@homerdog I think the meeting is to offer a financial package to your son. He’s done all the required application items and he has done an overnight visit plus a preread so based on these facts that’s t why I believe the F2F is to present $$
So…I guess there’s a question for all of you. If the overnight didn’t go well in terms of the XC host not being very welcoming and also talking quite a bit about drugs/beer, is that something we should carefully bring up? I’m actually wondering if the coach knows because I told the admissions office how poorly the overnight went in terms of the host and they were flabbergasted and said they won’t let him host again. I do wonder if they told the coach. Maybe he wants to address that with S19.
@CALSmom right. I just didn’t know if a coach would be the one offering admission and merit instead of someone from admissions. Plus, this decision isn’t due until mid-March since he’s RD so it seems a little early. And we are full pay so the “package” would just involve merit.
Some highly ranked LACs do LL and this coach may want to secure your son. His app probably jumped the line and was flagged by the coach for admissions to review ahead of the RD applicants. As for the feedback on the host, I don’t think that’s why a coach would want to meet you and your son F2F. My track son submitted his application to an Ivy RD but got a LL quickly
@CALSmom ok that’s good to know. Ugh. If he’s accepted with big merit that will throw a wrench in everything! I heard that merit is fairly hard to come by at this school so I wasn’t expecting that. My husband isn’t sure about this school and likes others better but he is conscious of cost. Come March, we may now be in the position of trying to decide if paying more makes sense for other full price schools that may come through for him.
@CALSmom but your son was allowed to wait until May 1 to give a decision, right? Not that he would turn down an Ivy’s early acceptance but I’m assuming that, in theory, it was still a RD app so one doesn’t have to give an early answer. I guess we will find out more next week!
^^^^All the tradeoffs are so difficult! Do you know if this school does likely letters? If so, I agree with others that this could be why the coach wants a face to face. I haven’t heard of D3 coaches offering merit scholarships (but still could happen and talking about potential merit is ok), but often times scholarship amounts (athletic and/or merit) are included in likely letters.
It is tricky re: dynamics of S’s overnite visit (team use of drugs/beer). If coach did find out about feedback to admissions, you all should be prepared to address that.
@Mwfan1921 I don’t know if they do likely letters. I know it’s not the perfect fit for him but if this merit is half tuition, that’s $100k over four years. S19 won’t be able to make a final decision until March. If he gets into one of his big reaches, we may decide it’s worth the premium.
I agree that walking through the student’s possible responses to various “live scenarios” is a good idea – whether coach talks about availability of merit money, asks whether would consider ED2 etc. I’d be surprised if a D3 coach talked specific merit award offers to a full pay RD family in the fall – estimates and possibilities, based on past experience with students with similar profiles was as far as anyone we met on athletic side would communicate before admissions decision came out.
@CALSmom Are those D3 LACs giving likely letters, or D1 LACs like Davidson? Since our experience was 1 sport with a specific set of schools, I’m just curious what might be the practice more broadly.
I have wondered this as well. It would be nice to have a list of D3s that utilize likely letters (whether for athletes or non-athletes, sent in all rounds whether ED, EDII, EA and/or RD). I know that UChicago, CWRU, Washington and Lee, and MIT utilize likely letters, while some LACs (at least some NESCACs, Grinnell, Smith) send ‘early-writes’, which are acceptance letters in the RD round (sent out before the primary notification date, not sure if these are ever sent in other rounds).
I will update after our meeting and, if anyone is interested, they can PM me and I’ll share the name of the school.
The admissions office controls merit. It’s basically their kitty for buying the students they really want. While they may have conveyed to the coach that your S is likely to get an award, I think that the coach of a D3 school, which by definition cannot offer athletic scholarships, would be wading into some mighty murky water if he were to convey the merit offer.
I think it would be great to run through the scenarios that might come up and have a script for them. (Just like a real life situation! ) If it’s about switching to ED2, “I’m committed to evaluating all my options in April especially in the context of $ and sports. It’s been impossible to pick a front-runner without knowing if they’d accept me or if I could run there or if I could afford it. I can assure you that if I get into your school, I will revisit and seriously consider it. And rest assured, I will not switch any of my other apps to ED2.”
If it’s about the OV, I would simply say, “I didnt totally click with my host but I know he’s not the whole team. I would definitely revisit and explore this again and seriously consider the school if accepted.”
Clearly, he likes your kid. It is also possible that his runner got him in trouble from the AO and he’s trying to fix.
OVs are quirky that way. I know another mom here and I compared notes on a team that was recruiting both our kids. Hers had an experience like your son’s. Mine did not.
@homerdog my son gave his answer immediately to his Ivy coach due to a verbal agreement that the school was his number 1 choice (best fit). He received his LL in January and took part in his HS signing ceremony in February. We paid the school deposit the normal time frame in May.
I’d be surprised if, at a small D3 school, a parent calling admissions to complain about a visit didn’t get back to the coach. If that’s what this is about, I’d just be prepared to explain your concerns; not about the host, but about the team culture. There’s beer and an occasional bad host everywhere but if your son is serious about being a student and an athlete, and the team culture doesn’t support either one, then this isn’t a good fit.
@Midwestmomofboys I should retract the use of “LL” and D3 high academic LACs. I just know for D3 recruiting (my S2 is in the process) you have to apply first then you find out any merit and aid awards at the time of acceptance.
But this coach can’t give an acceptance. At the most, I can maybe give a likely letter if the school does that. And I keep thinking the merit would have to come in the official acceptance later from admissions.
@politeperson I’m totally fine explaining or having S19 explain about the host. It wasn’t just the beer talk. This kid was not friendly or helpful.
Homerdog when is the meeting? Maybe your S will get an early acceptance via the portal or email before then. That’s where we are with my S2…waiting to see if he’s accepted and what the aid package will be. Then we will hear from the coaches.
My guess is that the coach wants to keep him interested in the school, knowing he will get in on his own. We had no shortage of coaches recruit us “the parents” hoping that we would pay for my son to attend their school and be part of the team.
The D3 coach can only talk about what scholarships are open to all applicants, and he probably just wants to know where his school stands in relation to the other schools your son has applied to. I think you need to be honest, as you have shared in your posts, and just stay with RD.
@CALSmom meeting in a week. I doubt he’ll get an answer on the portal. RD acceptances are due mid March. Just seems weird that he would get an official answer so early. I’ll keep checking though to see if anything new comes up on there.