<p>My son has had a lot of communication with an Ivy League school, both on the phone and through email. On multiple occasions this coach has said that he "wants my son on the team". This is my sons #1 choice and would be willing to verbally commit (no NLI for Ivys) to said school, however I feel the talks have been informal. Basically, how do I know if the coach will use one of his spots on my son? Will it be a formal offer?</p>
<p>Your son needs to ask the coach if he will be supporting your son through admissions. If he is, than your son should get a Likely Letter from the admissions office. If not, your son is in the pool of applicants with everyone else.</p>
<p>Assuming your son is a rising senior, at this point coaches are building relationships with a pool of kids they feel may help the team and be able to pass academic muster with admissions. It’s probably premature to ask the coach if he intends to put your son up for a likely.The next step would be an offer of an official visit - school pays for your son to spend a weekend on campus. After officials, then the talk turns to likely letters. I’m not certain about the FB timetable, but I think this happens after hid HS season is finished.</p>
<p>For Ivys, the Likely Letter is the key. Without a LL, you have nothing which guarantees admission to the school.</p>
<p>A truism: a recruit has nothing until he has something. </p>
<p>From a scholarship school that something can be a verbal offer (most verbals are honored by a coach); from non-scholarship schools like the IVYs, a verbal offer is worthless.<br>
If I were a parent I would get involved once the offers are made coaches are masters of the vague and ambiguous and athletes are seriously overmatched when trying to decipher coach speak. Even parents need to really understand precisely what the coach is offering if you do not understand, keep asking again and again until you do understand. </p>
<p>For example, a conversation will go like this: I really love your son as a player. He is possibly the best athlete I have ever seen. I can see him in our program. A player will hear the songs of angels if a coach says this; a parent may be similarly moved. But what has the coach said? Nothing about getting into the school; nothing about what role he envisions your son to play; nothing about recruiting other players for the same position. The coach has offered nothing but platitudes! </p>
<p>If your son has made the decision that this is the school he wants, press the coach for a commitment to seek the LL. If the coach intends to use a slot for him, the coach will start guiding you through the process (and its better to start early on the process which will definitely include writing essays and getting recs [IVY prospective athletes need to submit the same apps as regular students only much much earlier]). If the coach says anything other than yes to the request for the LL, you have learned that you should continue your search (although the coach may ultimately offer a LL later in the process).</p>
<p>While the following story about IVY football and the recruiting process is a bit dated, it may provide some insight into IVY football: [College</a> athletic recruiting lessons learned by a Miramonte Dad](<a href=“http://www.johntreed.com/matsdad.html]College”>College Football Recruiting lessons learned – John T. Reed).</p>
<p>^^ that link was interesting–though our student doesn’t play football–the first several pages --talking about some ins and outs–until the kid went off to Columbia–was helpful
then
I noted a lot of stinging insults at Yale…
and lost of promotion of the kid…
and so stopped reading–as I gleaned anything useful in the first portion…</p>