Confusion with verbal commitments/commitments with college swimming.

However, if I wasn’t being asked by the coach I’d probably wait.

Is this for NYU? Did you get your times down to the range the coach wanted? Do you need financial aid to attend? NYU isn’t known for their aid. I wouldn’t announce anything until you have an affordable acceptance in hand.

What are your post graduation goals? Are there other affordable colleges that can help you meet them if NYU doesn’t work out?

@austinmshauri yes this is for NYU and the head coach said he will be supporting my application for ED. I did apply for financial aid and applied to the less competitive major there ( school of professional studies) because I am genuinely interested in that major and not because it is the easier major to get into. I also applied to binghamton and EA and fordham EA as a backup. Post graduation goals? i will definitely try to get masters degree in my interested major.

I think there’s a lot of hype from both student and parent about “commit” (OP, however, seems to be taking the mature route - good for you!).

Knew a kid whow as a great baseball player. Was “committed” to Notre Dame as a sophomore. All we ever heard about (even though that’s not a thing). Junior season he was committed to Wake Forest. Also not a thing. Currently playing at South Carolina. Hope this kid actually learns what commitment means pretty soon. Pretty sure it was driven by his parents, looking for the best deal and opportunity to be positioned for the draft.

@rickle1 does that mean that basketball kid got rejected even though he “committed”.

from notre dame

Verbal commitments are not contracts and can be broken. In fact, given how early some sports recruit it’s probably a good idea that so many are not honored. My cousin committed to a Big Ten school for hockey the week before 10th grade started. The bright lights and Twitter fame are terribly alluring to a 15 year old, as you might imagine. He ended up decommitting a couple years later because he learned a lot about himself being away from home for junior hockey. He realized he was not likely to be happy in a huge factory program like Enormous State so he ended up taking a full ride at a small D3 school that played D1 hockey at a very high level. It’s been great for him.

^^ No it means the verbal commitment isn’t a thing and doesn’t hold anyone to anything. From what I understand he was a top academic kid so I don’t think admissions was an issue. He ultimately chose the best baseball program for his situation. I doubt the coaches stop recruiting when an athlete verbally commits just because of wht if…?

A commitment only happens when the student signs the NLI, which can’t be done until the second wednesday in November of senior year for most sports.

Once the NLI is signed, all it means is that the student can’t play for another school in the NLI program unless a release is granted (which seem to be more common). The student can still go to another NLI school, just can’t play or get a scholarship to play for one academic year. The student can also go to, and play immediately, an Ivy, a service academy, a D3 school, an NAIA school. The commitment is only to playing the sport not to eliminating all other schools.

All the early verbal commitments are not binding. Only the NLI is binding and only to playing the sport at another NLI institution.

The NESCACs aren’t keen on publicizing commits, because it typically occurs before a formal admission decision is made, and thus makes it seem like coaches are the ones making admission decisions. In most instances, when a preread is returned with a green light, it is accompanied by a note that it is not a guarantee of admission. So, what the adcom is saying is that your chances for admission are pretty darn good, not that they are a sure thing. So, technically, it isn’t a commitment, even though coaches may suggest that it is (e.g., no one who has had this level of coach support with a positive preread has ever been rejected).

The Middlebury newspaper had an article a few years back that explained: “Instances have occurred where students in the recruitment process have claimed a ‘commitment’ to the College similar to those allowed at Division 1 institutions. As a matter of protocol and process, . . . Admissions will track down these claims to correct them when they see them.” https://middleburycampus.com/29991/news/deconstructing-college-athletics/

I see Middlebury ‘commits’ all the time, even by high school juniors.

@MrDiaz have you or your family run the net price calculator for NYU? They are known to be pretty stingy in terms of meeting need.

@MAandMEmom yes we did actually. The cost is alright and also they have a major that is only offered at nyu and nowhere else. If it turns out to be tooo expensive i can always pull out.

Good luck @MrDiaz!!

@twoinanddone,

Definitely not saying that Middlebury recruits don’t publicize “commits.” I am quite certain that it goes on all the time. Not even suggesting that Middlebury Admissions will ask those notices be rescinded. Admissions may or it may not. I am only suggesting that NESCACs and other D3 schools don’t really like publicizing commits, because only Admissions can convey an offer of admission.

The admissions office at ALL schools have the final word.

At my daughter’s D2 school, we had two sister commit as hs sophomore and junior. When the junior didn’t get accepted, they both de-committed. The admissions office had the final word.

In lacrosse, the coaches want the commitments ASAP and the coaches are often the ones to announce. A few years ago there was a forum for announcing commitments and the list would go up in January of each year for the hs sophomores. You could tell by the numbers assigned if the high school, the club team, or the college had released them as they’d run in sequence when you sorted. The Ivies, the NESCAC, the top schools, etc. all released commitment info. At girls tournaments those who have committed all wear a colored armband. Commitments are posted on high school rosters.

It’s not a secret.