<p>This statement was recently made on another athletic recruiting thread.
[quote]
Harvard and Princeton are both single-choice early action. That means you can only apply early to one of them, not both.
[/quote]
Seems straightforward and correct, but is it?</p>
<p>Consider a student athlete who is academically qualified for and being recruited by Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Let's say Yale is her clear first choice. Conventional wisdom would suggest she should apply SCEA to Yale and, if rejected, then apply elsewhere in the RD round.</p>
<p>Assume further that this student is well informed and cautious. She is concerned about wasting her one SCEA application on Yale, as she knows that Yale is only lukewarm in it's support of athletic recruits. She doesn't want to receive bad SCEA news from Y and then realize that the H and P slots are all taken.</p>
<p>I'd like to suggest that this hypothetical athlete could submit her Yale application early, but not designate it an SCEA application, and tell the Y coach that if she receives a likely Letter before the H or P SCEA deadline, she'll go with Yale and, if requested, convert her RD app to an SCEA app.</p>
<p>This is roughly what my S did when he applied to Princeton, but it was different in that P didn't have SCEA then. He gave a commitment to the P coach, applied in late September, and told the coach that he needed a LL by November 15th or he'd probably apply SCEA to Yale or Stanford. He had his LL in October and was "one and done".</p>
<p>It seems to me that by being ahead of the curve like this a recruit could effectively create a safety net to their SCEA first choice.</p>
<p>That’s an interesting, and potentially very useful idea. When D was recruited, H did not have EA so I’m not that familiar with the way EA/ED plays out with respect to Likely Letters. But your idea makes sense to me.</p>
<p>If a coach offers to put a recruit up for a LL and requests that he submits his ap EA, the recruit is really in a bad spot if the adcom doesn’t play along and approve the LL. But, if the recruit gets his ap in early, but not designated EA, and offers to switch to EA if the LL comes though - he’s protected himself.</p>
<p>The only potentially tricky spot I can see would be telling the coach, ‘no, I’m not going apply EA but will switch it if the LL is approved’. I wonder if a coach might see it as a lack of faith or commitment. I suppose it’s all in how it’s presented. </p>
<p>It would be interesting to hear from recruits who have applied EA at the coach’s request to get their thoughts on how such a strategy may have worked.</p>
<p>^Sherpa, sure, you could do the above. But then you’re not applying early. The OP mentioned that she intended to apply early to Harvard and Princeton, by which she meant EA --not just sending her app in before the deadline. And I quote: “I plan on applying early to Harvard and Princeton because those are the only two nonbinding early admission options”</p>
<p>My previous post stands. You may not apply early, meaning EA, to more than one SCEA school (exceptions --public universities, etc.–as noted).</p>
<p>^correction: that should read: if you’ve chosen the SCEA option at one school, you may not apply early to any other school, with the exception of public universities, etc., as noted.</p>
<p>Y required the app be submitted through the common app link as SCEA…It could not be faxed/pre reviewed for a thumbs up/down.
Did it make this parent nervous–yes. </p>
<p>However, the transcript and scores had been reviewed in July.
The full app was ready by the day our student went on the OV…though was not submitted.
Our student verballed at the OV.
