quite heavily, but at others it doesn’t amount to a lot.
Also the stature of the sport at that school is taken into account. For example LAX at Deerfield is a powerhouse, and they recruit. But other sports they may not recruit at all. It also depends if the sport has varsity status or not.
The amount of weight admissions places on a coach’s list also varies.
Having said all this it is a good sign. It doesn’t guarantee anything but if the coach expresses support then I urge you to ask deeper questions:
- do you have a formal list that you submit to admissions? If so where am I on it?
- if not then how much does admissions listen to your input? How many students in the past with similar support from you have been admitted/rejected?
Also I forgot to add that at the TSAO (Ten Schools) a formal process is used. I was told by one coach that a TSAO school cannot approach a prospective athlete, instead they must wait for the athlete to approach them.
This article at Choate summarizes the recruiting process quite well (and its similar for other TSAO schools):
http://thenews.choate.edu/article/choate-recruiting-depth-look
Sgopal12: with personal experience in this matter both current and in years past, I assure you that this may be a nice guideline but it isn’t really this way.
Dear @center: thanks for your input. Would you care to share your experience? And how it differs from the TSAO guidelines?
Most of the coaches we talked with during the admission process asked for updates throughout the season. That is likely their way of staying in touch without going against their commitment to TSAO. My guess is that some follow this explicitly and others bend it a little. It seems though that all goes out the window for PGs where many teams are padding their athletics with recruits of a high caliber, but of course, this is just my perspective.
sgopal2 and MAandMEmom: the TSAO was an attempt to mimic the Ivies and quasi Ivies by creating this framwework that “codifies” an approach to athletics such that academics would never ever be treated equivalently or worse, second, to to athletics in importance. A theoretically legitimate and laudable endeavor. Thus the Ivies do not offer athletic scholarships. However, sports are hugely important to prep schools and Ivies. Further, the TSAO schools and the Ivies use financial aid to get around this. There is wide discretion with admissions and financial aid for these schools. I cant really go into details on this. Too much info to type. For example, you are a lacrosse star that QUALIFIES for FA. If you are a hot ticket they will get you more FA to sweeten the pot. So as long as you QUALIFY you qualify. There are no specific rules for award amounts except the basic white line that if your income is below 75,000 and you have no assets, you pay nothing. (as I recall that is the formula). As for “recruiting” The TSAO schools are just a little more discreet: for example they don’t typically travel FAR to see athletes but they rely on outside recruiting reports, other publications, the internet in general, other coaches or even their own assistant coaches (who often have other jobs and are often involved in running camps over holidays and summers–where they can recruit). Now it seems to be the case that the student must already be applying before they contact you but even that can be fuzzy. One can be asked to apply by outside individuals i.e an alumni calls a current coach. We have had two HADES schools coaches come to watch babycenter. [My personal frustration is the financial aid issue. We don’t qualify for anything. We are savers. Not rich but have carefully socked away for retirement. Many many middle and upper middle class families face this problem. Bigger Baby Center had offers from Ivies for school. The enticement? “Preferred admission” and financial aid. Preferred admission is my term because that is the case with athletes (NCAA guidelines and the Ivies have higher requirements). Preferred admission sounds great right? Well not for full freight. So non Ivy with some scholarship money. I get the value of an Ivy education but the loans arent worth it. Neither is draining my retirement.]
@center thanks for your reply. I agree that the FA piece is somehow warped in TSAO and Ivy athletics.
I didn’t understand what you meant by “watch babycenter”. Could you explain what you meant by this?
@sgopal2 I believe she is saying that they came to watch her kid - her user name is Center so “babycenter” would be her offspring!