D3 Recruit question about ED

Hi. DD21 applied yesterday ED for her first choice and RD for her other choices. We are expecting that she the coaches might be following up with her this week to ask how her process is going. If her #2 asks if she applied ED to their school how should she answer? We are so confused. Thank you for your help!

Key information needed: did your daughter accept an offer from the first or second (or other) schools?

I think you need to answer honestly and be prepared to discuss why she prefers the other school. For example, the #1 school has program xyz and she’d love to be part of that; however, if that doesn’t work out she’s very excited about joining school #2. Also, be sure to tell coach #2 that you will stay in touch and let her know the ED results as soon as you’re able.

I am assuming that your D got full support/slot from her first choice school. If that is the case, I think once your D accepts support from 1 school and applies ED there, she should let other coaches that have been recruiting her know that she has chosen another school. This allows that coach to move down the list to next recruit. The D3 world is pretty small.

Your D should be honest when asked, and let the #2 school know she has applied ED to school 1. She should thank the coach for their time and let them know if ED doesn’t pan out she would like to stay in touch. Don’t burn any bridge.

Thank you for all your input. She had asked her top 3 choices via text whether her pre-read was sent to admissions to see if she had a shot to be admitted and if she had a spot on their team pending an application. They responded positively that her grades were good and that they would support. She then responded that she was working on her applications. She applied regular to two of the schools while one of the schools offered a friendly early decision that offered an opportunity to have the financial aid information early and that if you decided to change your mind you could with no penalty so she applied that way. She has since sent a text to the coaches to let them know that is how she applied. I hope she has done this correctly!

There has been a lack of clarity around your daughter’s process, but at this stage it could be that some of the responsibility falls on the coaches’ shoulders. Your daughter is almost certainly fine. The #2 and #3 schools might have thought she accepted their offer, and if so might be less pleased about a regular decision application. If however they were not under that impression than it is no problem at all. And in any case #2 and #3 only come into play if for some reason she didn’t get into her #1 school, which seems very unlikely.