The coaches said they were committed to see all of the recruits before the LLs would be issued. The coach called after the last recruit weekend (our student’s weekend was I think the middle of 5 of them…don’t recall whether it was 4 or 5…)
The coach offerred the LL. Our student pressed submit the next day…the LL arrived in the mail.</p>
<p>Seems to me only IF a school admissions office allows the app to be sumitted on paper without an electronic submit your idea works…</p>
<p>Well, wouldn’t the same reasoning apply to a school that requires you to apply ED? Of course, I would assume that if you are promised a LL, you apply ED or SCEA or whatever very early (in September) AND receive your LL before the official ED application deadline. If you don’t get a LL, you can either change your application to RD or even retract it and, hopefully, still apply to school B’s ED deadline. The athletes I know who were told to apply ED AND then were denied a LL, were told early enough to still be able to apply ED at other schools.</p>
<p>^^ Beenthere…that is ONLY if the initial school app wasn’t done through the electronic system. You cannot change the electronic app…if it went in ED the Common App won’t allow you to apply to a SCEA school</p>
<p>Frankly, it the student has been through a rigorous pre-screen before the OV and the coaches pay to fly them in–how likely is it that they don’t pass admissions and don’t get the LL.</p>
<p>So, do think that also means that you can’t retract an ED application, even before the actual ED deadline? It would seem to me that if admissions decides that they can’t/won’t issue a LL, you should have the right to retract the application and apply somewhere else.</p>
<p>Maybe I should rephrase my question that opened this thread.</p>
<p>Rather than “Could an athlete apply early to more than one school?,”</p>
<p>maybe the question is</p>
<p>Could an athlete submit a very early RD application to a SCEA school, with a mutual understanding between the athlete and the coach that 1) if a LL came before Nov. 15 the athlete would convert his/her app to SCEA and, 2) if a LL did not arrive by Nov. 15 the athlete would submit a SCEA app somewhere else?</p>
<p>"Frankly, it the student has been through a rigorous pre-screen before the OV and the coaches pay to fly them in–how likely is it that they don’t pass admissions and don’t get the LL. "</p>
<p>Still, it happens. Although I don’t know hundreds of student-athletes, I personally know two students to whom this happened at ivies. In one case, the athlete was admitted RD, in the other, applied somewhere else. At least, in one of the cases, the coach said “this had never happened before.”</p>
<p>And to rephrase my twist of Sherpa’s version:</p>
<p>Could a student apply SCEA or even ED early on and retract the application if a LL is not issued by a certain deadline (November 1 or November 15)?</p>
<p>As a follow-up: Is anybody familiar with this scenario: Student applies SCEA, gets LL, is admitted. And then is asked to formally accept offer of admission right away. Does this mean anything that’s ‘enforceable’ for lack of a better word, or is it completely meaningless?</p>
<p>Sherpa #9. My daughter did exactly that. Sent RD completed apps to 2 Ivy schools the 1st of Sept. (official visits were set up for later in the month at both schools). After her OV visits, she asked for and received a LL, then changed her RD app to ED. Once formal acceptance was received in mid Dec. she retracted her app from the other Ivy.</p>
<p>Again, any ED or SCEA is a one school only option (excepting publics etc.). Sure games can be played and ultimata given. Generally the LL offer from an Ivy coach is not made lightly and, if the coach wants to maintain any recruiting credibility, the offers are a sure thing already approved by admissions. Based on the team’s stats and the school’s AI, the recruit should also know if he/she is a real candidate. When a coach asks you to apply ED/SCEA, they mean it. They cannot risk you backing out after they’ve already cut loose other candidates. I really think this whole conversation is somewhat distasteful. Why try to game the system? Don’t apply ED, if you aren’t committed. Also, if you are a top recruit, the process should all take place early enough that there is time to apply elsewhere if the LL doesn’t come through for some reason. The letter can be given any time after Oct. 1 and the ED deadline is Nov. An ED application CAN be withdrawn and then another ED application CAN be submitted as long as a decision from admissions was not made - of this I am absolutely certain.</p>
<p>jonkras: Likely letters are an Ivy thing but I’m sure that all competitive sports programs in any division have some kind of equivalent…tips, letters of intent, etc.</p>
<p>Re NESCAC, despite pre-reads, coach’s assurance, etc., nothing is truly firm until you have an acceptance from Admissions. Different than likely letters with Ivies.</p>
<p>The Ivy League likely letters are also sent by admission. So, while ivy and other D1 coaches have a lot more pull with admission than most D3 coaches as well as a pretty good idea about who gets admitted, what lftcoastmom says is also true for the ivies: “despite pre-reads, coach’s assurance, etc., nothing is truly firm until you have the [LL] from admission.”</p>
<p>Sherpa and other regulars - I wanted to stop back and thank you for sharing your insights and experience. </p>
<p>My child is a d1 athlete ( not the best or worst) and an excellent student but the recruiting process is quite challenging for a “novice” father with many subtleties. Beginning in junior year we began to incorporate the collective advice obtained here. the process went smoothly and with knowing what and when to expect certain feedback. Certainly less stressful particularly with the admission rates dropping even further this year and excellent students being dinged everywhere .</p>
<p>SO - with appreciation, a sincere thank you for your volunteer work!</p>